BY:J. FARRELL FISHER, RE-PRINTED, MAY 24-25,2019

CONFLICTING LOYALTY? IS THAT SAYING ONE THING BUT DOING ANOTHER? IS THAT THE DEMONSTRATION OF DIVIDED ALLEGIANCE? IS THAT THE PICTURE VIVIDLY BEING PAINTED ON ONE’S LIFE-CANVAS OF ONE FOOT IN HEAVEN & THE OTHER FOOT TOUCHING THE OUTER LIMITS OF HELL ITSELF,IGNORING WHY I’M HERE ON EARTH FROM GOD’S POINT OF VIEW OR ETERNAL PURPOSE?

CONFLICTING LOYALTY? IS THAT “YES, SIR”, TO THE GENERAL OR “DO AS I PLEASE” TO THE CORP? IS THAT PUBLIC DEDICATION TO BE HONORABLE & GODLY TO THE VOWS YOU MAKE TO YOUR WIFE TO BE & THEN FEEL YOU’RE AT LIBERTY TO PLAY THE FIELD OF AVAILABLE WOMEN? CONFLICTING LOYALTY? IS THAT A VOW OF DEDICATION TO BE HONEST IN YOUR SCHOOL OR UNIVERSITY EXAMS BUT YOU DETERMINE FOR YOURSELF THE ‘BEST WAY’ TO CHEAT ON YOUR EXAMS?

CONFLICTING LOYALTY? IS THAT A PRESIDENT’S PUBLIC OATH TO DEFEND, UPHOLD HIS NATION’S CONSTITUTION BUT DAILY, VERBALLY, & IN ‘FLESHLY DEEDS’, HE SHREDS EVERY PAGE HE CAN?CONFLICTING LOYALTY? YOU’VE HEARD IT: “YES, I BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS DIVINELY INSPIRED, GOD-BREATHED, THE HOLY WORD, BUT I ALSO BELIEVE MY DEVOTION TO IT IS AN OPTION I HOLD FOR MYSELF!”

CONFLICTNG LOYALTY?HAVE YOU EVER WITNESSED AN ELECTED NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE OR SENATOR TALK ABOUT HIS/HER FIRM BELIEF IN LIBERTY & FREEDOM BUT CONTINUALLY VOTES FOR POLICIES THAT ENSLAVE, ENDANGER HIS CONSTITUTUENTS? “OH,YES! ONE MAN-ONE WOMAN FOR LIFE,” BUT THEN VOICES SUPPORT OF MEN WITH MEN & WOMEN WITH WOMEN IN GROSS VIOLATION OF GOD’S WORD – & THE SAD THING IS PUBLIC SUPPORT OF IMMORALITY INCREASES! CONFLICTING LOYALTY? “I’M A DEVOTED KIND OF GUY –GOD CAN COUNT ON ME,” BUT STUMBLES, FALLS, REBELS ON THE FIRST LAP WITH NO INTENTION OF GETTING UP, RUNNING GOD’S RACE!

CONFLICTING LOYALTY? YOU’VE SEEN HIM/HER SO CONSUMED BY WORLDLY AMBITION & ‘FLESH-INDULGENCE’ THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS SQUEEZED OUT BY AN UNDAUNTED INTENT OF “MAKING A NAME FOR MYSELF,” & GLORIFYING THE LORD JESUS TAKES A BACK SEAT! HAVE YOU HEARD IT? “THE HIGH COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS? I THOUGHT THAT IT WAS A FREE RIDE, BUT I’LL CONTINUE DOING WHAT I FEEL AT EASE TO DO,WHATEVER IT IS THAT PLEASES ME!”

CONFLICTING LOYALTY? MANY PROFESSING DISCIPLES BECOME TOTALLY DISILLUSIONED, DISAPPOINTED, & EVEN DESPAIRING BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED THEY WERE CALLED TO GIVE THEIR BEST – THEY DO, THEN GET A FAILING GRADE BECAUSE DISCIPLESHIP HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH OUR BEST BUT CHRIST’S BEST! DENYING ‘SELF’ FOR SOME IS ASKING WAY TOO MUCH!

CONFLICTING LOYALTY? “I WILL UPHOLD MY DEVOTION TO CHRIST & BE A STAUNCH WARRIOR DEFENDING THE FAITH,” BUT AFTER SEVERAL SKIRMISHES, PEER PRESSURE, OR PROCRASTINATION, IT TAKES A DAMAGING TOLL! DO YOU REMEMBER THE SON BORNED BLIND & HEALED BY JESUS? THE PHARISEES CAME TO HIS PARENTS: “WE DON’T KNOW HOW HE WAS HEALED – ASK HIM – HE’S OF AGE TO ANSWER FOR HIMSELF!” AND JOHN 9:22 SAYS, “HIS PARENTS SAID THESE THINGS BECAUSE THEY FEARED THE JEWS…”. THEY DIDN’T WANT TO BE PUT OUT OF THE SYNAGOGUE! HEAR ME! SYNAGOGUE PRESENCE WITHOUT CHRIST IS A CONTINUING ‘DEATH SENTENCE”! CONFLICTING LOYALTY? YOU’LL REMEMBER WHAT JESUS SAID WHEN YOU HEAR THIS: “WHOSOEVER DOES NOT BEAR HIS CROSS & COME AFTER ME, CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE.” THERE ARE THOSE “WHO WANT TO” BUT THE PRICE SEEMS EXTEMELY STEEP! SPURGEON ONCE SAID, “A LIFE IN WHICH WE HAVE SHUNNED THE CROSS OF CHRIST WILL LEAD TO A STATE IN WHICH WE SHALL MISS THE CROWN OF GLORY.”

CONFLICTING LOYALTY? IN RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN MAN TO MAN, SOMETIMES COMPROMISE HAS BENEFITS, BUT TO SEEK TO “COMPROMISE” GOD’S REVEALED TRUTH BREEDS DISASTER! TO COMPROMISE OUR LORD’S COMMANDS IS TO ACKNOWLEDGE DISOBEDIENCE & TO STAND UNDER GOD’S JUDGENT! TO COMPROMISE IS TO DECAY OBEDIENCE & TO BRING ON A DETERIORATION OF MORALS. TO COMPROMISE IS TO VACATE PRIVILEGE. TO COMPROMISE IS TO WILLINGLY SLICE OFF THOSE PARTS OF “UNPLEASANT TRUTHS” THAT YOU SENSE “DON’T FIT MY PERSONALITY OR MAKE-UP OF WHOM I KNOW I AM”!

CONFLICTING LOYALTY? SPURGEON, IN HIS “SPURGEON’S SERMONS, “ [MEMORIAL LIBRARY, VOL.19,P.359],HAS A MESSAGE ENTITLED “NO COMPROMISE.” HE SAID: “THE NEW PLAN IS TO ASSIMILATE THE CHURCH TO THE WORLD, & SO INCLUDE A LARGER AREA WITHIN ITS BOUNDS. BY SEMI-DRAMATIC PERFORMANCES THEY MAKE HOUSES OF PRAYER TO APPROXIMATE THE THEATRE; THEY TURN THEIR SERVICES INTO MUSICAL DISPLAYS, & THEIR SERMONS INTO POLITICAL HARANGUES OR PHILOSOPHICAL ESSAYS – IN FACT, THEY EXCHANGE THE TEMPLE FOR THE THEATRE, & TURN THE MINISTERS OF GOD INTO ACTORS, WHOSE BUSINESS IT IS TO AMUSE MEN. IS IT NOT SO, THAT THE LORD’S DAY IS BECOMING MORE & MORE A DAY OF RECREATION OR OF IDLENESS, & THE LORD’S HOUSE EITHER A JOSS-HOUSE FULL OF IDOLS, OR A POLITICAL CLUB, WHERE THERE IS MORE ENTHUSIASM FOR A PARTY THAN ZEAL FOR GOD.” LORD, HELP US!!”

CONFLICTING LOYALTY? HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE CROSSED YOUR PATHS “IN CHURCH” WHO ARE MORE AT EASE WITH CHURCH AS A COMBAT ZONE THAN A CELEBRATION OF JESUS? DIVISIVENESS IS THEIR STRONG “SUIT”, OPPOSITION THEIR TRUE BONNET THEY WEAR REGULARLY, COMMITMENT TO THEIR WAY FIGHTING THE PASTOR & GOD’S TRUE PEOPLE TO DEATH IN ONE BITTER STRUGGLE AFTER ANOTHER! PROVERBS 21:2 SAYS, “ALL A MAN’S WAYS SEEM RIGHT TO HIM, BUT THE LORD WEIGHS THE HEART!”

CONFLICTING LOYALTY? OH, THEY PLAY THE ‘RELIGIOUS GAME’ AS “ONE COOL DUDE”, CALLOUSED TO THE CORE, WITH WILLINGLY CLOSED EYES TO ANYTHING BUT THEIR WAY OR THE HIGHWAY! PROVERBS 23:7 SAYS, “FOR AS A MAN THINKS IN HIS HEART, SO IS HE…”! YOU’VE WITNESSED IT: INTELLECTUAL ATTAINMENTS IN ONE’S MIND OF THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF THE BIBLE, GOD’S HOLY WORD, OFTEN BECOMING NOTHING MORE THAN CRIPPLING BELIEFS FORMED IN A DIVIDED MIND THEY DEEM SPIRITUALLY ACCEPTABLE! “THUS SAYS THE LORD” IS TRANSLATED, “AS I SEE IT…!”

CONFLICTING LOYALTY? EFFORT APART FROM TRANSFORMATION BY REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD & FAITH (FULL SURRENDER) TO THE FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST AT THE CROSS CREATES DESPAIR, NOT DELIVERANCE, HEALING, & SALVATION! A CHANGE IN OUTWARD BEHAVIOR IS NOT THE SPIRITUAL CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART! ROMANS 2:28-29 TELLS US: “FOR HE IS NOT A JEW, WHICH IS ONE OUTWARDLY; NEITHER IS THAT CIRCUMCISION, WHICH IS OUTWARD IN THE FLESH: BUT HE IS A JEW, WHICH IS ONE INWARDLY; & CIRCUMCISION IS THAT OF THE HEART, IN THE SPIRIT & NOT IN THE LETTER; WHOSE PRAISE IS NOT OF MEN, BUT OF GOD.”

CONFLICTING LOYALTY? REACHING UP, REACHING HIGH, IS NOT THE SAME AS BEING RAISED FROM THE DEAD BY GOD’S POWER! EXAMINE 1 CORINTHIANS 15:14&17! VERSE 14, “AND IF CHRIST BE NOT RISEN, THEN IS OUR PREACHING VAIN, & YOUR FAITH IS ALSO VAIN.” VERSE 17 SAYS: “AND IF CHRIST BE NOT RAISED, YOUR FAITH IS VAIN, YOU ARE YET IN YOUR SINS.”

CONFLICTING LOYALTY? SINFUL NATURES ARE NOT CLOAKED WITH RELIGIOUS GARMENTS, RELIGIOUS CONVERSATIONS, OR RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES, BUT “CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST”, INDWELT BY “HIS RESURRECTION PRESENCE”, DRESSES US IN ETERNAL RIGHTEOUSNESS!! GALATIANS 2:20 SAYS, “I AM CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST:NEVERTHELESS I LIVE; YET NOT I, BUT CHRIST LIVES IN ME; & THE LIFE WHICH I NOW LIVE IN THE FLESH I LIVE BY FAITH IN THE SON OF GOD, WHO LOVED ME, & GAVE HIMSELF FOR ME.I DO NOT FRUSTRATE THE GRACE OF GOD.”

CONFLICTING LOYALTY? “I’M A MAN SO DEVOTED TO THE COSTLY BRICKS & MORTARS, THE LIGHTS & STAINED GLASS, OF OUR BEAUTIFUL CHURCH,” FAILING TO UNDERSTAND HIS BODY IS GOD’S HOLY TEMPLE BECAUSE OF HIS GRACE, MERCY, & LOVE! 1 CORINTHIANS 6:19 SAYS, “WHAT, KNOW YOU NOT THAT YOUR BODY IS THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WHICH IS IN YOU, WHICH TEMPLE YOU HAVE OF GOD, & YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN?” 1 CORINTHIANS 3:16 SAYS, “KNOW YOU NOT THAT YOU (“IN CHRIST!”) ARE THE TEMPLE OF GOD, & THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD DWELLS IN YOU?” SOME SAY, “DISCIPLINE & SELF-DETERMINATION ARE THE MARKS OF AN AWARD-WINNING FOLLOWER OF CHRIST.” NO! THE MARK OF A TRUE DISCIPLE IS ONE “SET APART BY GOD HIMSELF, CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST ON HIS CROSS, RAISED UP IN JESUS, AS A “NEW CREATION”, WITH ONE’S BODY THE HOLY TEMPLE OF CHRIST’S RESURRECTED, GLORIFIED, REIGNING PRESENCE!!!

CONFLICTING LOYALTY? “FIG LEAVES,” FASHIONABLE SOPHISTICATION, PROPER OUTWARD ATTIRE, EDUCATED COMMON SENSE, ALL BAND-AIDS RATHER THAN HEART TRANSPLANTS, A MANLY TINKERING WITH MY SELF ON MY TERMS ALI’S STYLE: “SUPERMAN DON’T NEED NO SEAT-BELT”! REALLY? LOOK AT MATTHEW 13:15, “FOR THIS PEOPLE’S HEART IS WAXED GROSS, & THEIR EARS ARE DULL OF HEARING, & THEIR EYES THEY HAVE CLOSED; LEST AT ANY TIME THEY SHOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, & HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, & UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEARTS, & SHOULD BE CONVERTED, & I SHOULD HEAL THEM.” EYES FOCUSED INWARD ARE ONE’S RELIGIOUS ABILITY KEEPING THE MIND & HEART’S DOOR CLOSED TO GOD’S AMAZING GRACE & LOVE & POWER TO RESURRECT FROM THE DEAD EVERY REPENTANT, TRUSTING SOUL!!

I LOVE WHAT JOHN ELDRIDGE SAID IN HIS BOOK, “WAKING THE DEAD,” (P.161) – SO ON TARGET! “RELIGION & ITS DEFENDERS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THE MOST INSIDIOUS ENEMY OF THE TRUE FAITH PRECISLY BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT GLARING OPPONENTS; THEY ARE “IMPOSTERS”! ‘INSIDIDIOUS’? NOAH WEBSTER’S 1828 DICTIONARY DEFINES “INSIDIOUS” AS: “LYING IN WAIT; WATCHING FOR AN OPPORTUNITY TO ENSNARE OR ENTRAP; DECEITFUL, TREACHEROUS…”

CONFLICTING LOYALTY? IT’S NOT ‘FATE’, BUT FAITH, FELLOWSHIP, FOLLOWSHIP, FREEDOM…& A FIGHT, THE “GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH”! PERSONAL FATE IS OUT TO STEAL GOD’S GLORY! ANARCHY BECOMES A SUBSTITUTION FOR THE BLOOD ATONEMENT OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS! IT WAS T.S.ELIOT WHO SORROWFULLY LAMENTED: “ENDLESS INVENTION, ENDLESS EXPERIMENT, BRINGS KNOWLEDGE OF MOTION, BUT NOT OF STILLNESS; KNOWLEDGE OF SPEECH, BUT NOT OF SILENCE; KNOWLEDGE OF WORDS, & IGNORANCE OF THE WORD OF GOD. WHERE IS THE “LIFE” WE HAVE LOST IN LIVING, (TRYING OUR RELIGIOUS BEST), WHERE IS THE WISDOM WE HAVE LOST IN KNOWLEDGE?” (ELIOT’S WORDS ARE OUT OF HIS WRITING ENTITLED “CHORUSES FROM THE ROCK.”). CONFLICTING LOYALTY? “TEMPTATION IS NOT A TRAP – IT’S AN OPPORTUNITY OF DISCERNING WHAT I REALLY WANT OR NOT.” OH, REALLY?

JAMES 1:13-15 SAYS, “LET NO MAN SAY WHEN HE IS TEMPTED, ‘I AM TEMPTED OF GOD’; FOR GOD CANNOT BE TEMPTED WITH EVIL, NEITHER TEMPTS HE ANY MAN: BUT EVERY MAN IS TEMPTED, WHEN HE IS DRAWN AWAY OF HIS OWN LUST, & ENTICED. THEN WHEN LUST HAS CONCEIVED IT BRINGS FORTH SIN, & SIN, WHEN IT IS FINISHED, BRINGS FORTH DEATH.” CONFLICTING LOYALTY? “PRESSURE, PRESSURE, PRESSURE! THIS ‘JOB’ IS SO DEMANDING – I’M GOING TO HAVE TO ‘CUT CORNERS’ SOMEWHERE, SOMEHOW, EVEN IF IT’S WRONG!” HUDSON TAYLOR HAD DIFFICULT TRIALS HE HAD TO FACE UP TO-SO HE WROTE OF THAT HARD MOMENT, “IT DOESN’T MATTER HOW GREAT THE PRESSURE IS. WHAT REALLY MATTERS IS “WHERE THE PRESSURE LIES – WHETHER IT COMES BETWEEN YOU & GOD OR WHETHER IT PRESSES YOU NEARER HIS HEART.” NEVER LET PRESSURE TO CAUSE YOU TO PASS BY JESUS HIMSELF “TRYING YOUR BEST”!

CONFLICING LOYALTY? THAT’S WHEN COURAGE IS CALLED FOR BUT ONE ALLOWS COWARDICE TO CALL THE SHOTS! NO DOUBT THIS IS WHY THE FAMOUS ALEKSANDR SOLZHENITSYN WROTE IN “EAST & WEST”, [NEW YORK, HARPER & ROW, 1980,P.45], “MUST ONE POINT OUT THAT FROM ANCIENT TIMES A DECLINE IN COURAGE HAS BEEN CONSIDERED THE BEGINNING OF THE END.”

CONFLICTING LOYALTY? IT WAS MARTIN LUTHER WHO SAID: “THE ULTIMATE PROOF OF THE SINNER IS THAT HE DOES NOT KNOW HIS OWN SIN.” LISTEN CAREFULLY TO JERRY FALWELL’S “25 OF THE GREATEST SERMONS EVER PREACHED,” [GRAND RAPIDS:BAKER BOOK HOUSE, 1983,P.18], A QUOTE OF GEORGE WHITFIELD FROM HIS FAMOUS MESSAGE, “THE METHOD OF GRACE,” BASED ON JEREMIAH 6:14! WHITFIELD SAID: “AS GOD CAN SEND A NATION OR A PEOPLE NO GREATER BLESSING THAN TO GIVE THEM FAITHFUL, SINCERE, & UPRIGHT MINISTERS, SO THE GREATEST CURSE THAT GOD CAN POSSIBLY SEND UPON A PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD IS TO GIVE THEM OVER TO BLIND, UNREGENERATE, CARNAL, LUKEWARM, & UNSKILLED GUIDES. AND YET, IN ALL AGES, WE FIND THAT THERE HAVE BEEN MANY WOLVES IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING…THAT PROPHESIED SMOOTHER THINGS THAN GOD DID ALLOW.”

CONFLICTING LOYALTY? IN NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI’S “THE PRINCE,” [NEW YORK; BANTAM,1966,P.63], HE WROTE: “MEN ARE SO SIMPLE & SO MUCH INCLINED TO OBEY IMMEDIATE NEEDS THAT A DECEIVER WILL NEVER LACK VICTIMS FOR HIS DECEPTIONS.” WOW!! I ALSO READ DR. JAMES KENNEDY’S & JERRY NEWCOMBE’S BOOK, “CROSS PURPOSES,” [MULTONOMAL PUBL.,2007, PPS.25-26], “WHEN I WAS IN SEMINARY, I WENT TO A JAIL TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THOSE WHO WERE LOCKED UP INSIDE. I HAD NEVER BEEN TO A PLACE LIKE THAT TO PREACH, & I MUST SAY I WAS A LITTLE UNNERVED BY IT. I WAS SENT INTO A BIG ROOM WHERE I WAS SEPARATED BY BARS FROM PROBABLY A DOZEN PRISONERS. AS THEY WERE MILLING AROUND, I STARTED TO TALK TO THEM. I PROBABLY HADN’T GOTTEN TWO MINUTES INTO MY TALK WHEN ONE OF THE LARGEST INMATES SUDDENLY CAME AT THE BARS (WHICH I WAS HAPPY WERE THERE AT THAT POINT) & SAID TO ME, “MISTER, YOU JUST GO TELL THAT GOD OF YOURS ALL I WANT FROM HIM IS WHAT I DESERVE!”…”SIR”, I REPLIED, “IF YOU GOT WHAT YOU DESERVED FROM GOD, THE FLOOR WOULD OPEN UPRIGHT WHERE YOU STAND & DROP YOU STRAIGHT INTO HELL, FOR THAT IS PRECISELY WHAT YOU DESERVE. I DON’T SAY THAT BECAUSE YOU’RE BEHIND THESE BARS WHILE I’M OUTSIDE THEM, BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT WE ALL DESERVE. IF WE GOT OUR JUST DESSERTS, WE WOULD EACH & EVERY ONE BE CONDEMNED – BECAUSE YOU SEE, WE’RE ACTUALLY ALREADY CONDEMNED. CHRIST SAID OF THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE, “YOU ARE CONDEMNED ALREADY”, [JOHN 3:18].

BUT, LET ME “SHIFT GEARS”! I PRAY “CONFLICTING LOYALTY” NEVER BECOMES THE PATTERN IN YOUR LIFE BUT THAT “BY FAITH & TRUST” YOU APPROPRIATE OUR LORD’S “ALL-CONSUMING LOVE”!! THE SCRIPTURE I FEEL SO LED BY OUR LORD TO SHARE WITH YOU IN THIS MOMENT IS ROMANS 8:35-39! PAUL WROTE: “WHO SHALL SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF CHRIST? SHALL TRIBULATION, OR DISTRESS, OR PERSECUTION, OR FAMINE, OR NAKEDNESS, OR PERIL, OR SWORD? AS IT IS WRITTEN: ‘FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE KILLED ALL DAY LONG; WE ARE ACCOUNTED AS SHEEP FOR THE SLAUGHTER.’ “YET IN ALL THESE THINGS WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH HIM WHO LOVED US.” FOR I AM PERSUADED THAT NEITHER DEATH NOR LIFE, NOR ANGELS NOR PRINCIPALITIES NOR POWERS, NOR ANY OTHER CREATED THING, SHALL BE ABLE TO SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD WHICH IS IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD.” I DON’T KNOW HOW ONE CAN LISTEN TO THAT PASSAGE & IGNORE IT, BUT THE ONE THING I’M SURE OF IS THE FACT THERE ARE THOSE WHO WOULD LIKE TO ‘SEPARATE’ US FROM CHRIST JESUS! “THE LOVE OF CHRIST” IS AN OFFENSE TO SATAN & THE POWERS OF DARKNESS; “THE LOVE OF CHRIST” IS A STUMBLING BLOCK TO THOSE WHO WOULD BE RECONCILED TO GOD ON THEIR OWN TERMS; “THE LOVE OF CHRIST” BECOMES CONTEMPTIBLE TO SOME BECAUSE THEY DON’T RECEIVE GOD IN CHRIST WHO FIRST LOVED US; “THE LOVE OF CHRIST” SEPARATES SOME BECAUSE RELATIONSHIP TO HOLY GOD ,TO THEM, IS MERITED, EARNED, REWARDED BY WHAT “WE DO” – NOT WHAT “CHRIST HAS DONE, HAD TO DO,ONCE FOR ALL AT THE CROSS!!” THE “LOVE OF CHRIST”, FOR SOME, INFURIATES THEM, BECAUSE THEY SAY, “MY BEHAVIOR SHOULD BE RECOGNIZED BY GOD REWARDING ME BECAUSE OF MY UNDAUNTED RADIANCE IN A “JOB WELL DONE” – I SHINE BRIGHTER THAN EVEN JESUS WHO WAS CALLED “THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD”, WHEN ‘MY’ BEST-EFFORT’ FAR EXCEEDED HIS CROSS!”

IT MUST BE UNDERSTOOD: “LOVE FOR GOD IS NOT MANUFACTURED IN A FALLEN MAN’S HEART OR MIND!” IT’S WHY JOHN WROTE IN 1 JOHN 4:19, “WE LOVE HIM BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US.” THERE HAS NEVER BEEN MAN, WOMAN, BOY, OR GIRL, INCLINED TO LOVE GOD & BE HIS FOLLOWER & DEVOTED SERVANT. THE DARKNESS OF ONE’S BEING HAS NEVER PRODUCED ‘NEW LIFE’ BUT ONLY HIS AMAZING LOVE TRANSFORMS OUR DARKNESS INTO HIS LIFE & LIGHT & LIBERTY & LOVE! IT IS SO VERY CLEAR THROUGHOUT ALL THE WORD OF GOD THAT ANY MAN WHO DOES NOT PASSIONATELY LOVE GOD HAS NEVER ‘TRULY’ KNOWN HIM NOR BEEN ‘BIRTHED’ INTO THE FAMILY OF FAITH RELATIONSHIP! BUT, IF WE HAVE BEEN ‘BIRTHED’ INTO A FAMILY OF FAITH RELATIONSHIP, DOES THAT MEAN OUR ‘LIFE-STYLE’ IS UNCONDITIONAL LOVE OF OTHERS? IN 1 JOHN 4:10-11 WE READ, HEREIN IS LOVE, NOT THAT WE LOVED GOD,BUT THAT HE LOVED US, &,SENT HIS SON TO BE THE PROPITIATION FOR OUR SINS. BELOVED, IF GOD SO LOVED US, WE ALSO OUGHT TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER.”

SPURGEON WAS A VERY BOLD, BRILLIANT PREACHER & STUDENT OF GOD’S WORD. IN HIS NINTH VOLUME OF “SPURGEON’S SERMONS”, (PPS.307-308), HE WROTE: “NOW NO MAN IS A CHRISTIAN WHO DOES NOT LOVE CHRISTIANS. HE,WHO,BEING IN THE CHURCH,IS YET NOT OF IT HEART & SOUL, IS BUT AN INTRUDER IN THE FAMILY. BUT SINCE LOVE TO OUR BRETHREN SPRINGS OUT OF LOVE TO OUR ONE COMMON FATHER, IT IS PLAIN THAT WE MUST HAVE LOVE TO THAT FATHER, OR ELSE WE SHALL FAIL IN ONE OF THE INDISPENSIBLE MARKS OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD: ‘WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE PASSED FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE BECAUSE WE LOVE THE BRETHREN;” BUT WE CANNOT LOVE THE BRETHREN UNLESS WE LOVE THE FATHER; THEREFORE, LACKING LOVE TO GOD, WE LACK LOVE TO THE CHURCH, WHICH IS AN ESSENTIAL MARK OF GRACE.”

THERE ARE TWO VERSES IN JOHN 1 THAT WE NEED TO PUT TOGETHER!! JOHN 1:14 SAYS, “AND THE WORD BECAME FLESH & LIVED AMONG US, & WE HAVE SEEN HIS GLORY, THE GLORY OF A FATHER’S ONLY SON, FULL OF GRACE & TRUTH.” THEN LOOK AT VERSE 18! “NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN GOD. IT IS GOD THE ONLY SON, WHO IS CLOSE TO THE FATHER’S HEART, WHO HAS MADE HIM KNOWN.” DO YOU SEE IT? THE WORD [IMMANUEL, ‘GOD IN FLESH’] BECAME FLESH! AND THE GOD WE’D NEVER KNOWN BECAME CLEARLY VISIBLE! ALL OF A SUDDEN, FLASHING BEFORE US LIKE 10,000 RAYS OF THE SUN IS JESUS: “GOD IS LIGHT!” GOD IS LOVE! GOD IS LIBERTY! GOD LIFTS US OUT OF DESPAIR TO HIS THRONE OF GRACE, MERCY, & LOVE!

DIDN’T PAUL TELL US THROUGH HIS COLOSSIANS LETTER: “HE [JESUS] IS THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD.” [COLOSSIANS 1:15], & THEN IN COLOSSIANS 1:22 HE SAID, “FOR IN HIM ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD WAS PLEASED TO DWELL.” I WROTE: “WONDROUS LOVE SO FULL OF LIFE, WONDROUS LOVE SUBSIDING STRIFE, WONDROUS LOVE TO US IS GIVEN WONDROUS LOVE TRANSPORTS TO HEAVEN. WONDROUS LOVE, JESUS CAME, TO SHOW GOD, JESUS, THE SPIRIT IS THE SAME. WONDROUS LOVE TO SET US FREE, NO LONGER A CAPTIVE OF SATAN TO BE. WONDROUS LOVE, GOD’S SON WAS GROANING, BECAUSE OF HIS LOVE FROM SIN ATONING .”

PAUL SAID IN ROMANS 5:8, “BUT GOD DEMONSTRATES HIS OWN LOVE TOWARD US, IN THAT WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS, CHRIST “DIED FOR US”.” WHAT AN AWESOME REVELATION! THE WORD ‘DEMONSTRATES’ IS FROM A GREEK WORD MEANING “TO COMMAND, ESTABLISH, STAND NEAR, CONSISTS” – OR “HOLDS TOGETHER”! IN EPHESIANS 4 PAUL HAD BEEN TALKING ABOUT “THE EQUIPPING OF THE SAINTS FOR THE WORK OF MINISTRY, FOR THE EDIFYING OF THE BODY OF CHRIST,” VERSE 12, & THEN HE SAID IN VERSE 15, “BUT SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN LOVE, MAY GROW UP IN ALL THINGS INTO HIM WHO IS THE HEAD –CHRIST- VERSE 16, FROM WHOM THE WHOLE BODY, JOINED & KNIT TOGETHER BY WHAT EVERY JOINT SUPPLIES, ACCORDING TO THE EFFECTIVE WORKING BY WHICH EVERY PART DOES ITS SHARE, CAUSES GROWTH OF THE BODY FOR THE EDIFYING OF ITSELF IN LOVE.”

HOW DO WE RATIONALLY, FAITHFULLY, PRACTICALLY, PUT ALL THIS TOGETHER TO HONOR GOD’S FAITHFULNESS TO US? 1) “REST IN” THE FACT THAT GOD HIMSELF “PROVED, COMMENDED, DEMONSTRATED” HIS LOVE TOWARD ALL MEN!” WHAT DOES JOHN 3:16 TELL US? “FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM(TRUSTS IN, RELIES UPON, ADHERES TO) SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAS EVERLASTING LIFE.”

2) GOD KNEW, UNDERSTOOD, GRASPED THE SORROWFUL TRUTH THAT MEN’S SIN BROUGHT SEPARATION FROM HIM! I DON’T KNOW WHO WROTE IT, BUT THEY SURE UNDERSTOOD SIN’S CONSEQUENCE –“SIN IS MAN’S DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE FROM GOD!” IT WAS JOHN BUNYAN IN “THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS” WHO WROTE: “ONE LEAK WILL SINK A SHIP; & ONE SIN WILL DESTROY A SINNER,” AND GOD’S INTENT IS TO RESURRECT A ‘SINKING SHIP’, TO RESURRECT SPIRITUALLY DEAD, DESTROYED SINNERS WHO HAVE BEEN SEPARATED FROM HIS ETERNAL LOVE!

3) GOD SOVEREIGNLY DETERMINED ONLY A SINLESS SACRIFICE WAS SUFFICIENT, SUPREMELY EFFECTIVE, TO SAVE SINFUL MAN FROM HIS SIN & RECONCILE HIM TO HOLY GOD! ROMANS 6:23 SAYS, “FOR THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH, BUT THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD.” PAUL HAD TOLD THE CHURCH AT ROME, & US, ROMANS 5:21, “SO THAT AS SIN REIGNED IN DEATH, EVEN SO GRACE MIGHT REIGN THROUGH RIGHTEOUSNESS TO ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.”

OH, THEN PAUL REALLY DISSPELLED THE PHONINESS OF SOME MODERN-DAY TEACHINGS THAT CHRISTIANS CAN’T DO ANYTHING BUT SIN UNTIL THEY GET TO HEAVEN? YES! ROMANS 6:1-3 & VERSE 10 TELLS US: “WHAT SHALL WE SAY THEN? SHALL WE CONTINUE IN SIN, THAT GRACE MAY ABOUND? GOD FORBID! HOW SHALL WE, THAT ARE DEAD IN SIN,LIVE ANY LONGER THEREIN? KNOW YOU NOT, THAT SO MANY AS WERE BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST JESUS WERE BAPTIZED INTO HIS DEATH? VERSE 10 THEN SAYS, FOR IN THAT HE DIED, HE DIED UNTO SIN ONCE; BUT THAT HE LIVES, HE LIVES UNTO GOD.” CHAMBERS THEN COMMENTED:

“THE SALVATION OF GOD DOES NOT STAND ON HUMAN LOGIC, IT STANDS ON THE SACRIFICIAL DEATH OF JESUS. WE CAN BE BORN AGAIN BECAUSE OF THE ATONEMENT OF OUR LORD. SINFUL MEN & SINFUL WOMEN CAN BE CHANGED INTO ‘NEW CREATIONS’, NOT BY THEIR REPENTANCE OR BELIEF, BUT BY THE MARVELOUS WORK OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS WHICH IS PRIOR TO ALL EXPERIENCE. THE IMPREGNABLE SAFETY OF JUSTIFICATION & SANCTIFICATION IS GOD HIMSELF! WE HAVE NOT TO WORK OUT THESE THINGS FOR OURSELVES; THEY HAVE BEEN WORKED OUT BY THE ATONEMENT. THE SUPERNATURAL BECOMES NATURAL BY THE MIRACLE OF GOD; THERE IS THE REALIZATION OF WHAT JESUS CHRIST HAS ALREADY DONE – “IT IS FINISHED!”

GOD’S HEAVENLY LOVE MADE PRACTICAL FOR US? 2 CORINTHIANS 5:21, “FOR HE [GOD] MADE HIM [JESUS] WHO KNEW NO SIN TO BE SIN FOR US, THAT WE MIGHT BECOME THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST!”

4) AMAZING LOVE? IF YOU WERE THE ONLY PERSON WHO HAD EVER LIVED –PAST,PRESENT,OR FUTURE- ON THE CROSS,JESUS WOULD HAVE DIED THERE “JUST FOR YOU”!! “GOD COMMENDED HIS LOVE FOR US, IN THAT WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US.” CAN “YOU” SAY, “CHRIST DIED FOR ME?” I DON’T KNOW HOW YOU RESPOND TO THAT, BUT IN JOB 42:5-6 WE READ: “I HAVE HEARD OF YOU BY THE HEARING OF THE EAR: BUT NOW MY EYES HAVE SEEN YOU. WHEREFORE I ABHOR MYSELF, & REPENT IN DUST & ASHES.” TO SEE JESUS DYING ON THE CROSS FOR YOU, IS TO SEE YOURSELF AS GOD SEES YOU WITHOUT HIM,YET HE LOVES YOU ANYWAY – AND PROVES HIS LOVE!

DR.JAMES KENNEDY, IN HIS BOOK “THE PRESENCE OF A HIDDEN GOD”,[P.141],WROTE: “JUST IMAGINE FOR A MOMENT THAT GOD WERE “NOT” LOVE. SUPPOSE, INSTEAD, THAT GOD WERE A COSMIC OGRE, PLAYING WITH PEOPLE LIKE GRASSHOPPERS IN A BOTTLE –SUPPOSE GOD WERE A DEMON, FILLED WITH MALEVOLENT HATRED, OR SUPPOSE GOD WERE AN IMPERSONAL FORCE, LIKE FATE OR SOME MACHINE THAT HAD NO FEELING, NO SYMPATHY WHATSOEVER TOWARD MANKIND.”

BUT THAT’S NOT OUR GOD OF CALVARY’S CROSS! OH, THERE ARE THOSE WHO TRULY WISH GOD WERE DEAD, BUT EVEN TO THEM THE CROSS & EMPTY TOMB STILL STAND AS EXPRESSIONS OF ETERNAL LOVE FOR ETERNAL FOOLS! “THE FOOL HAS SAID IN HIS HEART, ‘THERE IS NO GOD’!” BUT, HISTORY STANDS: OUR GOD IS THE GOD WHO WILL NOT DIE – WE SERVE A RISEN SAVIOR!!

YOU NEED TO KNOW IT IF YOU’VE NEVER HEARD IT: “WE LOVE HIM BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US!” AN OLD HYMN SAYS IT LIKE THIS: “SEE FROM HIS HEAD, HIS HANDS, HIS FEET, SORROW & LOVE FLOW MINGLING DOWN; DID E’ER SUCH LOVE & SORROW MEET, OR THORNS COMPOSE SO RICH A CROWN?” DO “YOU” UNDERSTAND? IT’S ONLY IN SEEING JESUS SUFFER, BLEED, & DIE FOR OUR SINS THAT ONE TRULY DISCERNS, DISCOVERS, & DEPENDS ON THE LOVE OF GOD? HERE’S HOW SPURGEON PUT IT LONG AGO: [SPURGEON’S SERMONS, VOL.9,P.311], “AGAIN, OUR LOVE TO GOD DOES NOT SPRING FROM THE SELF-DETERMINING POWER OF THE WILL. I GREATLY QUESTION WHERE ANY THING DOES IN THE WORLD, GOOD OR BAD. THERE ARE SOME WHO SET UP THE WILL AS A KIND OF DEITY, – IT DOES AS IT WILLS WITH EARTH & HEAVEN; BUT IN TRUTH THE WILL IS NOT A MASTER BUT A SERVANT. TO THE SINNER HIS WILL IS A SLAVE; & IN THE SAINT, ALTHOUGH THE WILL IS SET FREE, IT IS STILL BLESSEDLY UNDER BONDS TO GOD. MEN DO NOT WILL A THING BECAUSE THEY WILL IT, BUT BECAUSE THEIR AFFECTIONS, THEIR PASSIONS, OR THEIR JUDGEMENTS INFLUENCE THEIR WILLS IN THAT DIRECTION. NO MAN CAN STAND UP & SAY, “I,UNBIASEZED & UNAIDED, WILL TO LOVE GOD & I WILL NOT LOVE SATAN.” SUCH PROUD, SELF-ASSURING LANGUAGE WOULD PROVE HIM A LIAR; THE MAN WOULD BE CLEARLY A WORSHIPPER OF HIMSELF. A MAN CAN ONLY LOVE GOD WHEN HE HAS PERCEIVED SOME REASONS FOR SO DOING; & THE FIRST ARGUMENT FOR LOVING GOD, WHICH INFLUENCES THE INTELLECT SO AS TO TURN THE AFFECTIONS, IS THE REASON MENTIONED IN THE TEXT, “WE LOVE HIM BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US.” HEAR ME!

GOD HIMSELF ESTABLISHED FOREVER HIS LOVE FOR “YOU” AS JESUS SUFFERED, BLED, & DIED ON THE CROSS! GOD DEMONSTRATED! GOD PROVED HIS LOVE FOR YOU AT CALVARY! NOW, HOW IS THAT AWESOME UNDERSTANDING MAINTAINED PRODUCTIVELY & EFFICIENTLY DAY BY DAY? LOOK AT ROMANS 5:5! “AND HOPE MAKES NOT ASHAMED; BECAUSE THE LOVE OF GOD IS SHED ABROAD IN OUR HEARTS BY THE HOLY SPIRIT WHICH IS GIVEN TO US.”

HISTORY! HISTORIC PRESENCE & POWER! ROMANS 5:6 SAYS, “FOR WHEN WE WERE YET WITHOUT STRENGTH, IN DUE TIME CHRIST DIED FOR THE UNGODLY.” WE WERE “ENEMIES” BUT RECONCILED TO GOD THROUGH THE DEATH OF HIS SON, ROMANS 5:10, “FOR IF, WHEN WE WERE ENEMIES, WE WERE RECONCILED TO GOD BY THE DEATH OF HIS SON, MUCH MORE THEN, BEING RECONCILED, WE SHALL BE (BEING) SAVED BY HIS LIFE.”

HISTORY? JOHN PIPER, IN HIS BOOK “THE PLEASURES OF GOD”, [P.165], WROTE: “JESUS WANTS US TO SEE THAT HIS WILLINGNESS TO LOSE HIS LIFE IS BECAUSE OF HIS LOVE FOR THE GLORY OF THE FATHER.” HE THEN QUOTED JOHN 17:4, “I HAVE GLORIFIED YOU ON THE EARTH; I HAVE FINISHED THE WORK WHICH YOU GAVE ME TO DO.” THEN PIPER SAID: “ALL OF JESUS’ WORK WAS DESIGNED TO HONOR THE WORTH OF HIS FATHER’S GLORY. EVERYTHING JESUS SUFFERED, HE SUFFERED FOR THE SAKE OF GOD’S GLORY. THEREFORE, ALL HIS PAIN & SHAME & HUMILIATION & DISHONOR SERVED TO MAGNIFY THE FATHER’S GLORY, BECAUSE THEY SHOWED HOW INFINITELY VALUABLE GOD’S GLORY IS, THAT SUCH A LOSS SHOULD BE SUFFERED TO DEMONSTRATE ITS WORTH.”

AND WHAT ABOUT YOUR LIFE, YOUR WALK, YOUR CALLING, YOUR PURPOSE? IS IT TO HONOR THE WORTH OF THE FATHER’S GLORY? HOW DID PAUL PUT IT? 1 CORINTHIANS 10:31, “WHEREFORE THEREFORE YOU EAT OR DRINK, OR WHATSOEVER YOU DO, DO ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD.” IN HIS WRITING “MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST”, (P.238),OSWALD CHAMBERS WROTE: “THE TENDENCY IS TO LOOK FOR THE MARVELOUS IN OUR EXPERIENCE; WE MISTAKE THE SENSE OF THE HEROES FOR BEING HEROES. IT IS ONE THING TO GO THROUGH A CRISIS GRANDLY, BUT ANOTHER THING TO GO THROUGH EVERY DAY GLORIFYING GOD WHEN THERE IS NO WITNESS, NO LIMELIGHT, NO ONE PAYING THE REMOTEST ATTENTION TO US. IF WE DO NOT WANT MEDIAVAL HALOES, WE WANT SOMETHING THAT WILL MAKE PEOPLE SAY, ‘WHAT A WONDERFUL MAN OF PRAYER HE IS! WHAT A PIOUS DEVOTED WOMAN SHE IS!’ IF THEN YOU ARE RIGHTLY DEVOTED TO THE LORD JESUS, YOU HAVE REACHED THE SUBLIME HEIGHT WHERE NO ONE EVER THINKS OF NOTICING YOU, ALL THAT IS NOTICED IS THAT THE POWER OF GOD COMES THROUGH YOU ALL THE TIME.”

CHARLES WESLEY WROTE THE FOLLOWING HYMN: “O FOR A THOUSAND TONGUES.” IT SAYS: “O FOR A 1000 TONGUES TO SING MY GREAT REDEEMER’S PRAISE, THE GLORIES OF MY GOD & KING, THE TRIUMPHS OF HIS GRACE. MY GRACIOUS MASTER & MY GOD, ASSIST ME TO PROCLAIM, TO SPREAD THROUGH ALL THE EARTH ABROAD, THE HONORS OF YOUR NAME.

JESUS! THE NAME THAT CHARMS OUR FEARS, THAT BIDS OUR SORROWS CEASE; IT’S MUSIC IN THE SINNER’S EARS, IT’S LIFE, & HEALTH, & PEACE.

HE BREAKS THE POWER OF CANCELED SIN, HE SETS THE PRISONERS FREE; HIS BLOOD CAN MAKE THE FOULEST CLEAN; HIS BLOOD AVAILED FOR ME.”

IN REVELATION 1:4-5 JOHN WROTE: “GRACE TO YOU & PEACE F ROM HIM WHO IS & WHO WAS & WHO IS TO COME, & FROM THE SEVEN SPIRITS WHO ARE BEFORE HIS THRONE, & FROM JESUS CHRIST, THE FAITHFUL WITNESS, THE FIRTSTBORN FROM THE DEAD, & THE RULER OVER THE KINGS OF THE EARTH. TO HIM WHO LOVED US & WASHED US FROM OUR SINS IN HIS OWN BLOOD…” AMEN?

BY J.FARRELL FISHER

Acts 20:24, “But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”

“Falling short or finishing my course?” It’s really interesting, challenging, convicting, that Paul tells us in Acts 20:22 that he was going “bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there…,” but he clearly understood, by the testimony of the Holy Spirit in him, “that chains and tribulations await me.”

And, notice, in verse 24 Paul said, “But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the grace of God.”

But is it possible that there are those “followers of Christ” who do not finish the course ordained of God for them? Paul said in Acts 20:29-30, “For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.”

In 2 Corinthians 6:12 Paul challenged the ‘church’ at Corinth, “You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections.” Did some listen but others didn’t? Did some become blinded to the faith rather than eyes fixed on Jesus? Did some become “unequally yoked together with unbelievers?” Did they willfully try to share the “fellowship of righteousness” with “lawlessness”? Did they choose to try to walk in both ‘light’ and ‘darkness’? Were they ‘OK’ with “idols”?

Of course, you are aware that some “professors of faith” in Christ have done nothing more than attempt to be a ‘Christian’ apart from repentance toward God and faith alone in the finished work of Christ – to them, ‘churchianity’ is highly appealing, and with the best efforts of ‘natural individuality’ they attempt a walk of holiness, yes, apart from the “Healer” and the “Helper” – and ‘flesh’ always tires, falls short, or turns aside from the goal!

“Falling short”? Isaiah 26:3 tells us, “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” But rather than “stayed on God” there are those who “stray” from Him, rather than being continuously quickened there are those who consciously quit, rather than ‘remember’ they forget, and rather than ‘zoned in’ there are those who zero out!

In fact, in John 6:66 we read, “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.” Do you remember Luke 9 where three different people ‘talked’ about following Jesus, but all three came up with excuses or explanations and Jesus said in Luke 9:62, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” I’d say that’s a serious indictment!!

And what brings on that spiritual rebellion, spiritual indifference, and a spiritual departure? I sense in my spirit that Paul wrote Timothy with tears as he told him, in 2 Timothy 4:10, “..Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world.”

I have no doubt that you know and remember Galatians 5:1 as Paul instructed the church then and now to stand in the “Christ-given liberty.” “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” But “entanglements” can and do become a forfeiture of faith, fellowship, and ‘follow-ship’! ‘Yokes of bondage’ are not figments of one’s imaginations but strong bonds of self-destruction! If a man is “sowing to his flesh,” [that’s his old sin nature], he “will of the flesh reap corruption.” [Galatians 6:8].

But in our Lord and Savior we are no longer “helpless sinners” but truly “hope-filled saints” set apart to honor our Lord and Savior through a life fully yielded to the King of kings and Lord of lords! Our walk of faith is not “performance-oriented” but is eternally based on our “position” of oneness in and through Christ alone! This is why Paul wrote in Romans 5:17, “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more, those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”

“Abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness”, but you ‘struggle’ to try and live a godly life? It’s not our ‘struggle’ but our surrender to the Indwelling Christ that gives us victory, it’s not our fleshly ambition to be a spiritual man or woman, but the “blood Atonement” of Christ Jesus, it’s not ‘manly effort’ but the Master’s inclusion of us ‘in Him’ ON THE CROSS!! He died on the Cross and we were “crucified” with Him! Oswald Chambers wrote: “Our Lord took on Him our human flesh and transfigured it, and it has become for every saint the temple of the Holy Ghost.” Glory!

Do you realize how many professing Christians are “trudging toward God-likeness” when in Psalm 46:10 He tells us: “Be still, and know that I am God!”?Chambers, in his “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.37], also wrote: “There are times when it seems as if God watches to see if we will give Him the abandoned tokens of how genuinely we do love Him. Abandon to God is of more value than personal holiness. Personal holiness focuses the eye on our own whiteness; we are greatly concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, fearful lest we offend Him. Perfect love casts out all that when once we are abandoned to God. We have to get rid of this notion – “Am I of any use?” and make up our minds that we are not, and we may be near the truth. It is never a question of being of use, but of being of value to God Himself. When we are abandoned to God, He works through us all the time.”

I have no doubt this is why Paul wrote 2 Corinthians 11:2-3! “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” What a powerful revelation! “The simplicity that is in Christ!”

The Apostle Paul also had to confront ‘deception’ in the Galatian letter. In Galatians 3:3 he wrote: “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” The simplicity that is in Christ? Do you really know that, received it, and you walk in it? The author of Hebrews tells us about our great High Priest, “who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life.” That’s Jesus, but you yield to the “best” of your human flesh that He judged worthy only of the Cross?

I’m sure you remember the story in Mark 10 as Jesus counseled ‘the rich young ruler’ who came to Him with the question, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” Jesus confronted him with biblical commandments that are there to expose our own law-breaking, bringing us to, not a place but a Person, who can redeem us from the curse of the Law! The young man declared he’d kept all the law. Jesus told him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” The word says, “But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” [Do you know any who substitute who they are and what they have over oneness with Christ?]

For you, is it “performance” apart from “saving grace and mercy of the Cross”? For you, is it “promotion” of who you are and what you’re capable of doing in the best efforts of fallen flesh or are you fixed on “Jesus Only”?

You do understand that spiritual ‘history’ in all ages and all places, even including the “church” itself, lives with a ‘dark cloud’ of counterfeit allegiance apart from the desire to be one with God, God’s Way, in and through the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ alone! It’s in most men’s minds and hearts to decide whether or not they are even interested in the things of God. ‘They’ will leave open or close the door, they think, themselves!

But they better look to the God who is still seated on His Throne because when He arises they may not be interested in what He is up to when His “Judgment Day” comes! ‘Mortal ills’ will prevail for a season, and then the “mighty fortress” arises, and He prevails! C.S. Lewis wrote in “The Great Divorce”: “There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, ‘Your will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then, have it your way.’”

I pray you’re a man who knows about taking off your shoes because you’ve sensed, faithed, recognized, “holy ground” that you’re walking on! In “Aurora Leigh” [Book VII,l.821], Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote: “Earth’s crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God. And only he who sees takes off his shoes, The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.” As YOU look around at fallen humanity, do you see faces covered with the blackberry-stains?

“Falling short or finishing the course?” I remind you of John 3:19-20! “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.”

If a man loves darkness rather than light, if he loves ‘practicing evil’, if he refuses to ‘come to the light,’ he does so because he ignores conviction of sin, accepts his self-induced ‘respectable goodness,’ looks only unto himself for his rescue, refuses an arousal of the guilt of sin, and denies God’s grace, mercy, and love. He believes, “I am able to resolve my own ‘heart-problem’,” and have no need of God’s divine intervention!

But one who “comes to the light” because he knows the darkness of his own heart? Galatians 5:24 tells us, “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” They, yes, have accepted God’s judgment of their sin – they willingly ‘deny themselves’ and “rest” in the finished work of Christ at the Cross! Denying your self is understanding that God’s presence in you is better than justification of your old sin nature!

“I die daily?” Why? “I take the sentence of death unto myself that the resurrection life of Christ may be manifested in my mortal flesh.” Oh, really? “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” Are you sure that’s YOUR path?

Is it your pastor’s major emphasis, not only by his pulpit preaching, but by his daily example, Matthew 16:24-25, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Are you aware of God’s deep and passionate desire that you be brought into “Oneness” with Him with you surrendering all of your rights under His Holy Sovereignty?

What was Jesus’ prayer in John 17? Look at verse 22! “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one…” Does that mean ‘one in nature and character’? Does that mean ‘one in intent and purpose’? Does that mean ‘one in obedience, even the Cross’? Does that mean ‘one in the Spirit’ with death to your flesh, your old man, your old sin nature’?

What did Paul say in Galatians 6:14? “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” But not all have severed ties with a fallen world but battle within at times for allegiance only to their Lord and Savior or allegiance to the sinful nature of a world of sin, wrongness, deception, darkness, unbelief, even spiritual madness!

“Falling short or finishing the course”? Romans 1:25-32 says, telling us that there are those “who exchanged the truth of God “FOR THE LIE” [you can sin and not die!!], and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen….

For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due….

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,…

Backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”

“Falling short or finishing the course”? Some are so unwilling to leave a past life of debasing sinfulness and rest in the finished work of Christ, because they understand in Christ the past life of sin IS OVER and resurrection life in Christ begins! Though one sinned and fell short of the glory of God, “In Christ” those who repent, trust in, rely upon Jesus are “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” That’s Romans 3:24!

And now, because of His saving grace, mercy, and love, we become “new creations” with the old life dead through Christ at the Cross and the new life beginning because of His Resurrection! Because of our Savior and Lord, whatever we do, we “do all to the glory of God”!

Have you appropriated His “divine forgiveness”? Have you been told, John 8:36, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed”? No more slavery to Satan, no more bondage to an old sin nature He put to death, no more prison shackles to your old life, no more shame of the old things so opposite of the nature and character of God, no more ‘brazenness’ of “look at me, at who I am, of what I’ve done” – NO, “I AM CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST”! “Look at the Christ within!!”

If you don’t know it now, you will soon: I Peter 4:12-14 says, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you…” Amen?

Oh, I know: There are the “blessed people” (?) – that’s all they know! But the walk of true faith is discipleship, following Christ, even to our crosses, our sufferings, and our ‘faith’ is obedience to the King of kings and the Lord of lords with a willingness to “die” ourselves for the honor of His Name! And we will “FINISH” our course gladly even if pain, tears, and execution for His Name awaits us!!

“Finishing the course”? “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me!” “It pleased God…to reveal His Son in me.” “I am a son of God…through faith in Christ Jesus.” “As a son, I am an heir of God Through Christ.” “I stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has made me free.” “I live in the Spirit – I walk by the Spirit.” “In Him I trusted – and was sealed with the Holy Spirit.” “The eyes of my understanding have been enlightened by the knowledge of Christ.” “Though once far off from God, I’ve been brought near to God by the blood of Christ.” “Through Jesus I have access by one Spirit to the Father.” “I’ve been built together through Christ for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” “Christ Himself dwells in my heart through the gift of faith.” “Through Christ I can do exceedingly abundantly above all I ask or think.” “I have put on the new man created according to God in true righteousness and holiness.” “I walk as a child of light.” “I am a bondservant of Christ doing the will of God from the heart.” “Yes, I am strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” “I am confident that He who began the good work in me will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” “I have been filled, by the grace of God, with the fruits of righteousness.” “Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.” “It has been granted to me on behalf of Christ to suffer for His sake.” “My tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” “God works in me both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” “I hold to the word of life because in me and through me it shines as lights in the world.” “I rejoice in the Lord.” “I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” “I desire to know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, yes, being conformed to His death.” “The peace of God, which passes all understanding, guards my heart and mind through Christ Jesus.” “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” “My God supplies all my needs according to His riches in glory by Jesus Christ.” “The hope of heaven is laid up for me – my place secured in Jesus’ Name!” “God has delivered me from the power of darkness and conveyed me into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” “I am more than conqueror through Him who loved me and gave Himself for me.” “I am complete in Christ.” “I have been raised with Christ, sitting at the right hand of God, so I set my mind on the things above, not on the things of this earth.” “I daily put on the new man that is renewed in the knowledge of Him according to His very image and likeness.” “Whatever I do in word or deed, it’s my desire to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus and for His honor and His praise.” “I was approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel of God.” “My hope, my joy, my crown of rejoicing? It’s all who’ve come to know Christ through the ministry world-wide God gave to me.” “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord.”