November 22, 2016

Titus 2:1-14 Paul highlights both “fleshly adornment and/or Christ’s atonement”, with, of course, a powerful presentation of what it means to be both Christ-honoring disciples AND pure, sound, well-trained churches touching our world with His saving grace! It says:

“But as for you, speak the things which are proper for SOUND DOCTRINE: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things – that they may admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.

Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say to you. Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” [We’ll meditate on these previous verses soon, but I want you to also examine 1 John 3:1-9!].

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now are we children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.

He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.”

It’s also interesting, having read these two powerful texts from Paul and John to see Paul also saying in Galatians 5:1, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” And, if Christ has made you free, why under God’s beautiful blue heavens would you want, even for a moment, to indulge yourself in the “sins of the flesh” when you’ve been made “one in the Spirit with the Son of God, even God Himself”?

It may be because one or someone has bought into the devil’s lie that “you can sin and not die”! The Lord Jesus even had to condemn the “religious Pharisees” when in John 5:39-40 He said of them (and some of us?), “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. BUT YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO COME TO ME (the PROMISED MESSIAH, SAVIOR, REDEEMER, AND LORD!) that you may have life.”

Did Paul say, “Stand fast IN THE LIBERTY BY WHICH CHRIST HAS MADE US FREE”? It’s Christ alone, in His Resurrection Life, Resurrection Power, and Resurrection Hope, that sets the captives free to be vessels in and through which the Life of Christ continues to be Himself, in us, as we take daily the sentence of death to our old selves that the Resurrection Life of Christ may be manifested in our mortal flesh! Oswald Chambers put it like this in his book, “My Utmost For His Highest,”, (p.92), “There is only one liberty, the liberty of Jesus at work in our conscience enabling us to do what is right.” Chambers said on the same page, “These are days of tremendous enterprises, days when we are trying to work for God, and therein is the snare. Profoundly speaking, we can never work for God. Jesus takes us over for “HIS” enterprises, “His” building schemes entirely, and no soul has any right to claim where he shall be put (or what he/she thinks he/she shall do!).”

John the Baptist made a bold, profound, convicting statement when in John 3:30 he said: “He, the Messiah, the Savior and Lord, the coming King of kings and Lord of lords, MUST INCREASE, but I must decrease,” and some “professors of faith” resent that because they believe they are more than able to live out their faith apart from His presence in them! How phony is that since “Christ in you IS the hope of glory”?!

But “fleshly adornment” is also seen vividly in “religious pretenders” who know nothing about “born again”! God is not up to promoting a man’s sense and pride in his/her natural virtues, the pumping of their ‘flesh-devotion’, or their corrupt confidence in their ‘fleshly abilities’!

It was Eliphaz who told Job in Job 4:6, “Is not your reverence your confidence? And the integrity of your ways your hope?” He went on, in Verse 17, to ask Job, “Can a mortal be more righteous then God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?” And then in Verse 21 he asked, “Does not their own excellence go away? They die, even without wisdom.” And I’m sure, without a doubt, that that is true of some, but not all of the disciples of Christ!

In “The Poetical Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning”, one of her writings is entitled “The Soul’s Traveling,” but I only desire to take line quotes from a very long poem. She wrote: “I dwell amid the city. The great humanity which beats its life along the stony streets, like a strong unsunned river, In a self-made course, is ever Rolling on, rolling on!…

I dwell amid the city, and hear the flow of souls! I do not hear the several contraries – I do not hear the separate tones that rolls in acts or speech, for pomp or trade, for merrymake or folly – I hear the confluence and sum of each, And that is melancholy! – The voice is a complaint, O crowned city, The blue sky covering you, like God’s great pity! –

And as they touch your soul, they borrow as of its grandeur, of its sorrow, That deathly odour which the clay leaves on its deathlessness always. Always! Always! Must this be? Rapid Soul from city gone, Do you carry inwardly what does make the city’s moan? Must this sigh of your own haunt you with humanity?

O fair, fair Nature! Are we thus impotent and querulous among thy workings glorious, – among thy fulnesses that still leave us vacant and defiled, and wailing like a kissed child, kissed soft against his will?”

And as Elizabeth Barrett Browning was ending this dramatic poetic reality of ‘fallen mankind’, she spoke of ‘human vainness ‘unless they travel upward to God’s Throne!’ And then she wrote ,”There sittest THOU, the satisfying ONE, With blood for sins, and holy perfectings for all requirements – while th’ archangel, raising toward Your face his full ecstatic gazing, Forgets the rush and rapture of his wings!”

But “fleshly adornment” is vain! The ONLY supernatural life, again, is “Christ in you the hope of glory”! Conscious holiness in a fleshly mind is “deception” and truly “grieves” the Holy Spirit! Conscious holiness in a fleshly mind resents and reacts adversely to Jesus Himself even saying, “Why do you call Me Lord, Lord, but you do not do what I say?” “Self-conscious” holiness resents the Cross and celebrates “self-intelligence” and operates on the basis of religious “self-effort”!

But Romans 5:10-11 declares: “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.”

As the author of Hebrews closed out his amazing revelation, he said, in Hebrews 13:20-21, “Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, THROUGH THE BLOOD OF THE EVERLASTING COVENANT, make you complete in every good work TO DO HIS WILL, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

And if we’re redeemed, reconciled, re-born in and through the blood of the Lamb of God, if we’re “pardoned, forgiven, made new through His blood”, if we’re “delivered from the penalty of sin, blessed with a new identity ‘in Christ’”, why or how even does one consistently look inward to himself rather than upward to the God of eternal forgiveness with the old sin nature obliterated and the new divine nature freely given? 1 John 1:7 clearly says, “…and the blood of Jesus Christ God’s Son cleanses us from all sin.” Human power, fleshly will, self-pardon never erases sin’s debt before Holy God, only the blood of the Lamb! There is nothing so disadvantageous as a haughty and proud spirit that rebuffs the shed blood of the Lamb of God and wilts before the mercy and grace of God, proud of his/her ‘self-sacrifice’ that is ghostly, godless, governed by the unnatural, and guaranteed by the Word of eternal death and separation from Holy God and the Loving Savior!

It was James Milner who once wrote: “While a man rests on his own merits for acceptance with God, it is of little consequence whether he be a pagan idolater, or a proud, ignorant Pharisee. – I know not which of the two is most distant from the kingdom of God.” [The Encyclopedia of Religious Quotations, Fleming H. Revell Company, Westwood, New Jersey, p.401]. But by His grace and mercy and love, through repentance toward God and faith alone in Christ’s finished work at the Cross, the true foundation of the born-again believer’s life is not to the ‘athletic principle of ‘best effort’ but to the Person, power, and presence of Christ as the only explanation in you of Divine Life!

And ‘resting on one’s own merits’ for acceptance with God is becoming aware of vacant seat assignments at His banqueting table because invited guests refused to show up! “Fleshly adornment” for a religious ritual on a “fleshly altar” become easily adaptable by many in place of true repentance, true faith, and the true calling for one’s ‘religious accommodations’ and, on their terms, void of the never-fading clear picture of true disciples who DO FORSAKE ALL AND FOLLOW JESUS ONLY!

In Joshua 24:14-15 Joshua spoke then, and he still speaks now! “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served…Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether strange gods…or the gods ‘fallen men’ bow down to around you! But as for me and my house, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD.”

In some way, or even many ways, Christ Jesus stands at the door of every man or woman’s heart and He knocks, when in Truth, HE IS THE DOOR by which we enter into oneness with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, “the three-in-one”! In John 10:1-5, listen to King Jesus! “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

In Verse 7 Jesus said, “I AM the door of the sheep!” In Verse 9 He said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture…Verse 10b, “…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Glory! But… if Jesus knocks, do all answer and enter in? Do you understand, witness, or grasp the reality of fleshly obstinacy in some minds and hearts?

And what began in Genesis continued on even to the end of Revelation and all across human history even to this very hour! And “the choice” is always there! In our day, it’s Hollywood movies or the revealed Word of God, messages and basic principles of Godly living or the godless living spouted by godless professors in their curriculums and teachings of godless living, or godless world leaders with the ‘expositions’ of godless men, OR the profound, prophetic teachings of Redeemed men, re-born servants of God and available vessels of ALL the Redeemer desires to reveal, unveil, and do through repentant, faithful hearts!

It’s not “astute minds” that reveals the grace, mercy, and love of God, but “new-born lives” redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, anointed and overflowing with “rivers of living water”, and bathed in the assurance of His words of hope, of heavenly glory, and of the will to live to the honor, glory, and blessing of Christ alone through us! Is Jesus ‘prominent’ in you or is He “preeminent in you”?

In 1 Corinthians 2:4 Paul stated: “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.” True disciples yielding daily to the anointing of the Holy Spirit that Christ Jesus WILL BE ILLUMINATED THROUGH THEM? What did Jesus say about Himself as He walked out His eternal earthly calling, ministry, and purpose? In John 17:13-19 we are challenged, convicted, and consecrated by the very words of Christ Himself as He sees us, even now, His ambassadors in a needy world, amply equipped by the Spirit of Truth! Jesus said:

“But now I come to You (Father-God), and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word (Have YOU truly received the Word?); and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. SANCTIFY THEM (or “set them apart”) by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. AND FOR THEIR SAKES I SANCTIFY (or willfully set apart!) Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.” Do YOU see “yourself” SET APART TO THE GLORY AND HONOR OF GOD?

Hear me! It’s God’s desire for you and me to be His royal, faithful ambassadors of the true faith with vibrant testimonies, verbal declarations, of the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God – or even as some believers did in Jesus’ day or our own day, they yield to warped, maligned, shamed images and opened-unveilings of sin’s captives, deceived by the world, the flesh, and the devil, and drift, or fall away, and, yes, shame the Name they profess to be aligned with. God, help us!

It was Thomas Watson who once said: “A true saint is a divine landscape or picture, where all the rare beauties of Christ are lively portrayed and drawn forth. He has the same spirit, the same judgment, the same will with Christ.”

In the old “American Hymnal” of 1933, there is a classic hymn written by John Bakewell and Louis von Esch which says: (“Hail, CHRIST Once Despised”):

‘Hail, You once despised Jesus! Hail, You Galilean King! You did suffer to release us; You did free salvation bring. Hail, You agonizing Savior, Bearer of our sin and shame! By Your mercies we find favor; Life is given through Your name.

Paschal Lamb, by God appointed, All our sins on You were laid; By almighty love anointed, You have full atonement made. All Your people are forgiven, Through the virtue of Your blood; Opened is the gate of Heaven; Peace is made between man and God.

Jesus, hail! Enthroned in glory, There forever to abide; All the heavenly hosts adore You, Seated at Your Father’s side; There for sinners You are pleading; there You do our place prepare; Ever for us interceding, Till in glory we appear.

Worship, honor, power, and blessing, You are worthy to receive; Loudest praises, without ceasing, Meet it is for us to give. Help, you bright angelic spirits, Bring your sweetest, noblest lays; Help to sing our Savior’s merits; Help to chant Immanuel’s praise!”

What is YOUR ‘angelic song of the redeemed’ or do you even have one? Hebrews 10:14 declares: “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” As a result of God’s mercy for us in Christ, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:29-30, “…that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him YOU ARE IN CHRIST JESUS, who became FOR US wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption – that, as it is written, ‘He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.’”! AMEN? That’s “unholy men made holy”, that’s “unrighteous men declared righteous”, that’s “ indicted men forgiven, freed, and filled with the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” that’s “the ‘incomplete’ declared complete in Christ our Lord and Savior”!

Another old hymn in closing this message entitled “Glory to His Name” written by Rev. E.A.Hoffman and Rev. J.H. Stockton out of the same old “The American Hymnal! It 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.

I am so wondrously saved from sin, Jesus so sweetly abides within, There at the cross where He took me in; Glory to His name.

Oh, precious fountain that saves from sin, I am so glad I have entered in; There Jesus saves me and keeps me clean; Glory to His name.

Come to this fountain so rich and so sweet; Cast your poor soul at the Savior’s feet; Plunge in today, and be made complete; 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? Will YOU bow and sing: “Glory to His name ONLY”?

By J.Farrell Fisher, Jan.17-18, 2017

A “reject” in our modern day? For some, a “reject” is someone that should just be thrown away, because, in a sick society’s opinion that ‘person’ is unqualified, even for life, and should be discarded, useless to the ‘public good’, unsatisfactory when evaluated by the ‘super smart,’ ‘highly qualified’, or ‘self-sainted’ and certainly able to discern a “reject’s” usefulness to an elite society or not!

Some who become ‘judge and jury’ of a society’s ‘qualifications’ for admittance are certainly adept, professional, and determined not to have anything to do with the “low-lifes,” the “outsiders,” the “uneducated,” the “visibly weak and insignificant”, the “foreigners” to a society’s usefulness in making a nation great, and certainly determined that “these have no part with us”!

And, sadly, my question is: “Does it ever happen in church life that there comes a place in a church’s ministry when “life’s rejects” should be rejected and utmost care given to who it is one gives his/their attention to”?

But be assured of one thing: In the darkest shadows of human existence, Holy God has His eyes on the “least” a modern-day society or “self-serving ‘church’” thinks ‘worthy’ or ‘needy’ of their time, consideration, or witness, because “God so loved the world that He gave His own Son” for their redemption, reconciliation, re-birth, and eternal ‘rest’ in the Holy Family of God!

There’s a quote in Acts 2:21 from Joel when Peter said: “And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (delivered, escaped, freed)!” But today, some refuse ‘ministry’ to rejects?

I don’t know if you’ve sensed it or not in your reading of the Bible, but even Christ Jesus, THE ONLY LORD AND SAVIOR of all mankind – there is no other Redeemer – is considered by many, religious or not, as a “reject” worthy only of the Cross! In Acts 2:22-25 Peter preached to “the men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem,” ( and ultimately Holy God extended that message to all of Israel and to every corner of the globe!), Peter declaring, “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know – Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; WHOM GOD RAISED UP, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.”

Question. Do you see it, as Christ Jesus was taken by, yes, ‘lawless hands’ and crucified by them, that those who crucified Him were a part of the whole of fallen humanity who needed blood redemption? “God so loved the world!” Even a world of “lawless hands”, ‘religious activity professionals’, the ‘mockers’, lives enslaved to the old sin nature that separates them from God, the promiscuous, the profane, the perverted? “There’s hope for them?” Absolutely!

But in the midst of a “fallen-away world” from Holy God you find ‘life’ primed by self-importance over Sovereign-intent, ‘flesh’s finest’ in place of the fullness of redemptive faith, passionate indulgences in the place of Prince of Peace birthing and blessing, the ‘preyed-on’ by the powers of darkness rather than the ‘prayed-over’ by the conquering King of liberty and freedom from sin’s chains and bondage, internally in the heart satisfied with their ‘self-importance’ more than eternally joined by repentance and faith to the King of kings and Lord of lords!

And, I speak of the ‘good folks’, decent but deceived, productive but paralyzed spiritually, warped in the ‘spirit-realm’ but ‘winsome’ in a sinful society, marred but adaptable, playful but perverted in a ‘people’s world’ of pleasures and perversions and ‘pass-times’ that have forgotten Holy God and majored on the promotion of “satisfying the flesh’!

I’ve often wondered and, yes, examined if what took place in ‘religious’ Israel has any significance of ‘modern-day’ participants as they attempt to adapt their world, their flesh, AND their devil to a ‘desire’ to be a part of God’s family at the same time.

If you were to examine Ezekiel 36 you’d find a true picture of ‘old religious devotees’ and, yes, the true hope of “new covenant blessings”! In Verses 22-27 we find an awesome picture of loving God’s eternal intent! It says, God speaking through Ezekiel to us in the 21^st Century: Therefore say to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God: ‘I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,’ says the Lord God, ‘when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”

[Would it be important to examine what it means to “profane God’s holy name among the nations”? What is one’s ‘filthiness’ or one’s devotion to idols? And do you grasp and understand “hearts of stone”?]

And one does that knowing also that Holy God declared in Ezekiel 36:26-27, which I want to repeat: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” Life’s ‘rejects’ received, beginning the journey of ‘royalty’ in the Holy Family of God and found faithful because of the Spirit God puts within us!

LIFE’S REJECTS RECEIVED? Let’s look to John 4 where Holy God unveils the receiving of life’s rejects! It doesn’t take long there to see and sense Holy God’s overseeing and, yes, His determination of one who NEEDS Him! It’s about a Samaritan woman who meets Christ Jesus! What thrills and touches my heart and mind so deeply? John 4:4 states, “But He (Christ Jesus) needed to go through Samaria.”

What was “the need”? What was pressing in on His spirit to ‘go through an area that most Jews considered being defiled by one’s presence there’? Does ministry to the ‘unclean’, the ‘foul’, the ‘dirty’, the ‘polluted,’ the ‘tainted’ automatically corrupt the true saints of God? That thought is so foreign to the nature, the character, the eternal intent of Holy God! “God so loved the world that He gave His Son” to come and rescue the rejects! That has never changed and has stood even before the world was formed and man had been created!

It was Bernard Iddings Bell in his writing “Argosy” who said: “I should like to see Christian leaders disregard their timid followers and, like Francis of Assisi or John Wesley, go out of the church buildings, shake the dust of denominationalism from impatient feet, and appeal to the folks generally. Americans will listen to religion if and when it claims to have relationship to real life. Let the churches recognize that their job is not to nurture the pious nearly so much as it is to rouse, convict of sin, convert, a pagan nation.” Amen?

But notice in Verse 7 of John 4 that a ‘woman of Samaria’ came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” The Samaritan woman said to Jesus in Verse 9, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

Verse 10, Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” She’s dumbfounded! She responded in Verse 11, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?” In Verse 13 Jesus said to her, “Whoever drinks of this (well) water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” She said to Jesus in Verse 15, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to drink.” Verse 16? Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” Verse 17, The woman answered Him and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for Verse 18, you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”

The ‘religious defense’ is intensified as the woman, in Verses 19-20 said to Jesus, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” Jesus then said to her in Verses 21-24,

“Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth.” This woman at least professed an awareness of the “Messiah coming (who is called Christ). When He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus then said to her, “I who speak to you am He.” She “rested” in Christ and became a “rest-teller”!

Life’s rejects received? It’s so interesting to me, and heart and mind gripping, when I come to John 5 and see Jesus going up to Jerusalem. He went to a pool that had five porches. John 5:3 says, “In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.” [Are there ‘porches’ today where ‘sick people’ scurry about hoping for a ‘stirring’ and ‘healing’ of what ails them?].

John 5:5 says, “Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. WHEN JESUS SAW HIM LYING THERE, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, Jesus said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” What a question! But so legitimate because many settle in to what a ‘fleshly life’ offers and have no ambition for “healing grace and mercy”! In Philip Bennett Power’s book, “The ‘I Wills’ of Christ”, [The Banner of Truth Trust, 1984,pps.51-52], Power spoke of “the one great truth that is all powerful everywhere,” then sharing , “There was once a caravan crossing to the north of India, and numbering in its company a godly and devoted missionary. As it passed along, a poor old man was overcome by the heat and labours of the journey, and sinking down was left to perish on the road. The missionary saw him, and kneeling down at his side, when the rest had passed along, whispered into his ear, “Brother, what is your hope?” The dying man raised himself a little to reply, and with a great effort succeeded in answering, “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin!” and immediately expired with the effort. The missionary was greatly astonished at the answer, and in the calm and peaceful appearance of the man, he felt assured he had died in Christ. How, or where, he thought, could this man, seemingly a heathen, have got this hope? And as he thought of it, he observed a piece of paper grasped tightly in the hand of the corpse, which he succeeded in getting out. What do you think was his surprise and delight, when he found it was a single leaf of the Bible, containing the first chapter of the first Epistle of John, in which these words occur! On that page the man had found the gospel.” “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin!” Has He cleansed you?

Do you grasp it, rest in it, rely upon it? In Christ, one is translated, by faith, from darkness into Eternal Light, from bondage to liberty, from sin to sanctification, from ‘flesh-realm’ to the “Spirit-world”, from chains of Satanic bondage to the freedom of the character and nature of Christ, from a world of the flesh and hellish existence to the kingdom of the Spirit and heavenly blessings now and forever, from a consciousness of sin-bondage to an abiding confidence in His presence within the repentant heart, and the true recipient of His pleasure, and power! I close with Jesus’ words in John 6:51-58, and notice, Jesus said these things in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum!

Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven – not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.” Reject, renegade, or re-born?

OMNIPOTENT PRESENCE AND PEACE?”

BY: J.FARRELL FISHER, Sept.8, 2017

A number of years ago, visiting a church and faithful friends of the Body of Christ in Utah, my wife and I found an old book store in Salt Lake City. Browsing, I saw a very old book someone had purchased in 1910. It was a book entitled “The Poetical Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning of her poetry from 1826-1844! I’ve treasured it over the years since I studied some of her writings in my English class at Baylor University in the mid to late 1950’s.

The last poem in the book, page 400, is entitled, “Weariness”. She wrote: “Mine eyes are weary of surveying The fairest things too soon decaying; Mine eyes are weary of receiving The kindest words – ah, past believing;

Weary my hope, of ebb and flow; Weary my pulse, of tunes of woe; My trusting heart is weariest! I would – I would, I were at rest!

For “me”, can earth refuse to fade? For “me”, can words be faithful made? Will “my” embittered hope be sweet? “My” pulse forego the human beat?

No! Darkness must consume mine eye – Silence, mine ear – hope cease – pulse die – And o’er mine heart a stone be pressed – Of vain this, – “Would I were at rest!”

There is a land of rest deferred; Nor eye has seen, nor ear has heard, Nor Hope has trod the precinct o’er; For Hope beheld is hope no more! There, human pulse forgets its tone – There, hearts may know as they are known; Oh, for dove’s wings, your dwelling blest, To fly to You, God, and be at rest!”

Dare I tell you? Believe I will! That, my friends, is one awesome piece of poetry! She faced the reality of life with its pains and sorrows, with its curses and its blessings, with its “ups and its downs”, with its wrongs and its rights, with its distresses and its deliverances, with its hopelessness and its Hope!

Is it “reality in life” that, at times, there ARE “overwhelming distresses”? I, personally, would be sincerely shocked if someone said to me, “I’ve never faced a ‘troubling’ day in my life,” or, “Overwhelming Distresses may exist for some, but for me, my family, my friends, we’ve only experienced ‘bliss’, not any ‘heavy burdens’,” or, you’ve heard it from some spiritually egotistical ‘believers’ (?), “Overwhelming distresses are for the worldly but not for believers,” and I want to “throw up!”

In Psalm 25:14-21, an inspired, Spirit-anointed word, from King David says: “Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me, for I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my heart have enlarged; (Are ‘troubles’ an instrument, yes, of Holy God in eternally equipping us for more of life’s pending events to come?), bring me out of MY DISTRESSES! Look on my affliction and my pain, and forgive all my sins.

Consider my enemies, for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred. Keep my soul, and deliver me; let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.”

OH, then look at Psalm 30:7, when David also cried out from the midst of a troubled heart, “Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was troubled.” Yes! THERE ARE DARK MOMENTS IN A REDEEMED SOUL’S HEART AND MIND when it “seems” he/she has been totally forsaken by his/her Savior and Lord! Troubling times do come to true believers!

It’s why, in Psalm 46:1-7, a song of Korah, the Holy Word becomes so important in strengthening the “troubled” in their, yes, “moments” of despair and heartache! It says: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling.

There IS a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. (Do you understand, “in Christ”, YOU are now the ‘holy place’, the Temple, the Tabernacle of the Most High God, yes, the Resurrected Christ living IN YOU?). God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.

The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is WITH US; the God of Jacob is our REFUGE.”

But, at times, “overwhelming distresses” occur when one of the faith “drifts” or “falls away” from devotion to his/her Lord and Savior, or experiences ‘on-slaughts’ from the powers of darkness, and, as a result, Proverbs 25:26 says, “A righteous man who falters before the wicked IS LIKE a murky spring and a polluted well.” Have you affirmed that word disastrously in your own walk of faith at times or witnessed it in those you love and care for, but willing to alert, warn, and inspire others to BE the true witness in troubled times?

In 2 Corinthians 4:5-16 Paul, inspired in the Spirit, wrote: “For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus.” God does, at times, ‘command light’ to shine ‘out of the darkness’ one has walked in or even presently is walking through? And Paul explains why in Verses 7-16 he wrote:

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. WE ARE hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed – always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you.

And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore we speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things (DON’T DARE MISS THIS!!) are for YOUR SAKES, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound TO THE GLORY OF GOD. Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, the inward man is being renewed day by day.”

Could it dare be that Holy God Himself allows, ordains, or opens the door to “Overwhelming Distresses” that you, as an immature child of faith, may be brought into His permissible will to perfect in you His Perfect Will, the door closed on you, but then opened to the glory of the Christ in you for the world around you to also discover Christ? Holy God is not interested in YOUR ‘house made in the flesh’ – He wants it gone, so that the Temple of the Lord may be established in you and through you! Amen?

The prophetic word in Isaiah 32 is so vital in understanding God’s intent in releasing, allowing, even ordaining “Overwhelming Distresses”! In Verses 1-15 the prophetic Word is unveiled! “Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, (Is that King Jesus?), and princes will rule with justice (Are You a ‘prince’, a ‘priest’, the bodily temple of the Resurrected Christ?). A man will be as a hiding place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

The eyes of those who see will not be dimmed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. Also the heart of the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly.

The foolish person will no longer be called generous (or noble), nor the miser said to be bountiful. For the foolish person will speak foolishness, and his heart will work iniquity: to practice ungodliness, to utter error against the Lord, to keep the hungry unsatisfied, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

Also the schemes of the schemer are evil; He devises wicked plans to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaks justice. But a generous man devises generous things, and by generosity he shall stand. (The “standing-generosity-givers” are God-birthed, redeemed, and the reconciled invaded by the Resurrected Christ!). Rise up, you women, who are at ease, hear my voice; you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech. In a year and some days you will be troubled, you complacent women; for the vintage will fail, the gathering (of the “fruit” of other redeemed lives through these women’s example or witness!) will not come. Tremble, you women who are at ease. Be troubled, you complacent ones; Strip yourselves, make yourselves bare, and gird sackcloth on your waists.

People shall mourn upon their breasts FOR the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. On the land of my people will come up thorns and briers, yes, on all the happy homes in the joyous city; because the palaces will be forsaken (that’s like the U.S. House and Senate, present, but vacant in heart and mind, because, yes, the majority, both democrats and republicans have forsaken God saying He has no place or part in human government! How stupid have they become!!), the bustling city will be deserted.

The forts and towers will become lairs forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks – UNTIL the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest.”

Can a life, can a marriage, can a family, can a state or nation, can a ‘cold’ or ‘Spirit-less church’, truly become, by God’s grace and mercy, productive, God-honoring “fruitful fields”? Absolutely! Absolutely when they die to ‘self’ and are “raised” “In Christ alone”!

But, I have to tell you: I’m not sure how many ‘at-large’ churches “LIVE IN OMNIPOTENT PRESENCE AND PEACE” (OR “OMNIPOTENT POWER”)! I wish I could say, “They DO!”, but, sadly, in many fellowships, it’s fellowship without power – and, never a concern about the ‘empty container’ of the church of the “Released Presence of Spirit-Anointing and Empowerment”! And for some, it’s not only the Spirit’s “absence”, but a blindness and deafness and voluntary “abstinence” of “Spirit-Anointing” because it scares them or they witnessed “Spirit-abuse” in some ‘deranged disciples’ (?)!

The “abundance of grace” is not only seen in the purifying through the blood of the Lamb, but also in the ‘circumcision’ of the heart by the Spirit, born-again by the Spirit, equipped by the Spirit, and, yes, ANOINTED IN THE SPIRIT to fulfill one’s calling, not be “best effort” but by the “Blessed Spirit”!

What did Paul write in Romans 8:12-17? “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors – not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For IF YOU LIVE ACCORDING TO THE FLESH YOU WILL DIE; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many AS ARE LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD, THESE ARE SONS OF GOD.

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” Are you aware of “the supply of the Holy Spirit” as His gracious Gift to His children? God knew we needed a “tutor”, He knew we needed a “guardian’, God knew we need a daily instructor and protector, God knew we’d need the Spirit “to pick us up” at times, God knew we’d need the Spirit “hovering over us and in us and through us” because of stormy waters at times, and God knew, in His birthing of humanity and touching His “new world” with grace and mercy, even in His giftings, that all the Body of Christ would need the Holy Spirit who fills us with wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and, (Get this!), in all manner of workmanship!”

Do you think God knew ‘humanity’, whether they loved and served God or not, needed the Holy Spirit to “gift”, “design”, “create even basic needs for all humanity”, plus God knew apart from Holy Spirit conviction there’d be no desire to know Him, serve Him, or follow Him, so He sent the Spirit!

But, there are natural men doing natural things on their own without any need of God or the Spirit, but there are spiritual men doing spiritual things, and they understand, “It’s not MY “best effort”, but the manifestation of the Spirit in me and through me!” And in Joel 2 God said: “I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; (does that mean ‘all flesh’ having God’s Spirit poured out on them will receive it and yield to the will of God? I don’t think so!). Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams”. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.” Then God said: “I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath…”, and whether in the high heavens of spiritual identity or simply “the streets of a daily walk, the Spirit of God is going to manifest the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ”!

Have you ever sung the old hymn entitled “Have Thine Own Way, Lord”? The last verse of that hymn says: “Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! Hold o’er my being Absolute sway! Fill with Your Spirit Till all shall see Christ only, always, Living in me!”

I believe it needs to be a “new day” of refreshing, renewing, re-empowering and anointing of the Mighty Holy Spirit to honor and unveil Christ through you and me! Amen? Omnipotent Presence, Omnipotent Peace, Omnipotent Power! Will you receive Him and walk in Him?

FARRELL FISHER

“Some read the Bible and gain an accumulation of information without a relational experience of Oneness with the God who wrote it.” FF

FOREWARD

After my major heart attack April 28, 2013, I knew our Lord wanted me to write – and I did. In just a brief period of recuperation, I began to write a book entitled “Resignation to Hopelessness” which really is a book about our eternal hope. But presently there is a “hopeless spirit” that is like a dark cloud heavy over our nation, the USA.

And I am firmly convinced what God did for me after my heart attack that He can do for our nation! Didn’t He say in II Chronicles 7:14 that if His people called upon Him, humbling themselves and praying, that He would forgive their sins and heal their land?

There’s a biblical command in Isaiah 60:1-3 which says to “us”: “Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will rise over YOU, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”

And since God is no respecter of persons or nations, will He not rise upon us if we humbly call upon Him? Oh, yes, HE WILL! One truth I’ve learned and allowed to be deeply imbedded on my heart and mind is that God is not interested in our ‘abilities’, if we have any, but God is interested in our availability to ALL HE IS!!

So…let’s not be “crushed” but truly converted, and in on what God is up to! Didn’t Jesus say, “Ask, and you will receive, seek, and you will find, knock, and it shall be opened to you?” Let’s do that together as we examine some of life’s greatest questions!

OUTLINE

QUESTIONS THAT CRUSH OR CONVERT

CHAPTER ONE: “YOUR STRENGTH OR GOD’S ABLENESS?”

CHAPTER TWO: “FALSE FREEDOM OR DIVINELY VALIDATED LIBERTY?”

CHAPTER THREE: “MAN DIES! DOES HE LIVE AGAIN?”

CHAPTER FOUR: “LIFE AS A VAPOR? WHERE’S ITS SIGNIFICANCE?”

CHAPTER FIVE: “IS THERE WISDOM IN ‘WAITING ON GOD’?”

CHAPTER SIX: “IS IT COMMONPLACE TO BE DECEIVED?”

CHAPTER SEVEN: “IS THE GOAL OF CHRISTLINESS UNATTAINABLE?”

CHAPTER EIGHT: “IS IT SELF-MADE TOWERS OR HIS DIVINE HOLY PRESENCE?”

CHAPTER NINE: “FISHING FOR MEN OR A FATALISTIC MIND-CLOSURE TO MEN?”

CHAPTER TEN: “IS CONTINUAL SIN ‘OK’ FOR A NEW OR TRUE BELIEVER?”

CHAPTER ELEVEN: “IS ‘ALL STRESSED OUT’ THE EVIDENCE OF A SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE?”

CHAPTER TWELVE: “IS ‘SALT’ AND ‘LIGHT’ THE REDEEMED ONE’S TRUE CALLING AND MISSION?”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: “ARE NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANS BOUND OR BLESSED BY OLD TESTAMENT LAW?”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: “ARE TEENAGERS, YOUTH,UNMARRIED YOUNG ADULTS FREE FOR ROMANTIC SLEEPOVERS?”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: “HOW WILL YOU PLEAD?”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: “WHEN GOD SPEAKS?”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: “THE NEARNESS OF OUR LORD?”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: “THE GOD OF THE PEOPLE?”

CHAPTER NINETEEN: “THE PEOPLE OF GOD?”

CHAPTER TWENTY: “ENTER HIS GATES?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: “THE WAYS OF GOD?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: “WHERE ARE ALL HIS MIRACLES?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: “IS THERE IN YOU PREPAREDNESS AND READINESS?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: “WHERE’S THE GRIEF?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: “WHY GLORY IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: “THE WEAKNESS OF RESOLVE OT THE WITNESS OF A ROYAL RELEASE?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: “ON WHAT DO YOU MAJOR?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: “SAD DEFECTIONS OR SURE ELECTIONS?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: “IS THERE DANGER IN WILDERNESS WANDERINGS BECOMING PERMANENT?

CHAPTER ONE

“YOUR STRENGTH OR GOD’S ABLENESS?”

IF “Christ in you” IS “the hope of glory”, then why are there far too many ‘professing’ followers who attempt devotion as disciples in their own strength (?), which is nothing more than wilting weakness?” One’s personal determination to honor Christ in the best effort of flesh-living is setting aside Jesus in them to a ‘closet-residence’ and they are void of ALL HE IS!

If we know that Holy God made Jesus to be sin for us…that we might be made the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21), then why assert your impotence to please God when Christ stamped us through His shed blood as 100% as righteous as He is?

This is why in I Corinthians 1:30-31 Paul wrote: “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, that, just as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Oswald Chambers put it like this: [“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.149], “Sanctification is not drawing from Jesus the power to be holy; it is drawing from Jesus the holiness that was manifested in Him, and He manifests it in me. Sanctification is an impartation, not an imitation.”

If, according to 2 Peter 1:4 we are “partakers of the divine nature,” then why reach into “the old man” and fail to “rest” in Him and all He is? Some are so deceived in their fleshly pride that participation in their spiritual journey is indulgence only in “the luxury of misery” and they miss out on the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ – and they do pay a high price in counterfeit devotion and discipline with no honoring of Christ alone.

Your weakness or God’s ableness? ‘Fleshly energy’ related to divine living is a blurring of the very Life and Presence of Christ! This is why in Romans 5:10 Paul wrote: “For if while 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.”

It is not natural tendencies that honor our Lord but the supernatural triumph of His death, His burial, and His Resurrection Life that raised us up out of the pit of our own destruction to the throne of being seated with Christ in the heavenly place right now! This is why in 2 Corinthians 2:14 Paul said, “Now thanks be to God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ.”

But until one hears the Gospel Truth, is convicted by the Holy Spirit, and then receives “the gift of repentance” from God Himself, men wander and don’t know the wonder of His grace, mercy, and love, so they measure themselves by the themselves; oh, they wonder, no doubt, they question, they seek – in the wrong places, with wrong intents – and miss out on the wonderful words of eternal life, eternal mercy, and eternal grace. They miss the Mark set by God Himself.

You’ll remember that Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:15 that “…He [Jesus] died for all, that they who live SHOULD LIVE NO LONGER FOR THEMSELVES, but for Him who died and rose again ON THEIR BEHALF.” And I know you realize that there are those consumed by, controlled by, and diseased by the poisonous passion of living for themselves!

In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus spoke of those who saw themselves as very religious but had never been re-born in the Spirit realm: Jesus said: “Not everyone who says to Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who DOES the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cat out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ ‘And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me you who practice lawlessness?’”

Do you understand the ‘lawless’ and those who practice ‘lawlessness’? Look at the “Ten Commandments”! Why were they engraved on those tablets? That we might ‘touch’ the tablets, OR, that we might see our lawlessness because to offend in even one point is to be guilty of all. In Galatians 3:24 Paul wrote: “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith.” Justification by faith is the only open door into the Holy Presence and oneness with God Almighty!

Man’s self-weakness, even though he may believe he’s the strongest man God ought to accept because of that man’s own estimation of himself, is a self-portrait painted in dark, grotesque, dirty colors, denying God’s judgment that he’s a guilty sinner, short-circuited by continuous sin, alienated from Father-God, spiritually dead though he believes he’s living life in grandeur when in reality he’s bound in a dungeon-cell of personal destruction. The reason? Because if a man is not living for the glory of God alone, he’s bound in the goriness and deceit of a blinded, blackened, broken existence.

If you look at Romans 5 Paul describes those for whom our Lord and Savior died on the Cross:

• Verse 6, “For while we were still helpless (without strength), at the right time Christ died…”
• Verse 6, “…Christ died for the ungodly.”
• Verse 8, “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
• Verse 10, “For if while we were ENEMIES, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son…”; and Verse 10 doesn’t end with ‘the death of His Son,’ but with the “much more, having been reconciled, we shall be [being] saved by His life.”

Saved by your grit or saved by His grace? Saved by your determination or your dependence on His finished work? Saved by your abilities or saved by your availability to all God tells us? Saved by your efforts or transformed by Emmanuel? If we must ALL appear before the judgment seat of Holy God and give an account, on what or whom will you stand with? Your weakness or God’s ableness? Hebrews 9:24-28 says:

“For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest ethers the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another – He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”

This is why Oswald Chambers wrote: [“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.206], “The disposition of sin is not immorality and wrong-doing, but the disposition of self-realization – ‘I am my own god’ – This disposition may work out in decorous morality or indecorus immorality, but it has the one basis, my claim to my right to myself.”

And do you understand that your claim to your right to yourself is your weakness substituted for God’s Ableness? Your grit, substituted for God’s grace, is vainness in place of the eternal victory of Christ in you and through you! Vainness is empty pride…Victory is Jesus’ eternal celebration. Vainness is a man’s constant pat on his back…Victory is Jesus’ Hallelujah Chorus that never ceases! Vainness is ineffectual effort…Victory is Jesus’ never-ending promise! Vainness is idle boastfulness…Victory is immense blessing out of the very heart of God that never ends!

Your weakness? That’s self-effort with “no wins”! God’s ableness? That’s divine initiative with never a loss! Your weakness? That’s your sin, your guilt, your penalty, your judgment that is not a ‘pretty thing’! God’s Ableness? His love, His power, His anointing, His never-ending provisions, His eternal watch-care, His faithfulness to see you through!

Your weakness? You are a descendant of Adam – hopeless, helpless, hollow – even though you’ve viewed yourself as fellow man’s greatest gift! God’s Ableness? In You? No hopelessness, no helplessness, no hollowness, no imperfections, just His divine clearance, His affirming voice: “This is My Beloved son in whom I am well pleased;” this is My perfect daughter, justified by faith, granted peace with God, and not a closed door ever to His perfect, powerful, promising presence!

Your weakness? Your worldly advantages become your heavenly bankruptcies; your tributes of earthly recognitions and earthly glories are described becoming nothing more of significance than before Holy God to be looked upon as “men of low degree, of mindless thoughts, of eternal emptiness” but, God’s Ableness? I don’t know who wrote it, but he/she said: “Let not conscience make you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream, All the fitness He requires is to know your need of Him! This He gives you; it’s the Spirit’s rising beam!”

Is He shining His beams of glory on your life and your walk? Your weakness or God’s Ableness? I want you to think about Paul the Apostle – put yourself in his place momentarily! Your weakness or God’s Ableness? In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 we read: “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is perfected [or made perfect] in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Did you see it? Do you accept it? “God’s power perfected in what?” “God’s power ONLY perfected in your weakness!” What did Paul say in Philippians 4:13? “I can do all things through Christ who strengths me.” Do you see a man in his natural state super-empowered by Divine strength? And yet how many have y7ou witnessed who leaned to their own understanding of themselves and did not depend, trust, rely, or wait upon God Himself?

Your weakness? “I can handle this; I am able; I’ve so trained, disciplined, learned for myself – and I can achieve what I want to achieve, overcome what I need to overcome, win whatever war I need to fight!” And when it’s over, you witness a whipped, beat-up puppy dog – the Lion of the Lord is absent! Your weakness? That’s one who lives on wild imaginations but is void of divine inspiration; that’s one who is fleshly motivated and makes his/her own plans – and may see them come to fruition without any inspiration from God or for God’s glory! Intellectually they reason it all out – but spiritually there is no anointing and no glory for God alone!

Would that be your weakness scribbled over the canons of your life as an imprint of your best effort void of the invasion of the anointing of God’s Spirit and God’s power? When “best efforts” replace “blessed anointing” we see defected canvases that win no acknowledgement from God!

I don’t know how I want to say this, but I’ll try: There is truly a golden rule of honoring God and glorifying Christ that comes when a disciple or disciples are empty of self and full of Jesus, empty of pride and pressing in to His fullness, empty of self-effort and full of the anointing, leading, empowering, and illuminating of His true Spirit of light!

It was John Tillotson who wrote: “He who provides for this life, but takes no care for eternity, is wise for a moment, but a fool forever.” Have you witnessed men who build decent reputations through their walks and journeys of life and yet are void of glory and honor and praise of God? It was John Milton, in “Areopagitica,” who wrote: “God sure esteems the growth and completing of one virtuous person, more than the restraint of ten vicious.” But what if virtuousness is for self-glory with no intent of opening the door to the honor and praise of God? Some men are virtuous without any intent of thankfulness or tribute to God! Think about it – now many NFL players play to honor God and the Savior, Jesus Christ? How many businessmen open their doors of businesses or banks or law firms to reveal Jesus? How many medical physicians or nurses do you know who see their professions as opportunities of mirroring Christ?

Slaves to worldly systems or servants of the Lord Jesus Christ? Men of selfish indifference to others or men of selfless involvement to reveal the Savior? Preachers of a professional, stage, performance status or Spirit-anointed messengers of the Most High God? False witnesses or an earthly-revealer of the Indwelling Christ? Meaningless testifiers or the very indwelling Presence and Spirit of Jesus Christ?

Your weakness or God’s Ableness? It was JohannWolfgang von Gothe who wrote: “Epochs of faith, are epochs of fruitfulness; but epochs of unbelief, however glittering, are barren of all permanent good.” Didn’t Jesus say, “By their fruits you shall know them?”

Your weakness or God’s Ableness? Are you truly aware that as God has no confidence in your ‘fleshly’ abilities neither should you? This is why in Philippians 3:3 Paul wrote: “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”

Paul then in Philippians 3:17-21 wrote: “Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies o0f the cross of Christ; whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glorious in their shame – who set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able to subdue all things to Himself.”

I know you see it! Now, deal with it! “Flesh or Spirit”? Fleshly religious activity and spiritual hindrances or a spiritual presence and spiritual helps that truly bear witness to the Resurrected Christ? Do YOU count all things as loss to gain Christ or does what you hold onto in your fleshly walk determine your journey? Paul said what was his goal? “That I may gain Christ!”

In C.A. Coates’ book “The True Grace of God,” he shared a hymn that says: [p.126], “Yet sure in Your presence My soul still constant were, My eye would more familiar Its brighter glories bear. And thus Your deep perfections Much better should I know, And with adoring fervor In this Your nature grow.” Are you growing? Is it wild berries or ‘true fruit’? Your weakness or is it God’s Ableness? What are you resigned to – or what or Who are you resting in?

Is your spiritual journey continuous efforts at irreparable attempts of making your present life better apart from God’s redemption and reconciliation and regeneration or are you of the variety who says, “God, be merciful to me THE SINNER?”

Is God able to choose a man and make him into the father of many nations? Is God able to sustain, prepare, and then lead His people out of their bondages into His land of promises? Is God able to choose, raise up, or even put down kings and leaders over people and nations? Is God able to shut the lions’ mouths and protect His servants, delivering them even out of the lions’ dens? Can God separate the sea of your suffering and lead you through the parted waters of trouble on dry, safe ground? Can your God heal the sick, raise the dead, shatter your prison walls and set you free?

Has God, will God, does God take wounded sons and daughters, terrorized by godless or faithless dads and/or moms, and raise up true princes and princesses in the Royal Family? Is the God you know, the God you serve, the God you celebrate, the God who makes you more than a conqueror because of His great love; yes, is He the God who takes you out of death into Life Eternal, out of sorrow over your own brokenness into delighting in His healing grace, out of your meaninglessness into His eternal purposes and plans? Is God able to raise you out of man’s religions into His divine relationship?”

Is God able to spiritually take you out of your extreme, painful circumstances of life and sit you on and in His lap for heavenly hugs and holy presence that makes you stand in joy and delight and celebration? Is the God of miracles still present with you in your high mountains of misfortune and disappointment? Is God able to transform your vain glory into our eternal presence of a glory that never fades away?

Has one thing God ever promised you ever failed? In your house of bondage, when God said He’d deliver you out and into His Land, did that never happen? Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1:20, “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”

It was Peter who signed his name to his letter in 2 Peter 1:1-4, 10-11, saying: “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father o0f our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy, has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection o0f Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you…Verses 10-11, Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.”

What did Paul tell Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:12b, “…for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” Then Peter, again, in I Peter 4:19 wrote, “Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.” What’s that about? In I Peter 4:14 Peter said: “If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He (Jesus) is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.”

I felt I needed to share these next few poetic words God put on my heart after the “widow-maker” experience with a close call to death! It’s so important that we examine where we truly are in our spiritual journey: “Our Weakness or God’s Ableness”?

“Religions’ face is not divine but is so poorly displayed And rests in sad abandonment of all heavenly aid; Religions’ voices are so extreme in their delight, But cannot lift the heart when fear shatters the night.

Uninformed disciples, so distraught in their gaze, Wonder if it’s at all possible for their mortal hearts to be raised. Misfortune is their loss with no smile in their grief, There is no word of comfort to give any sweet relief.”

Religions’ face? They gaze and gaze and gaze each day, And religions’ vain glories never die away. Emptiness is their song and they wonder, ‘To whom do we belong?’ And because ‘their weakness’ is their scheme, God’s Ableness for them is a blank theme.

Heavy are their nights because God’s Presence is not in their sight. The lions they cannot tame because they never look to God who is the same. They live in the valley of the shadow of death and never know the God who gives LIFE.

Their lives are not temples but tombs of the devils’ prey, because in their hearts no allegiance to Christ holds full sway. Absorbed in self-indulgence, divine power is not in their play, Their hearts are so contaminated because ‘flesh’ holds the day.

Hopeless sighs are not Heaven’s songs, And the love of God is not a truth to which they belong. ‘Religion is self-effort’ they boldly proclaim, as the message of Jesus to them is so lame.

Then, there is that soul, upon its knees, who has a different theme, “God is my rescuer, and upon Him I lean. Jesus is my Savior, of Him I faithfully sing. He washes my sin in His own blood, and carries me faithfully over life’s great flood.”

Holy Presence in me is His eternal theme, and with the angels of Heaven, I faithfully sing. Lord of my life from now and forever, Word of my life that faithfully delivers. Jesus is able my faith to sustain, and upon me His Spirit does faithfully rain.

God is able to lift me up, and faithfully bless me with Heaven’s over-flowing cup. I am His, and He is mine – and upon my life His Sun still shines –

And the Day is soon coming, when at His table, I eternally will dine – because He and His disciples are mutually mine.”

CHAPTER TWO

“FALSE FREEDOM OR DIVINELY VALIDATED LIBERTY?”

In John 8:31-36 Jesus so truly spoke of the true, spiritual, practical, personal, eternal freedom that comes only through Him. His Word says: Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.” Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. I Know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.”

There is no greater word for an enslaved humanity than the word ‘free’! And there is no greater man on earth than that man who spends his whole life on earth providing for or even fighting for or dying for the freedom of others.

Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines ‘freedom’ as: “A state of exemption from the power or control of another (maybe Satan?); liberty; exemption from slavery, servitude or confinement…”

In Genesis 15:13 God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.” AND THEY WERE ENSLAVED – but there came that day when God divinely intervened and “set the captives free”!

Are you aware that there are those who “settle in” to captivity and think that it’s normal or just divinely intended? I truly believe Paul was joking about the Corinthians when in 2 Corinthians 11:19-20 he wrote: “For you, being so wise, bear with the foolish gladly. For you bear with anyone if he enslaves you, if he devours you, if he takes advantage of you, if he exalts himself, if he hits you in the face.”

Ezekial 34 is one of my favorite passages of Scripture. God is up to something good here for all of us who’ve been enslaved in false freedom. He searches for His sheep, He leads them out of bondage to false prophets, He cares for His sheep and delivers them from darkness, from their cloudy and gloomy days, bringing them “out” from a deathly state of life to live in blessing, in security, because “you are My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are men and I am your god,” declares the Lord God.” Oh, how good and great is that?”!!

But then, just as there is, false freedom, we must understand it is promoted by false prophets! Peter calls them “wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.” [2 Peter 2:17]. Then in verses 18-22 he exposes their deceptions and their end! “For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought out of bondage. For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled again in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,’ and, a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

Sadly, some precious people have been enslaved, ensnared, and entangled in various webs of deceptions – and we can only pray that, out of that web of deception, men can be set ‘free’ by our Lord’s “divinely validated liberty”! “If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” And Paul, in Romans 8:21, speaks of that freedom as “the glorious liberty of the children of God”!

Let’s look at ‘false freedom’ first. I’m convinced some are in bondage to the ignorance of their own SPIRITUAL DEATH BEFORE HOLY GOD.

When the Word declares that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” some ignore or are truly ignorant of the reality that “the wages of sin is death.” If you’ve never been one who reads, studies, or applies the Word of God to your life, you more than likely do not know the war between ‘flesh’ and the Spirit – that’s your old sin nature, the old man, the one not in union with Christ – so Paul tells us in Romans 8:6, “For to be carnally [or fleshly] minded IS DEATH, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

Why is that? Because Romans 8:7-8 declares, “Because the carnal (fleshly) mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” That means that those controlled by, dominated by, captured by, devoted to their old sin natures are bound by that until “Christ sets you free”!

In 2 Corinthians 5:21 Paul tells us, “For He [God the Father] made Him [God the Son] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him [in Jesus only].” I love Romans 5:10! It says, “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.”

‘False Freedom’? THAT’S CHAINED TO ONE’S HURTS AND PAINS AND ‘GHOSTS” OF ONE’S PAST! Are you aware of hurting individuals who strongly, steadily, and as sure as day follows night, push down, try to bury, and attempt to suffocate their lostness, deadness, doubtfulness about their true identity in the sea of their forgetfulness? There are people who live with 5 days, 5 years, 50 years of pain and heartache and, yes, ‘ghosts’ out of their former days, knowing nothing of “new creations in Christ Jesus”!

You are aware that personal reformation is not divine transformation. Adapting is not being atoned for. Education is not evaporation of the errors (?) in your life that you now endure. Cosmetic covering is not Christ’s conversion of your old self to new Life in Him. When Jesus said ‘You must be born again,’ He said it to a highly religious man of stalwart, religious prominence! But he HAD TO BE BORN AGAIN! And so do we all!

“False Freedom?” THAT’S THE HOME-MADE TIME BOMB OF EXPLOSIVE SELF-REFORM! And it is so prevalent and presumptuous! “I can handle my own life – I don’t need God. That’s for sissies, for the weak-minded, for the sad folks who can’t stand on their own.”

And all around you are so many who will not bow before Truth because they’ve convinced themselves of ‘the Lie’[“I can sin and not die!”] – and they live by ‘self-modification’ and not the “sure mercies of God.”

Are you understanding? Controlled ‘flesh’ does not bring one into a personal relationship with Holy God! Best efforts do not reveal or unveil Blessed Emmanuel! A ‘natural,’ independent, self-ruling man is not free but bound in his weakness, blind to the spiritual, and burdened [though he may not know it] by the heavy load of his GOD-LESS-NESS! Natural values and virtues hinder and bring one to that absolute necessity of “:new birth,” not even knowing Hell’s armies have surrounded them to hold them back from “crucified with Christ,” thus becoming a child of the King.

“False Freedom”? THAT’S ONE WHO “SAYS” HE IS FREE BUT LIVES IN BONDAGE TO HIS CARNAL DESIRES AND HIS INSTINCTIVE, INDULGENT INCLINATIONS! In I Corinthians 3:1-3 Paul spoke of some Corinthian Christians who were behaving like “mere men.” “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?”

And “mere men” are those bound to their carnal desires and their instinctive, indulgent inclinations! “Mere men”? “We must increase – Jesus must decrease!” “Mere men”? “We don’t need to ‘perfect holiness’ because we have no fear of God!” “Mere men”? “We live on a common-sense basis and are not goaded by a God you profess to know!” “Mere men”? “We don’t have to be still and we don’t have to know He is God!”

It doesn’t take long to “see” and to “know” where a man’s heart i9s – and if it’s a closed heart to God, you’ll see a man daily grinding at the mill of self-indulgence, smelling worse each moment because of his rotting sensuality, easily angered by any mention of Jesus, and either coming apart at the seams of his life or angered and fighting back because he’s yoked with the devil and the powers of darkness.

That man is not delivered FROM his sin but has been given over TO his sin. The prison cuffs become heavier and heavier – the demonic voices become louder and the demonic traps more frequent and devastating in nature. He’s bound like a Samson by the deceptions of the Delilahs!!

“False Freedom”? THAT’S ONE, YES, BOUND BY THE CHAINS OF RELIGIOUS SUPERSTITIONS AND DEMONIC PHILOSOPHIES! In Galatians 4:8-11 Paul so eloquently and in convicting fashion nailed, yes, some professing disciples who had decided for bondage rather than deliverance! He wrote: “But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. But now, after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.”

In fact Paul was so bold to the church at Corinth that he wrote them: I Corinthians 8:9-12, “But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their conscience, you sin against Christ.”

Plus, in I Corinthians 7:35, he wrote: “And this I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is seemly, and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.” But bound by the chains of religious superstitions and demonic philosophies is not true freedom! This is why we read in Colossians 2:6-10, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.”

“False Freedom”? Dare I say that some false freedom is also the result of POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL BONDAGE BY LEADERS WHOSE INTENT IS TO DECEIVE AND ENSLAVE THE PEOPLE THEY SUPPOSEDLY ARE TO BE SERVING, SETTING FREE, AND WATCHING THEIR GODLY GOVERNANCE OF THEIR LIVES, FAMILIES, AND ETERNAL PURPOSES!?!

“If Jesus sets you free, you shall be free indeed.” And I believe eternal honor is given to those who expend and extend and express their leadership to free others from the chains of civil bondage and governmental imprisonment, seeing men possess, enjoy, and share in their God-given rights: LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF BLESSING – NOT ONLY BEING A USA PRINCIPLE BUT A BIBLICAL STANDARD FOR GOD’S GLORY!

I’ve only given you a sip, a taste, of ‘false freedom’ but what is our “Divinely Validated Liberty”? Again, John 8:36 says, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

I pray you see, sense, and fully understand that this “Divinely Validated Liberty” IS THAT SOVEREIGNLY PLANNED BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THIS WORLD! Revelation 13:8 speaks of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” And if you have any doubts, the prophetic Word of Isaiah 53:4-7 tells us: “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.”

In John 1:29 the Holy Word tells us: The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” And that was Jesus of Nazareth! Revelation 5:11-13 says, Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wisdom and riches, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I hear saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!”

It’s God who sits on the throne! It’s the Lamb seated on the throne who took our place on the Cross, died, and yet forever lives! And all of that is out of the heart of God who tells us: John 3:16-21, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes 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.”

But also “DIVINELY VALIDATED LIBERTY” IS THAT WHICH WAS AND IS SACRIFICIALLY PURCHASED: It is ours because Jesus has revealed it as a sovereign work of His power, but required, in the mind and heart of God, as that purchased by His shed blood! This is why, in Acts 20:28, that we read, “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”

No doubt this is why we read in I Corinthians 7:23, “You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.” That price was and is the shed blood of the Lamb of God whose name is Jesus. Are you truly aware of WHO Jesus IS and what Jesus DID AT THE CROSS? This IS the eternal Son of God, God Himself, who gave up His freedom and His very Life that you and I might be set free. Jesus gave up His freedom that you might be LIBERATED FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH! The old hymn says, “Jesus Paid it all, All to Him I owe, Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow!”

DIVINELY LIBERATED LIBERTY IS THAT, NOT ONLY PURCHASED BY HIS BLOOD, BUT SWEETLY PRESENTED BY HIS RESURRECTED PRESENCE, POWER, AND PROMISE: Do you understand? In His love He bought you and by His power He raises you up to His throne of everlasting life – and by His grace He liberates you to live in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You may have been in sackcloth and ashes, but in your repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of Christ, He clothes you in His righteousness and instills within you everlasting freedom and liberty. We’re no longer “bound” but “blessed”, not imprisoned by our old sin natures but liberated by His blood and power, not hidden in darkness but one celebrating in the Light, not by self-effort or personal merit but by the grace, mercy, and love of God!

Certainly, it was for sinners He died, because there was and is none righteous, no not one! But though bondage is a curse, through His blood He gives us blessing. Though bondage is a chain, through His blood He gives us freedom. Though bondage is darkness and the very valley of the shadow of death, our Lord dresses us in the beautiful gowns of freedom and liberty. Though bondage is always cruel darkness which stings us and strangles and stifles us, His True Light shines and the darkest midnights of the soul become the high noons blazing in His personal, abiding presence.

DIVINELY LIBERATED LIBERTY IS THAT WHICH, PURCHASED BY HIS SHED BLOOD, BECOMES THROUGH GRACE AND FAITH OUR PRESENT AND PERENNIAL POSSESSION: Do you understand “chained through the ages” but now, through His shed blood, we’re free in the eternal fresh air of holy presence? Bound with the guilty, but now free with the emancipated, bound with the dark ones, but now celebrating with sons and daughters of light, bound with the slaves of sin, but now servants of His holy righteousness, bound in the darkness of sinful hearts, but now servants of God by the dawn of new creation Light?

BUT, LASTLY, DIVINELY LIBERATED LIBERTY IS THAT WHICH, PURCHASED BY HIS SHED BLOOD, GRANTS TO US A PERFECT PARDON: Micah 7:18 says, “Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love [or mercy]. Verse 19, He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You [God] will cast our sins into the depths of the sea.”

How does that happen? Isaiah 55:6-7 says, “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”

Yes, even King David knew and understood God’s perfect pardon! He said, Psalm 32:1-5, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand, God, was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

It was Spurgeon who said, “Forgiven sin is better than accumulated wealth.” The precious prize of pardon is a dark night turned into the brightness of Heaven’s eternal shining sun on a forgiven son whose sin has been washed and cleansed in the Lamb’s blood! Isaiah 43:25 says, God speaking, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.” Glory!

The memory of past sin, washed in the blood, is not to be like a hanging noose wrapped around your throat! What you were without Christ is not who you ARE in Christ now. Doesn’t His Holy Word tell us, Psalm 32:2, “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity (or charge his account with), and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”

If any man after death had any perception of a life of unforgiven sin and what he had in store for an unforgiven life of rebellion to God, I believe he’d fall before the Cross and empty tomb, confessing his sin, and calling out for mercy and grace. Oh, please hear Oswald Chambers in his “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.255]. He quoted Hebrews 10:14, “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified [or ‘set apart’].” Then Chambers said: “It does not matter who or what we are, there is absolute reinstatement into God by the death of Jesus Christ and no other way, not because Jesus pleads, but because He died. It is not earned, but accepted. All the pleading which deliberately refuses to recognize the Cross is of no avail; it is battering at another door than the one which Jesus opened. I don’t want to come that way, it is too humiliating to be received as a sinner. “There is none other name…” The apparent heartlessness of God is the expression of His real heart, there is boundless entrance in His way. “We have forgiveness through His blood.” Identification with the death of Jesus Christ means identification with Him to the death of everything that never was in Him…The Atonement is a propitiation whereby God through the death of Jesus makes an unholy man holy.”

Divinely Validated Liberty, or freedom, is: “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” []John 8:36].

CHAPTER THREE

MAN DIES! DOES HE LIVE AGAIN?

I don’t know of a more crippling question if one’s life has no foundation of saving grace or mercy, and he asks, “If I die, will I live again?” Death for many is, yes, death to truth because in their minds and hearts they wished to die, having no saving will to live! I saw recently in print a man speaking of “fine dying [which is] a man’s privilege…” But if he doesn’t know if he lives again, what is “fine” about that? That may be the wicked and the weary and the worn down who want what they’ve experienced to be over! But it’s not.

Death is not a ‘troubling dream’; death is not a punishment but an open door to a different state of life; death is either a dread because of the door it opens to some, but for others it is the gate of life opened to eternal blessing; it’s so sad but death for some is experiencing death without having appropriated the life God desired them to claim, while others continue their blessed life of faith even though they have died in resurrection hope, power, and promise.

It’s for certain that there truly is ‘a democracy of the dead’ in which equality is real and sure. It was the “Aerzte-Kalendar” from Germany that had a quote saying: “The thought of death leaves me completely calm because I have the firm conviction that our spirit is a being of indestructible nature, continuing from eternity to eternity; it is similar to the sun, which seems to set each night for us mortals, but which actually never sets, instead continues to shine uninterruptedly.,”

It is for sure our ‘being’ is of an indestructible nature and continues on and on and on either in Heaven or Hell! For some that eternal state after physical death is immeasurable blessing in fellowship with Holy God, with the Lord Jesus Christ, and engulfed in still greater blessings in and through the Holy Spirit; but the ‘lost,’ the unbeliever, the rebellious, the deceived, there remains forever eternal torment under the control of Satan and his satanic demons and armies forever and ever, experiencing a ‘death’ that will not die! For them, death is not the gate to heavenly pleasure but hellish dread.

I really do not know how the ‘godless’ even think about ‘death’ with its open door to continual corruption, demonic disturbance, and satanic slavery. But born-again believers? They take their “rest” on the bosom of Jesus, wrapped in His arms of love and grace and mercy! But the worldly? It was George Eliot who said: “Worldly faces never look so worldly as at a funeral.” IN Revelation 14:13 we read, “Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me: ‘Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘That they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”

That is an awesome word of encouragement and enlightment. There is a ‘rest’ from our labors, and what we’ve done in the earthly life follows us into the heavenly life! No doubt this is why the author of Hebrews wrote: Hebrews 4:9-10, “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.” And, in Hebrews 3:18-19, gracious God has given us a warning: “And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” When I read these verses I realize that that moment of death is not as one embracing a moment of final sleep but entering, for them, a new and lasting awakening to the fullness of Heaven’s blessings or the fullness of Hell’s curses!

The Holy Word speaks of “rest” for the believer in death, but to the unbeliever Revelation 9:12 speaks of “One woe is past; and behold, there comes two woes more hereafter.” But the born-again believer? Look with me at I Corinthians 15:50-58!! Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ “O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

I pray you see and are fully aware that born-again believers know and are fully persuaded that death has lost its sting! Yes, for the true believer “death is swallowed up in victory”!

But not all men know “death swallowed up in victory” but death sounding with cruel cries, heavy hearts, and sorrowful loneliness. Eglon, king of Moab, had conquered Israel and ruled over them for eighteen years. But the Lord raised up a deliverer whose name was Ehud. Ehud came to the king carrying not only ‘tributes’ but trouble – he brought a dagger! In the presence of the king, Ehud said to Eglon, “I have a message from God for you.” The dagger was “death swallowed up in defeat!”

You may not have heard of the venerable English preacher, George Whitfield, but in his early ministry days he fell ‘deathly ill’, and was not sure he would live or die. He experienced an extremely high fever and thought his time had come. There was a blessed negro woman who was caring for him. She said boldly, “No, Mr. Whitfield, you are not going to die yet; you have thousands more to bring to Christ; keep up your spirits, for you will live and not die – the Master has a big job for you to do.”

Job no doubt wrestled with himself and God about the reality of death. In Job 30:16-23 we read: “And now my soul is poured out because of my plight; the days of affliction take hold of me. My bones are pierced in me at night, and my gnawing pains take no rest. By great force my garment is disfigured; it binds me about as the collar of my coat. He has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes. I cry out to You, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and you regard me. But You have become cruel to me; with strength of Your hand You oppose me. You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride on it; You spoil my success. For I know that You will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.”

Spurgeon wrote in his “Spurgeon’s Sermons,” [Vol. 17, p.299], “It is the part of a brave man, and especially a believing man, neither to dread death not to sigh for it; neither to fear death nor to court it. In patience possessing his soul, he should not despair of life when hardly pressed; and he should be always more eager to run his race well than to reach its end.” Sound words of wisdom from Dr. Spurgeon!

I have a very solemn statement to share with you that I firmly believe can change your life forever if you respond positively to it. Here it is: “Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.” That comes from Isaiah the prophet to Hezekiah who was sick and near death. [Isaiah 38:1].

Across the seventy-seven years of my life I have witnessed death in the old, in the young, in babies, in middle-aged men and women, scholars, athletes, doctors, housewives, mothers, fathers, soldiers, policemen, historians, prisoners, patriots – but regardless of their status economically, financially, socially, spiritually – whatever, they still died!

The psalm-song of David ought to be learned and sung over and over: Psalm 39:4-7, “Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am. Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You; certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Surely every man walks about as a shadow; surely they busy themselves in vain; he heaps up riches, and does not know who will gather them. And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You.”

It was Augustine who used to speak uncertainly, not sure whether he ought to call life “a dying life or a living death” – and it’s certain the temporal life is a dying life and we are living to die, but that’s simply earthly and fails to face the eternal! I’ll never forget my New Testament professor of preaching at Southwestern Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas, who told us regularly: “Preach as a dying man to dying men!”

Again, Spurgeon, [“Spurgeon’s Sermons,” Vol. 17, p.301] preached: “Early in the life of my boys I took them to the old churchyard of Wimbledon and bade them measure some of the little graves within that enclosure, and they found several green hillocks which were shorter than themselves. I tried thus to impress upon their young minds the uncertainty of life. I would have every child remember that he is not too young to die. Let others know that they are not too strong to die.” Then Spurgeon shared about Paracelsus, a very famous physician of old time, who prepared a medicine that he believed would extend a life for a long time if taken regularly, and maybe never die, except of extreme old age; and guess what? Paracelsus died a young man!

Job not only believed though that the hour of death would come since “it is appointed unto men to die,” but that also, after death, there are “houses appointed for all living.” Beyond death, beyond the grave, there is Satan’s abode and the Savior’s home in glory. Where you spend eternity is to be settled in your own mind, heart, and will.

What did Job say? And did he say it because he truly believed it and rested in it? “I know that you will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.” Providential plans are firmly established for “life after death” because of His revealed Word: Didn’t David describe for us the joy in the true believer because of his after-death destination? Psalm 23:4-6 tells us: “Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord FOREVER!”

There is resurrection life AND resurrection hope! It’s Job again, Job 19:25-26, who cemented and celebrated for us the true believers’ after-life when he said: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, THIS I KNOW, that in my flesh I shall see God.”

Paul understood our future after our earthly departure. In I Corinthians 13:12 he wrote: “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.” And in Christ we are KNOWN BY GOD HIMSELF!

Do you know it, sense it, celebrate it, shout it out on the housetops? Didn’t we read I Corinthians 15:53? “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality?” Glory! Glory Hallelujah!! Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary describes “immortality” like this: “The quality of never ceasing to live or exist; exemption from death and annihilation; life destined to endure without end; as the immortality of the human soul – Jesus Christ, who has abolished death, and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel…” [2 Timothy 1:10]. Noah Webster went on to describe immortality as “exemption from oblivion…existence not limited.”

And all of this is because, I Timothy 1:17, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God alone who is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” SO BE IT!

But I do know that there are so many people, even some in our local churches, who’ve never broken through their walls of fear about death to rest in the eternal hope of their oneness in and with Christ Jesus for the forever life in Heaven. Of course, some are afraid to die because they know they are separated from God, and intend to stay that way – but Hell scares them. I can only pray they get Hell scared out of them because Hell is real as Heaven is real, but it truly is a ‘hellish’ place!

Again, listen to the wise Spurgeon who operates as a surgeon on the disease of the fear of death and Hell: [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Vol. 17, pps. 312-313], “When the decree of God is our delight, we feel no abhorrence to anything which He appoints either in life or in death. If we are living as Christians ought to live, we have denied our self-will, and we have accepted the Lord to be the arbiter of all events, the absolute ruler of our being. If your soul is truly married to Christ, you find your supreme bliss in the Bridegroom’s will. Your cry is, “Your will be done.” This should be our ordinary condition in daily life; and it is an admirable preparation for thinking of death with composure. Let me live, if God will be with me in life; let me die, if He will be with me in death. So long as we are “forever with the Lord,” what matters where else we are? We will not further ask when or where; our ‘when’ is “forever,” our ‘where’ is “with the Lord.” Delight in God is the cure for dread of death.” Amen?

Are you at peace that if you lie down in your bed tonight that it just might be your last night alive in your earthly body? The one thing I believe we gladly receive through the truth of God’s Word is that a man is not prepared to live fully if he’s not prepared to die in faith – not fear. How does that come to be?

RECFEIVE GOD’S FAITHFUL WORD FOR YOURSELF ABOUT LIFE AND ABOUT DEATH. What did Jesus tell us? “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.” How’s your daily menu in God’s Word?

RECOGNIZE THAT YOU ARE NOT EXEMPT FROM DYING. Isn’t death appointed? It doesn’t matter where you live death occurs. It doesn’t matter how educated you are – one is not wiser than death. It doesn’t matter how physically strong you’ve disciplined y7ourself to be, that moment comes when death rules. It doesn’t matter how religious you’ve trained yourself – death is inevitable. Psalm89:49 says, “What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave?”

RECOGNIZE THAT, ONCE DUST, TO DUST WE SHALL RETURN. Yes, Job spoke of ‘corruption’ that ‘you are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘You are my mother and my sister,’ alerting himself that he does go the way of all men – and he knew his time would come. Do you deny it? “In Adam all die”! But, praise God, in Christ we live forever even though the physical perishes!

RECOGNIZE, YES, THE WAGES OF SIN IS, ALWAYS HAS BEEN, ALWAYS WILL BE ‘DEATH’! What does Romans 5:12 tell us? “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned – “ So, we’re hopeless? Look at 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, Christ Jesus.”

RECOGNIZE IN YOURSELF THE REALITY OF YOUR OWN AWARENESS, ASSOCIATION, OR AFFINITY WITH THE INEVITABLE!! And do you know what happens when we get gut-level honest with ourselves? We begin to ask questions, to look about us to the overcomers of the fear of death, to truly ask, “Does God have a word for me?”, to set aside satanic influences of unbelief, doubt, or fear, and to begin a journey of faith and obedience to “my Savior” who died and rose again!

In Psalm 91 we find such a powerful word of enlightment, encouragement, and an enabling to live the overcoming life in Christ. It says: Verses 14-16, “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.” Living in Christ is living abundantly because that’s LIVING IN AND THROUGH GOD ALONE!

CHAPTER FOUR

“LIFE AS A VAPOR? WHERE’S ITS SIGNIFICANCE?”

In “The Works” of Alfred Lord Tennyson, [p.546], the famous poet and writer of the past, wrote the following words: “Visions of youth – for my brain was drunk with the water, it seems; I had past into perfect quiet at length out of pleasant dreams, And the transient trouble of drowning – what was it when matched with the pains Of the hellish heat of a wretched life rushing back through the veins?” The very next writing?

“Why should I live? One son had forged on his father and fled, And if I believed in a God, I would thank him, the other is dead, And there was a baby-girl, that had never looked on the light: Happiest she of us all, for she past from the night to the night.”

A suicidal youth and a dead baby girl who never saw light! And some believe they’ve celebrated life by drowning or just dying right out of the mother’s womb? I believe I’d call that “maimed, marred, misspent living.” I pray that it would alarm you, stir you, challenge you, that you would discover multitudes around you who see for themselves no real value in living – as James 4:14 asks, “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

And that’s true of masses of people! Certainly we were all created free to choose whether to live as a fleeting vapor or a victorious son and daughter of God Himself. But sadly, the paralysis of believing, of trusting, of obeying the God who made us, leaves one spiritually and morally empty, and he/she does as he/she pleases with desperate, darkening consequences. “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

Presumptuous people are for the most part people who are arrogant, filled with fleshly pride, irreverent to revealed Truth, ‘living’ unto themselves in a state of spiritual blindness, darkness, and unbelief. They defy conscience, promote vainness, and despise holiness and holy revelation.

Vapor victims? Life has no meaning for them, life purpose is a paralysis they think they avoid, life relationship to God is hollow for them, life values are personal merits rather than Prince of Peace mercy; life music has no sound chords but only death and dying, off-key rhythms; life’s ‘self’, as Francis Bacon wrote, is ‘the chiefest bridle of all vices’; “life is doubt so just do as you please;” life is for many an untruth that sprouts into total falsehood, becoming Satan’s sharp teeth to sink into others; yes, and vapor victims can be victims of religion apart from relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ!

Robert Burns, in “The Cotter’s Saturday Night,” wrote: “Compared with this, how poor Religion’s pride, in all the pomp of method and of art, When men display to congregations wide, Devotion’s every grace, except the heart!”

In “Gentle Alice Brown” Sir William Schwenk Gilbert wrote: “Of all unhappy sinners, I’m the most unhappy one! The padre said, ‘Whatever have you been and gone and done?” LIFE IS A VAPOR! That’s “what you’ve been and gone and done!” How sad is Job 7:6-10? “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope. Oh, remember that my life is a breath! My eye will never again see good. The eye of him who sees me will see me no more; while your eyes are upon me, I shall no longer be. As the cloud disappears and vanishes away, so he who goes down to the grave does not come up. He shall never return to his house, nor shall his place know him anymore.”

Fast, fleeting, hopeless days – a brief breath – a vanishing cloud – one who is no longer known – with Job at one point in his earthly journey even saying: Job 7:16, “I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone, for my days are but a breath.”

“Life as a vapor? Where is its significance?” James helped us so much to understand “hope” when one sees himself as totally “hopeless”. In James 1:14-16 the brother of Jesus wrote: “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” How did Paul the Apostle put it? Romans 5:10 says, “For id 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.”

Paul said later in his letter to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For He [God] mahe Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” That’s our eternal victory not temporal vapors! But the sad truth is some who profess faith in Jesus’ shed blood for their sin never consider5 its purpose in God’s grace and mercy to extend, express, and enlighten His righteousness through their daily journeys!

“My sins are forgiven!” SO? For what purpose and to whose glory? In Romans 5:14-17, 20, the Apostle of faith challenges us: “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more, the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 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. Verse 20, Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.”

I’m not interested any further in elaborating on our death, our state of death, or our date with death, but that out of that spiritual death our Lord and Savior has released for us “resurrection life, resurrection power, and resurrection hope.” It’s so true that a man needs to understand his latter end and the briefness of his days on this earth, but more importantly one needs to grasp, “Why am I here? And, what is the purpose of my existence?”

Spurgeon said, [“Spurgeon’s Sermons”,Vol.15, p.54], “Among the earnest, the prayerful, the holy, many must own that the vaults of death have brought them spiritual health.” And I believe, even more, confronted by Christ, testified to by the lives of His servants, spiritually convicted by His living Word, one comes to the holy hour of divine confrontation and eternal intent!

Significant day? Significant life? I believe that’s the day of truly eternal significance when one is gripped, not by what today or tomorrow brings, but WHO HOLDS US IN HIS HANDS AND ARMS AND HEART OF SAVING GRACE, MERCY, AND LOVE. Have you heard our Lord say to you: “You are Mine because I love you, I died for you, and I rose from the grave to draw YOU unto MYSELF?” In 2 Corinthians 4:6 we read, :For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Significant day? Significant life? At least “vapor” shows us how meaningless and fleeting we are in ourselves. I believe, by God’s Word and by God’s Spirit and by God’s faithful witnesses, that we begin to sense, receive, and stand upon our eternal purpose of “LIVING” in the glory and relationship of oneness with Him! Paul put it like this in Galatians 1:15-16, 24: “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me…v.24…And they glorified God in me.” In Galatians 2:20-21 Paul enlightens us even more: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God…”

Significant day? Significant life? The new disciple’s life is not for pats on our backs but for praises to the God of grace. In I Peter 2:9-10 Peter tells us: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”

Paul, in Romans 1:3-5 speaks “concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Through Him, we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, among whom YOU ALSO ARE THE CALLED OF JESUS CHRIST…”

“Obedience to the faith”? In 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 Paul wrote: “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”

Ambassadors for Christ, messengers to a lost and dying world, witnesses of His amazing grace, love, and mercy, the story-tellers of eternal truth, the flag-carriers of kingdom allegiance – extensions of His life, expressions of His love, the proofs of His power!

Significant day? Significant life? What about safety? What about security? What about ‘settled into’? What about heavenly significance of service and sacrifice? What about life as a true hymn of faith? In Isaiah 33:14-17 the prophet wrote: “The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness has seized the hypocrites; “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, He who despises the gain of oppressions, Who gestures with his hands refusing bribes, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil; He will dwell on high; his place of defense will be the fortress of rocks; bread will be given him, His water will be sure. Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; they will see the land that is very far off.”

Spurgeon wrote: [“Spurgeon’s Sermons, Vol. 15, p.31], “Safety in Zion belongs to those born in her by regeneration, reared in her by sanctification, enfranchised in her by faith in the Son of God, settled in her by fixed principles, confirmed in her by obedience to her laws, and bound to her by intense love of her king and her citizens. Such “shall dwell on high” secure from danger, and only such: the aliens and foreigners within her gates shall ere long be driven forth with shame.”

“Life as a vapor? And where is its significance? Just think for a moment about Paul’s challenging statement to the Galatian church – Galatians 4:19-20, “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you. I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone; for I have doubts about you.” Do you grasp a present, participatory, praying spirit in the “professors of faith” around you? For many, rather than significant, saving faith, it is an attitude of shame toward God and they’re angry with Him. In Isaiah 45:22-25, God speaks: “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath. He shall say, ‘Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come, and all shall be ashamed who are incensed against Him. In the Lord all the descendants of Israel shall be justified, and shall glory.”

That’s because some are so ‘self-sufficient’ that they believe God ought to bless them because of their meritorious ‘spiritual genius’ – and God laughs! But the ‘true Israel’ calls for mercy. The true Israel calls to God for new hearts. The true Israel cries out for grace to abound toward them more and more. The true Israel knows and understands there is no hope for them save in God Himself! Their faith and trust is living – not dead, it is dynamic – not dormant, it is heart-changing – not cosmetic!

Significant day? Significant life? Do you remember the angel’s description of John to Zacharias? Luke 1:16-17 says, “And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before [Jesus] in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Oh, how awesome is that! Our faith in Christ is a walk making ready people prepared for the Lord! YOUR LIFE IN CHRIST? It’s not a fictitious story of faithlessness but the true story of people preparing to meet their God!

What does Ephesians 2:8-10 tell us about our life and living in Christ in eternal significance? It says: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

What is a ‘professed’ faith if there is no life change? Your outward life may be perceived as “All For God,” but if there is no new heart by the grace of God, it’s a sham, a pretense, a false witness! But grace, true grace, births a new witness – Titus 2:11-12 says, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age..” Then in Titus 3:5-7 he amplifies it to Titus, “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

There’s nothing ‘skin-deep’ about saving faith in a “new life” – saving faith is the reality of crucifixion with and in Christ and raised up as a new creation. In Psalm 24:3-5 David wrote about the King of glory and His Kingdom citizens. He said: “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”

Oh, examine your ‘life’ of faith. Is it a true life of faith – redeemed by the blood of Christ, regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and renewed by the Living Word of God? Are you a free man in Christ Jesus? Free from the darkened sins of your old sin nature? Free from the uncontrolled vices of guilt and shame and bondage? Free from the oppression and domination of the powers of darkness? Free from the fashionable sins of a perverted people? Free from the starvation diet fleshliness birthed in you? Free from the abomination of a defenseless nature of sin and death?

What did Jesus tell us? John 10:27-30, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal live, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.”

Oh, but that is not all you need to rest in!! Look at Romans 8:31-39!! What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 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 things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In “Spurgeon’s Sermons,” [Vol.15, pps. 46-47] Spurgeon said: “As for the waters, the living waters of grace and of the Holy Spirit, these shall always flow: in summer and winter shall the still waters be found at your side; yes, they shall be within you “a well of water springing up unto everlasting life.” Words cannot tell the privilege of the man who lives in God and lives with God! He need not shiver in the damps of the earth – he lives on high; he need not fear the fury of the enemy, for he has a place of defence; he need not dread the lapse of time; his munitions are of rock; he need not tremble at famine and drought, his needs shall all be met by the care of heaven. The man who knows his sins are forgiven, who is covered with the righteousness of Christ, who is in vital union with the Lord Jesus, who is indwelt by the Holy Ghost: that man, I say, need not desire to be any other than he is, but may give himself up to blessing and praise and magnifying the Most High every moment of his life till he is caught up to the highest heaven, to dwell where enemies cannot threaten nor necessities arise.”

Always remember: self-righteousness is a curse – Savior-blessed righteousness is heavenly celebration daily; self-acceptance is deceit if Christ within you is not your delight; self-approval is blindness while Christ’s Atonement is true sight and heavenly vision; self-worship is the devil’s delight while “rejoicing in the Lord” is a disciple’s journey and eternal destiny’ self-will is spiritual sickness while divine will and blessing is healthy living, thanks to God’s love, mercy, and grace.

Psalm 39 is an awesome psalm of personal awareness and a psalm of one’s awareness of the great, great need of God to transform “vapors” into the eternal breath of God in us. The psalmist wrote: I said, “I will guard my ways, lest I sin with my tongue; I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle, while the wicked are before me.” I was mute with silence, I held my peace even from good; and my sorrow was stirred up. My heart was hot within me; while I was musing, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue: “Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am. Indeed, You have made my days as handbreaths, and my age is as nothing before You; certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Surely every man walks about like a shadow; surely they busy themselves in vain; he heaps up riches and does not know who will gather them. And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You. Deliver me from all my transgressions; do not make me the reproach of the foolish. I was mute, I did not open my mouth, because it was You who did it. Remove Your plague from me; I am consumed by the blow of Your hand. When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity, You make his beauty melt away like a moth; Surely every man is a vapor. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; do not be silent at my tears; for I am a stranger with You, a sojourner, as well as my fathers were. Remove Your gaze from me, that I may regain strength, before I go away and am no more.”

Hear me! If your “life” is a life of significance and celebration it’s because you are “in Christ Jesus”! No other reason or explanation! So… “All hail the power of Jesus’ name! Let angels prostrate fall; Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all!!”

I truly celebrate Christ Jesus every time I pick up and read Oswald Chambers’ “My Utmost For His Highest.” On pages 140-141 he listed Philippians 3:10, “That I may know Him.” Then he said confirming words to this chapter: “The initiative of the saint is not towards self-realization, but towards knowing Jesus Christ. [I say, that’s true life!]. The spiritual saint never believes circumstances to be haphazard, or thinks of his life as secular and sacred; he sees everything he is dumped down in as the means of securing the knowledge of Jesus Christ. There is a reckless abandonment about him. The Holy Spirit is determined that we shall realize Jesus Christ in every domain of life, and He will bring us to the same point again and again until we do. SELF-REALIZATION leads to enthronement of work; whereas the saint enthrones Jesus Christ in his work. Whether it be eating or drinking or washing disciples’ feet, whatever it is, we have to take the initiative of realizing Jesus Christ in it! Every phase of our actual life has its counterpart in the life of Jesus. Our Lord realized His relationship to the Father in the most menial work. “Jesus knowing…that He was come from God, and went to God…took a towel…and began to wash the disciples’ feet.”…The aim of the spiritual saint is “that I may know Him.” Do I know Him where I am today? If not, I am failing Him. I am here not to realize myself, but to know Jesus…[the disciple’s] aim is to secure the realization of Jesus Christ in every set of circumstances he is in.” AMEN?

CHAPTER FIVE

“IS THERE WISDOM IN WAITING ON GOD?”

In “Tennyson’s Works” I do not know what spurred the following but it does speak, not to waiting, but postponing what could have happened earlier in two lives. Tennyson wrote: “And the wind began to rise, and I thought of him out at sea, And I felt I had been to blame; he was always kind to me, ‘Wait a little, my lass, I am sure it will all come right’ – And the boat went down that night – the boat went down that night.”

Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines waiting as “staying in expectation.” I like that, but I also know that waiting can be ‘wilting’! Job said in Job 14:14, “…All the days of my hard service I will wait, till my change comes.” He didn’t want to be ahead of God or behind Him. Job said later, Job 17:13-15, “If I wait for the grave as my house, if I make my bed in the darkness, if I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘You are my mother and my sister,’ Where then is my hope? As for my hope, who can see it?”

There’s no doubt Job knew a ‘waiting’ apart from God can be so demonstrative of everything but Godly living and Godly expression and experience. He had learned to battle through dark moments and come out in eternal Light. In Job 19:25 he said, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth, Verse 26, And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God.”

Living in the Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas, area it is not unusual to see a large number of auto wrecks daily, snuffing out lives by the hundreds over a year’s time, and some because of faulty brakes – but spiritually far too many outside of automobile wrecks have no wisdom, no understanding, no prudence to protect, but live so recklessly. Fleshly or carnal security is not exempt from spiritual stupidity. They don’t possess holy wisdom but learn self-pride and self-wisdom goes before a spiritual fall which can become so disastrous. Their lives have faulty spiritual brakes because they’re devoid of divine wisdom.

There is such an impressive, inspirational instruction in Isaiah 40:29-31. It says, “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

Of course, you are aware that “youths and young men” feel they are so invincible that they need no one, not even God! But they do “faint,” they do “fail,” and they do “fall.” Even “old men” wax “old” in foolishness and will “live” in spiritual death because they base their lives on fleshly desires, inordinate affections, maddening morality, and give no place for God in their lives! It’s not just old garments that become “ragged and torn”, but old men as well who have no wisdom.

Wanton, worldly wisdom waits not on God but wilts and dies because men build “houses” with no foundation of faith or on unstable, improper, yes, deathly foundations without God!

Knowing the reality of heavenly wisdom that comes from “waiting on God” comes because one recognizes truly that “in Him we live and move and have our being.” Apart from Him it’s death in full mode. And this, no doubt, is why inspired by the Holy Spirit, James wrote 1:5-8 which says: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

Lacking wisdom and knowing it is not a universal blessing but sadly a universal curse because most men really believe they are wiser than God Himself and more able to handle their own affairs leaving God Himself out of their lives. “If any of you lack wisdom” – how wise or insufficient of wisdom are you? Do you understand that when it comes to our lives in the spiritual realm that most have never had a tutor – they are content with spiritual blinders to ignore rather than have unveiled in them the wisdom of God.

But James told us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given him.” Let’s see what we can discover about the wisdom of waiting on God!

WE’VE JUST SEEN IN SCRIPTURE THE WISWDOM OF WAITING ON GOD THROUGH PRAYER: If we look at Ephesians 5:18 we hear Paul instructing us to “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.” It’s for sure that “praying…in the ‘flesh’” is of no value but praying in and through the Spirit-Man opens the door to the very mind and heart of God.

In James 4:2 James said: “Yet you do not have because you do not ask.” Didn’t Jesus tell us in Matthew 7:7-11 about asking and receiving? “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

BUT ALSO THERE MUST BE THE WISDOM OF RECEIVING FROM “THE CLOUD OF WITNESSES” AS OUR EXAMPLE: In Hebrews 12:1-4 we see a challenging word for us: “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 entangles 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. Forconsider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted ti bloodshed, striving against sin.”

Tell me about that godly “cloud of witnesses” that you’ve allowed to surround your life – family, friends, ‘angels unaware,’ teachers, neighbors, classmates, the converted and transformed ‘drunk’ or drug addict, the friends whose marriages were saved by Christ Jesus, that holy professor whose presence constantly caught YOUR ATTENTION.

Acts 5:25-32 highlights for us godly witnesses that cannot be silenced or denied – and all around YOU are godly witnesses from whom you can and will receive their “cloud of glory” as they reveal to you their salvation journey. “So one came and told them, saying, ‘Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!’ Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, saying, ‘Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!’ But Peter and the other apostles answered and said, ‘We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be a Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.’” And doesn’t His Word speak about a “great cloud of witnesses”?

THEN ALSO THIS GREAT CLOUD OF WITNESSES IS THE WISDOM THAT ACCEPTS GOD’S EXCHANGE OF HIMSELF FOR OUR NOTHINGNESS: In I Timothy 6:7 Paul wrote: “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” To Titus Paul wrote: Titus 1:15, “…to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled…”

I don’t hesitate in saying to you that apart from God’s salvation in and through Christ ALL MEN are as nothing – that’s zeroes. No eternal LIFE, No eternal significance, and yet our Lord valued them enough to die on the Cross for their nothingness to bless them with Heaven’s everything and ALL!

Alfred Lord Tennyson, in “Despair,” wrote the following: [“Tennyson’s Works,” p.545], “Hoped for a dawn and it came; but the promise had faded away; We had passed from the cheerless night to the glare of a drearier day;….He is only a cloud and a smoke who was once a pillar of fire, The guess of a worm in the dust and the shadow of its desire – Of a worm as it writhes in a world of the weak trodden down by the strong, Of a dying worm in a world, all massacre, murder and wrong….O we poor orphans of nothing – alone on that lonely shore – Born of the brainless Nature who knew not that which she bore!….Trusting no longer that earthly flower would be heavenly fruit – Come from the brute, poor souls– no souls – and to die with the brute.”

In Isaiah 40:17 the prophet looks upon the nations of the masses of people and says: “All nations before Him are as nothing, and they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.” But then, because of His great love and mercy, He chooses to die in our place that we might live in Him and through Him! In James 1:2-4 James wrote: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

Do you see that? Out of a saving, tried faith, God’s people allow the steadfastness of God to do a perfect work in them, and they become mature and complete, lacking nothing. The “nothings” become inheritors of His everything! In Jeremiah 29:11 our Lord speaks: “For I know the thoughts that I have toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

ALSO, PLEASE NOTE, IT’S WISDOM, TRUE WISDOM THAT DISCOVERS AND DEPENDS UPON THE GREATNESS OF OUR GOD: One of the awesome passage of the Old Testament is found in I Chronicles 29:10-14 which says, Therefore David blessed the Lord before all the assembly; and David said: ‘Blessed are You, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; In Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. Now therefore, our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name. But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given You.”

A solemn, serious, sacrifice of praise is in order every day of a man’s life concerning the greatness of our God. In fact, I see it as indispensable – and apart from the worship and praise of God’s greatness, it causes me to wonder if they’ve truly entered a saving relationship with Holy, Merciful, Loving God. The greatness of God is immortal!

The greatness of God, yes, the awareness and acknowledgement of it by men, breeds eternal interest, abiding love for, and continual praise and bowing before and celebrating our great God! The absence of that in one’s life is evidence they’ve never met Him, or known Him, or loved Him, or celebrated Him. Psalm 48:1 says, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised…” Great in goodness, great in mercy, great in love, great in His activity, great in His wisdom, great in His deliverance, great in His salvation, great in His assurance, great in His glory, great in His power, great in His name, great God, great King, great Savior, great Lord, great Peace, great Joy – do you know, do you serve “The God Who Is Greater?”

THIS LEADS US TO THE WISDOM THAT OPENS THE HEART OF WORSHIP AND PRAISE AND ADORATION IN A TRUE BELIEVER’S HEART AND SOUL: In John 4 the woman of Samaria had come to draw water and Jesus asked a drink of her. The woman responded, verse 9, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” In verse 10 Jesus responded to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” What a curve-ball to a ‘strike-out queen! But, at least now, encountered by Jesus, she wants to know where one gets ‘living water’!

In telling her about the ‘living water,’ Jesus tells her that the water He’ll give to her will become in her a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life! Then, beginning in verse 21-26, Jesus reveals to her the heart of true worship! Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of [or through] the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

And who are the true worshippers? Philippians 3:3 says, “For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh [or one’s old sin nature.”

Revelation 4:8-11 is a picture of those who “bow” before Holy God and their Savior in an unending attitude of adoration and praise! It says: “The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes, around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: ‘You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”

I remember in my very younger years, maybe 8-11 years of age, when I visited my father’s parents in Athens, Tennessee, they had a large two-story home with a wrap-around porch from the front door all the way around to the back door. I often walked around the porch and would witness a woman on her porch on her knees with her hands lifted high. I asked my grandmother one day what the woman was doing, and she responded, “Why, son, she’s worshipping and praising and praying to God. She bows before Him every day.” I didn’t ask her but I should Have: “Mammaw, do you bow and pray every day?”

I would ask you right now: “Are you a disciple who bows, who prays, who worships God every day?” I love the statement that I heard on an occasion: “Worship is transcendent wonder.” It was Rufus Jones who once wrote: “Worship is the act of rising to a personal, experimental consciousness of the real presence of God which floods the soul with joy and bathes the inward spirit with refreshing streams of life.” WOW!

Psalm 95:1-7 says: “Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is the great God, and the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.”

IT’S ALSO WISDOM THAT UNVEILS THE WILL OF GOD AND THE WAYS OF GOD: In Ephesians 6:6 Paul wrote: “not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, DOING THE WILL OF GOD FROM THE HEART.” Then, in I Thessalonians 4:3 Paul said: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification…” And sanctification means what? That’s one “set apart” for the glory of God alone!

Oswald Chambers wrote in his “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.217], “Am I willing to let God do in me all that has been made possible by the Atonement? Am I willing to let Jesus be made sanctification to me, and to let the life of Jesus be manifested in my mortal flesh?”

Then Chambers added: “All that Jesus made possible is mine by the free loving gift of God on the ground of what He performed, my attitude as a saved and sanctified soul is that of profound humble holiness (there is no such thing as proud holiness), a holiness based on agonizing repentance and a sense of unspeakable shame and degradation; and also on the amazing realization that the love of God commended itself to me in that while I cared nothing about Him, He completed everything for my salvation and sanctification. No wonder Paul says nothing is “able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Wisdom unveils the will of God which unveils the very ways of God! We know that Jesus says: “I am the WAY…” Is His way your way? In Luke 1:67-79 Zacharias had been filled with the Holy Spirit, and he prophesied saying: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to our father Abraham: To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Now, look at verses 78-79 again! “Through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Are you a part of “the new and living way”? Hebrews 10:19-25 says: “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the Day approaching.”

It’s my earnest prayer that “the new and living way” is your path, and that you choose God’s will and God’s way every day of your life! In Deuteronomy 30:11-20 we read: “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

But last of all, in this chapter, I WANT YOU TO SEE, SENSE, SEIZE, AND STAND IN THE WISDOM THAT SHARES IN THE WORK OF THE LORD: In Acts 9 we have recorded Saul of Tarsus’ conversion experience. As he was confronted by the Lord, at first he didn’t know who He was, but then in verse 6, “trembling and astonished,” Paul said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”

Far too many who have “been saved” (?) want the Lord’s stamp of approval for their plans of a disciple’s walk, but not His! In Acts 9:15 the Lord Jesus said to Ananias, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. Verse 16, For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

Paul was a “first round draft choice” by our Lord. And he signed on! In I Corinthians 9:19-27 he said: “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law, ( not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be a partaker of it with you. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.” [Check out 2 Timothy 2:15-21!]

You do know that there is a night coming when no man can work. Don’t be delayed in fulfilling our Lord’s calling through your life and witness. Are you a laborer together with God? And, like Paul, we’ll not serve our Lord with our own preconceived ideas, but “Lord, what would You have me to do?” Oswald Chambers said: “One life wholly devoted to God is of more value to God then one hundred lives simply awakened by His Spirit….Unless the worker lives a life hidden with Christ in God, he is apt to becoming an irritating dictator instead of an indwelling disciple.” [“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.83].

W.H. Bellamy and Wm. J. Kirkpatrick wrote the following old hymn: “O troubled heart, there is a home, Beyond the reach of toil and care; a home where changes never come; Who would not fain be resting there?…Yet when bowed beneath the load, By heaven allowed, your earthly lot; Look up! You’ll reach that blest abode; Wait, meekly wait, and murmur not….Toil on, nor deem, tho’ sore it be, One sigh unheard, one prayer forgot; The day of rest will dawn for you; Wait, meekly wait, and murmur not.”

WAIT ON THE LORD!! IT’S WISDOM!!

CHAPTER SIX

IS IT COMMONPLACE TO BE DECEIVED?

Thomas Adams once said: “The devil is no idle spirit, but a vagrant, runagate walker, that never rests in one place. – The motive, cause, and main intention of his walking is to ruin man.” If you have a problem believing in the devil, guess what? You’ve been deceived by the very author and master of deception! In I peter 5:8 Peter wrote: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour.”

It was Shakespeare in “Comedy of Errors,” [Act 5, sc.1, l.9] who wrote: “He must have a long spoon that shall eat with the devil.” I’m not sure I agree with Thomas a Kempis writing that, “The devil does not tempt unbelievers and sinners who are already his own,” because entrapment, deception, a lying spirit, and, yes, temptation overflows out of him and his devilish army, not just to disciples of Christ but even to our Lord’s enemies.

But neither do I believe deception comes only from Satan. In 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 Paul wrote: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”

Genesis 3 is our introduction to deception that becomes so commonplace – and the very first verse says, “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’” Several things take place here that every man, woman, and child is susceptible to: 1) The devil casts doubt on the Word of God, 2) The devil twisted truth and distorted it, 3) The devil confuses – Verse 3, 4) The devil spouts the BIG “LIE” – you can sin and not die, Genesis 3:4 5) The devil breeds unbelief and then entices – Verse 6.

And look what happens as a result of a commonplace deception! Verse 7 says, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made them coverings.” That’s the early birth of ‘FIG-LEAF RELIGION’ which dominates fallen humanity.

There are deceitful men whose evil hearts dictate commonplace deception. The Word speaks of “deceitful and unjust men.” In Psalm 120:2 the psalmist cried out in his distress saying to the Lord, “Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue.” Have you tried to score that with your national leaders or your investment advisers or your children’s teachers or, yes, even your church’s overseers?

Proverbs 27:6 says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” And that surely can be more than the devil and his army! And if you, apart from Christ, have not learned it about yourself, get ready! Jeremiah 17:9-10 says, God speaking: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”

In Ecclesiastes 9:3 the “wise man” wrote: “This is an evil; in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; [do you think deceit might be included in “the hearts of the sons of men (who) are full of evil?] madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.”

What did God say through Jeremiah in Jeremiah 9:3-6? “And like their bow they have bent their tongues for lies. They are not valiant for the truth on the earth. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know Me,” says the Lord. “Everyone take heed to hios neighbor, and do not trust any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will walk with slanderers. Everyone will deceive his neighbor, and will not speak the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves to commit iniquity. Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know Mw,” says the Lord.”

There was a day, after serious preparation, that Jesus had left Jerusalem for Bethany, and He was hungry. In Mark 11:13 the Word says: “And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves…” The fruit had not been produced yet. And I wondered – does the Lord look for heavenly fruit on the trees of our lives or is He disappointed when He sees fruitless trees that deceive the public about our professional faith but are barren trees?

Deception? Commonplace Deception? Fallen men without Christ are specialists at examining one’s profession of faith – and sadly, too often, rather than a sacrificial life they see covetousness, rather than a servant spirit they see self-centered multitudes of church folk simply examining their spiritual navels! Spurgeon was right! “A false professor [of Christ] exposes Christ to ridicule.” Outward allegiance breeds individuals who inwardly are becoming “gospel-hardened.” Do you remember “the parable of the two sons” in Matthew 21:28-32? Don’t miss the “I go, sir,” but he doesn’t go! That’s deceit – not true wisdom!

Why is it that some know TRUTH but find that truth clouded over by fleshly lies that they have time to resolve their spiritual dilemma later? That’s deceit! Here’s how Spurgeon dealt with that attitude as he preached: [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Vol.9,p.198], “Pity the poor naked spirit which so soon will be quivering with utmost agony, a self-caused agony, an agony from which it would not escape, an agony of which it was warned, but which it chose to endure sooner THAN GIVE UP SIN and yield to the scepter of sovereign grace.” WHAT A DECEPTION!

Think about Adam and Eve in the Garden as Satan came to deceive them! And consider again that the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil was not, is not, never will be the fruit of the tree of life. And where has the majority of fallen humanity chosen to find their fruit? Bitter trees – blessed fruit? Or bitter trees of life – blessed fruit of life? The devil’s choice or the Savior’s sacrifice?

Deception! I’m sorry, so very sorry, for the millions who bow before idols and receive no salvation help. Deception! I’m sorry, so very sorry, for the millions who follow religiously dead men and know nothing about the Living Savior and Lord. I’m sorry, so very sorry, for, yes, masses of people who go to cemeteries without any hope of resurrection life and power. Deception!

Deception? The author of Hebrews calls us all to a high alert! In Hebrews 3:12-14 we read, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you8 an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today”, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end…”

“Departing”? Has the Hebrews author alerted, yes, ‘believers’ to the danger and a disaster of a life deceived by sin? He speaks of our “rest” but then in Hebrews 3:15-19 he says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.”

If a man is deceived, if a man is falling, if a man is falling because of disobedience, repentance is as necessary for the stumbling as it was for one’s conversion experience, which is why Hebrews 4:16 alerts us, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Thank God that grace and mercy is truly available to the brokenhearted over their deception!

We’ve already seen that Satan himself since the days of Adam and Eve has been busy with “deception” – “has God really Said?” “You surely shall not die”! “I’ll give you a kingdom to rule over!” But there is more: I Peter 5:8-9 tells us, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a rearing lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhoods in the world.”

I say to you with a heavy heart that I would be seriously concerned about a lost man or a believing man who would dare to say, “I don’t know what you’re talking about – I’ve had no threats from the devil?” Could that be because he’s already fully captured and controlled? And it’s more than deception, it’s more than even devouring – he wants to destroy your witness, destroy any faith you may have, destroy your ministry, destroy your family, destroy your circle of influence. He wants you so deceived that you’re no longer a threat to his field of operation.

But it’s not only the powers of darkness who want to paralyze you from seeing and walking in the highway of holiness – there are also worldly men who will, who do, who attempt to short-circuit your connection with faith in Christ. In Ephesians 4:12 Paul wrote: “that we should be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting…”

Far too many believers are totally unaware of “the trickery of men”! The prophet Jeremiah looked around his community and country, and in Jeremiah 9:1 he spoke of his “eyes a fountain of tears, that I may weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” But God had to say in Jeremiah 9:3, “…they are not valiant for the truth on the earth. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know Me.” And then in verse 6 the Lord told Jeremiah, “Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know Me,” says the Lord.

Then, in Matthew 24:11, Jesus moved away from ordinary men spouting deception – He said: “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.” In Isaiah’s day, Isaiah 30:8-11, God told Isaiah, “Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and note it on a scroll, that it may be for time to come, forever and ever; that this is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the law of the Lord; who say to seers, ‘Do not see,’ and to prophets, ‘Do not prophesy to us right things; speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits. Get out of the way, tuen aside from the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.” And certainly this modern-day is a day in which rebellious people promote, allow, even love “smooth things”, and false prophets are raised up to “prophesy deceits.”

But God is so gracious. In Isaiah 30:21 He tells us, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.” You can trust God even when you’re attacked with ‘deception’ and you find yourself afraid. Corrie Ten Boom said before her death, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

Then there is another path you could find yourself on if you’re not alert, not careful, and not disciplined in “the way of righteousness.” In 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 we read: “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

Unrighteous deception? And notice, unrighteous deception because they “had pleasure in unrighteousness.” Didn’t we see in Hebrews 3:13 about some being “hardened through the deceitfulness of sin?”

Also there is the “mere men malady”! Look carefully at I Corinthians 3:1-3! “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” Then Paul later warned us and alerted us to the “blessed walk of faith.” That’s I Corinthians 3:18-23! But how does this “mere men malady” capture some in deception? Matthew 13:22 says, “Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of the world and THE DECEITFULNESS OF RICHES CHOKE THE WORD, and he becomes unfruitful.” DECEPTION CHOKES TO DEATH – NOT LIFE!

Let me share one more dilemma that some find themselves in. In Colossians 2:8 Paul wrote: “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” Then he opened wide the door of faith and trust and hope and blessing when he said in Colossians 2:9-10, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.”

Question? In your journey with Jesus, what is your greatest blessing outside of your oneness with Christ? Before going to the next chapter, please read Luke 10:1-20!!

CHAPTER SEVEN

IS THE GOAL OF CHRISTLIKENESS UNATTAINABLE?

There are those who truly believe that if their names are recorded in a church’s membership role then certainly all is right between them and the Lord Jesus. I don’t know anything any further from the truth than that statement. There are those who say they are probably more knowledgeable about Jesus because from infancy on they’ve attended a church regularly. But I have to ask again, “Does church attendance validate one’s salvation experience?” Does burial in a Christian cemetery assure that one buried there must have been a believer? And did that dead ‘believer’ conform his life to Christ’s life?

Even ordained ministers have often been deceived in their journeys – “why of course I am Christlike – if not, how was I ordained? Why, almost daily I am counseling needy souls and every Sunday I preach at least once – and you wonder if I’m Christlike?” Have you ever been around “a biblical scholar” whose daily walk has no resemblance to spiritual soundness and reflects poorly on the spirit of the power of Truth and gives no evidence of the “second birth”?

In a church community have you ever been around faultfinders or constant, unbearable, condemning gossips or condescending bullies? Slander is a chief weapon of those who “profess” Christ but know nothing of possessing or being possessed by the fullness and spirit of His Life! Their mission in life? To right the wrongs in every one’s ‘life in Christ’ but their own.

Have you ever heard it? “Well, I presume I am saved because I was baptized as a baby, as a child, as a teenager, or as an adult – of course I’m saved!” “Oh, I might not resemble Jesus – but I try.” “Yes, I’m a Christian – I may not look like Jesus – I may not resemble Him at all, but do you want to see my baptismal certificate?”

And I would ask: “Were you crucified with Christ? You know you live, but no longer YOU – it’s Christ in you who is the hope of glory? Did you die to your flesh [your old man, your old sin nature] so the Spirit of Christ might live in you and through you?” Have you passed from death unto life and that life of Christ sealed in you by His Spirit? Or have you suspended the journey because you believe since you were “saved and baptized”, beyond that it’s foolishness? I don’t think so!

“Patience for His perfect work?” “Why, I’m “saved” already, so what’s this business of a ‘spiritual perfect work’?” “You mean I’m supposed to look like Jesus in all I am or all I do or in all I say? That sounds like salvation by works to me. I’m going to stay away from those “work” words!” If one has been truly “born again,” he/she begins a journey of conformity to Christlikeness, taking the sentence of death daily that the resurrection life of Christ may be manifested, fully released, each day.

“Patience for His perfect work” appears to many as a path to ‘rose-colored’ living without a single problem. When Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation,” to many that sounds like a betrayal of true faith even though Jesus suffered, bled, and died on the Cross!

What’s the question? “Is the goal of Christlikeness unattainable?” Do you grasp the identification of the one who asks it? That’s the one who is not truly acquainted with the Word of God, not familiar with biblical truth, and, yes, not identifying with even the words of Jesus! They are influenced by the world, the world in the church, by the flesh, and by the devil himself – and the devil surely doesn’t want you to be even a believer who identifies with the Word of God! Darkness in the mind about one’s true identity in Christ is a devilish ploy to bring deception into fruition rather than a true believer standing on the Word.

I know there is ‘holy anxiety’ at times when one has known the Truth, walked in it, and, maybe, fallen away from it for a brief moment, but a “new-born” son or daughter of God will, I say WILL, arm themselves afresh and anew against sin and death. It was Spurgeon who said, “There is no temple of the Philistines which shall not fall beneath the might of our greater Samson.” I pray you receive that truth!! He then quoted a hymn with powerful words: “No power in earth or hell Can force me to depart; Christ is my strength unconquerable, He fortifies my heart…Fixed in His love I stand, And none shall drive me thence; Enclosed I am within the hand of Love’s omnipotence.”

Do you truly understand “abiding in Jesus”? There is JOY in abiding there! There is PEACE in abiding there! There is FULLNESS in abiding there! Paul told the church at Rome: Romans 15:29, “But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” What a word of hope and encouragement to us!

Christlikeness unattainable? It’s so opposite the holy work of the Cross and the empty tomb, so opposite the Word of God, and so opposite the ministry of the Holy Spirit as He magnifies in you the resurrected Christ! It’s not impossible in attaining Christlikeness. It’s not impossible for you daily to choose death to yourself so the resurrected Jesus can be fully released through you.

What did Paul say in Galatians 2:20? “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” He then identified a major problem some ‘believers’ find themselves in when in Galatians 3:3 he said: “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh [or your old sin nature]?” He then asked the Galatians as I now ask you: Galatians 4:9, “But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire to be in bondage again?”

Are you aware that there are those who turn back rather than press in? Are you aware that some “professors” choose the weak and beggarly elements over the God-given provisions of Holy Presence, living promises, and fullness of divine life? It even happens with churches! Listen to Spurgeon: [“Spurgeon’s Sermons,” Vol.19, p.359], “The new plan is to assimilate the church to the world, and so include a larger area within its bounds. By semi-dramatic performances they make houses of prayer to approximate to the theater; they turn their services into musical displays, and their sermons into political harangues or philosophical essays – in fact, they exchange the temple for the theater, and 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 and more a day of recreation or of idleness, and 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?”

“Is the goal of Christlikeness unattainable?” Yes, if a church doesn’t preach and teach faithfully the Word of God. Yes, if the church promotes and demonstrates worldliness rather than God-likeness. Yes, if pulpits are claimed by unregenerate men who’d just as soon deceive people than preach Truth. Yes, if church members are satisfied with dried-out bread, muddy water, and spoiled fruit!

Poor quality disciples become vessels unto dishonor because devotion to Truth wanes and wanes and wanes – and one then can’t discern a difference between a so-called disciple and the world around him/her. Divided allegiances between half-hearted disciples and the world will not usher in, demonstrate, or validate the very sovereign rule of heaven on earth. Our Lord wants disciples who know His kingdom rule and authority and cry out faithfully: “Christ’s kingdom come, Christ’s will be done ON EARTH as it is in heaven.”

“Is the goal of Christlikeness unattainable?” It certainly is if those professing faith in their redemption in Christ is squeezed in to a vessel that sees no problem if it’s dirty, impure, mixed, callous to the heart of God, compromised at every turn, and not protective of his/her or God’s reputation, certainly not sold out to a pure heart and washed in the blood of the Lamb!

It was Watchman Nee who wrote the book, “Changed Into His Likeness.” [Christian Literature Crusade, Fort Washington, Penn., 1973, p.52]. In it Nee said: “The Church counts for nothing in herself, save as a vessel to bring in Christ. God’s purpose is in the Son.” And if ‘your purpose’ is other than the Son, you’ll never see, sense, or celebrate His Life in you! And then on page 53 Nee really unveiled why many Christians miss out on the blessings from heaven. He said: “God does not only want right things done; He wants us to be the medium of right things that HE is doing.” That means a true disciple is the true vessel that contains the True Savior who does His heavenly work in an available human vessel. If you were crucified with Christ, why are you attempting to do His work? WOW!

Nee then said, “I am afraid this is not a popular thing to speak of. Preach to stir men to more evangelizing, more activity, more sacrifice, and they will listen and agree. But talk about the worthlessness of our work for God, even when it is not sinfully but well done, and we meet with disapproval and misunderstanding. Yet this is the central point in service. Whether we can bring in Christ to be God’s vessel of recovery depends on whether we can get out of the way to make room for Him…Only what He does in us and through us can satisfy Him.”

Do you see it? Our attempts at helping our Lord become major distractions to His working in us and through us. And when we are determined to serve Him through our best efforts, we shut the door to Him! We attempt – we fall short. We go out to serve – and come home empty-handed. We try in the best energy of our flesh, fail, and then question ourselves if Christlikeness is really obtainable! Then we learn: No – it’s not OUR trying but trusting Him to be faithful in His work through us.

That can be a tough place when a strong human will becomes a stumbling block to Christ Jesus Himself! It’s a challenge, I know, to be able to say every day or this particular day, right now, “Lord, I know it’s time I choose an end to myself where You can be in me and through me “My All In All.” But when we’re determined to chart our own course of Christian service, then the Christ in me is forced to a back-seat or a second-place. Do you see it? Extreme self-confidence detracts and even demotes Jesus to a behind-the-scenes watcher! Inflated egos close the door to Christ to do His work, His way, and in His will, but He has not, will not, force Himself in fullness on an empty, brainless, fruitless, “I can handle it, Jesus” kind of devotee!

“Well, I AM GIFTED!!” And they give no place to the GIVER! What does Romans 6:11 tell us? “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Have you failed to grasp what our Lord is telling us through Paul as he wrote in I Corinthians 1:26-2:5? “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption – that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” 2:1-5, then says: “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 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 rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

Self-will, fleshly power and determination shuts the door on the fullness of Christ in us! Oh, but we read in Colossians 3:1-4, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”

I know it may be a ‘shocker’ to you, but God is not at all interested in your improvement – we all come up short, so God crucified us all with Christ! Get over your failure, rest in faith, let Christ stand in you as your hope of glory!

Christlikeness is not unattainable when I grasp that God’s desire in me is for me to be an empty vessel in which Christ Jesus is fully welcomed! I Peter 1:6-7 says, noting that the “revelation” we read about is “the unveiling of Christ in us and through us: “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation [or unveiling] of Jesus Christ…”

Paul was a travailer in prayer. In Galatians 4:19 he said, “My little children, for whom I labor in birth [pains] again until Christ is formed in you.” He could have said he was travailing until Christ was fully released through you! Oswald Chambers said: [“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.268], “I cannot enter into the realm of the Kingdom of God unless I am born from above by a birth totally unlike natural birth. ‘You must be born again’ This is not a command, it is a foundation fact. The characteristic of the new birth is that I yield myself so completely to God that Christ is formed in me. Immediately Christ is formed in me, His nature begins to work through me.”

How does that come into fruition in your life? You believe, receive, repent, yield to, and walk in Christ Jesus! 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “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 Jesus.”

Do you see it? Self-energy blocks Christ’s fullness in you! Self-effort is like an earthly dam holding back His eternal supply of All-Sufficient Life, grace, power, love, and His faithfulness to Holy God through us. When Jesus is made Lord of your life, that tells me lordship has switched from self to the Sovereign Lord and Savior of the Cross and empty tomb – and if God raised Jesus from the dead, and He did, so can He raise us out of our state of spiritual death and resurrect us to allow Him to be Himself in and through us!

And because your body, your life, is now the residence, yes, of the very life of Christ, Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 7:1, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” Yes, the goal of Christlikeness IS attainable!

I close with statements by Oswald Chambers in his “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.56], “I have to cleanse myself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit until both are in accord with the nature of God. Is the mind of my spirit in perfect agreement with the life of the Son of God in me, or am I insubordinate in intellect?” Am I forming the mind of Christ, Who never spoke from His right to Himself, but maintained an inner watchfulness whereby He continually His spirit to His Father? I have the responsibility of keeping my spirit in agreement with His Spirit, and by degrees Jesus lifts me up to where He lived – in perfect consecration to His Father’s will, paying no attention to any other thing. Am I perfecting this type of holiness in the fear of God? Is God getting His way with me, and are other people beginning to see God in my life more and more? GOOD QUESTION!

CHAPTER EIGHT

“IS IT SELF-MADE TOWERS OR HIS DIVINE HOLY PRESENCE?”

It didn’t take long after the “fall of men” for God to look down and see the following in Genesis 6:5-6, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually…And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved ion His heart.” But earlier, in Genesis 5:24, we read of a man that the Word says, “And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” What a contrast!

And over thousands of years things haven’t changed that much. There are still those who “give themselves over” to their wickedness, and there are still those who “choose to walk with God.” Without hesitation, I believe God is still “grieved in His heart” because of those who willfully choose to walk as ‘god’ unto themselves and refuse “Amazing Grace.”

But when you come to Genesis 11 and Genesis 12 you begin to see “The Beginning of Confusion” and “The Beginning of Unveiled Purpose.” Confusion can and often does erupt in some local churches among believers. In I Corinthians 14:22-23 Paul wrote: “Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe. Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?”

In verse 33 Paul then said, “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”

The sad truth that grips my heart in 2013 is that far too many folks cannot, will not, have no intention of discerning between ‘peace’ and man-made confusion, yes, even in some churches! “Is It Self-Made Towers OR His Divine Holy Presence?” Have we chosen to live in “peace” or fleshly confusion? Do we choose “God’s Way” or the fleshly rule? Is it surrender to His voice or are most men directed by “the world, the flesh, or the devil”? Is it God’s conversion and His construction of heavenly life in you or is it man’s confusion and corruptness and clouding out of a God-ordained life or church fellowship?

In Joshua 24:14-15 Joshua spoke to the people of Israel and us 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. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which 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.”

Do you have an Angel guiding, establishing, protecting, providing for your every need? In Exodus 23:20-25 God speaks: “Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him. But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. For My Angel will go before you and bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perezites and the Canaanites and the Hivities and the Jebusites; and I will cut them off. You hall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars. So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you.”

That is not simply an Old Testament promise to Israel, but when you read Philippians 4:19 you see a New Testament valid promise to men and women of redemptive faith. Paul said: “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

Isn’t this why David said in Psalm 23:1, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”? Oh, fallen men may accumulate much, except for what the inner man wants and needs. Worldly men, void of God, remain empty, unfulfilled, and certainly not “blessed”!

Heavenly men? They are an “extension of God’s LIFE,” an “expression of God’s Love,” and “the proof of His never-ending power and glory”! Earthly men? They are as “sounding brass” and “clanging cymbals” with lives and instruments out of tune, off-key, void of a Director, and producing nothing but poor music in themselves and their walks.

In I Corinthians 15:47-49 Paul tells us, “The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man.” The image of the heavenly man? That’s men of faith and trust and obedience bearing the image and likeness of Jesus Christ Himself because of repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of Christ at the Cross!

This takes us back to Genesis 11:1-9! Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.” Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel [Confusion], because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.”

I pray, having been confronted by “self-made towers” or by “Divine Holy Presence” and eternal purpose, that you choose to “walk with God” like Enoch, and that now you eagerly await God’s taking of you into His eternal home.

Notice: “Come, let us…” Where is God in all that? You’ll remember that Adam and Eve, deceived by Satan, thinking that “having their eyes opened, would be like God, knowing good from evil,” all of a sudden realize they had been lied to, and thus, [Genesis 3:8], “hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” And men, in “self-made towers,” are still hiding themselves from the presence of the Lord with most of them not even knowing what they are doing!

“Come, let us…”! You’ve seen them, you know them, you’ve rubbed shoulders with them: “We’re the masters of our own destiny! We don’t need God! We’ll build ourselves and build our own cities, and they will reach the heavens!”

“Come, let us…”! “Who knows better than us what we want to do with our lives? Get this, you Christians: ‘us’ is more than you and collectively we’re smarter than your God!”

“Come, let us…” what we want to build, erect what we want to erect, construct what we decide needs to be constructed to “better our lives.” Really? Better when most are void of eternal purpose, void of a meaningful, blessed relationship with the God who made them, void of any desire of ‘Heaven is my home,’ settling for a hellish relationship that lasts forever with the devil and his demons?

“Come, let us…” live with our uncontrolled, lustful passions, live with our lives enslaved to worldly lusts, selfish ambitions, harmful spiritual diseases that steal true life from us, live dominated by the lies of the world, the flesh, and the devil, bound and enslaved but never recognizing the spiritual chains and spiritual prison bars.

“Come, let us…” leave God out of our ‘life equations,’ because we’re able, we’re strong, we’re mature, we’re wiser than the wisest of that Christian community. The ‘lifelessness’ of godlessness, even in its sickness, is superior to a Godly submission.”

“Come, let us…” savor, cherish, hold onto our independence from God and His ‘unhealthy’ people – we’ll stand alone, on our own, free as a living prisoner can be.”

“Come, let us…” choose our selfish, limited, emotionally limited infancy of life that exposes our hollow hearts, our sinful minds, and our fallen natures that seek to hide us from God’s control.”

“Come, let us…” go on our own way without God, never realizing our steps away from Him produces in us a sad reality like suffocation or drowning or a deathly state of hopelessness that tries to deny, refute, or cover over the emptiness that unbelief in the God of eternal salvation produces.”

“Come, let us…” deny that the sacred nature of human life is more important than the secular and that choosing to walk independent from God is not sickly, deathly, or producing ‘killer’ viruses in us that God calls ‘sin’ or ‘sinfulness’ or ‘spiritual death.’” Really?

“Come, let us…” pump ourselves up in our egos with an unfounded confidence that ‘faith in God’ is unnecessary, unimportant, and really unfounded.” Really?

“Come, let us…” follow our own wishes, hopes, and dreams of anticipation of self-fulfillment that we know will satisfy our fleshly selves, our darkening desires, enabling our true selves to be birthed, raised, and matured to self-happiness.” Really?

“Come, lets us…” embrace a choice of lifestyles that is impurely self-centered, crowning ourselves as rulers over our hedonistic, sexually immoral activity that identifies us with a fallen world in general.”

“Come, let us…” head ourselves in the direction of a worldly happiness that has nothing to do with “Jesus joy” even though He said His joy was a joy that “remains in you and stays full.” Though happiness is fickle and unsure, we’ll gamble ourselves on ourselves to find our own happiness.”

“Come, let us…” live with the bread of our own achievements since the God of the Bible tells His people tribulation awaits His own. We, in the world, live with the fruit of our own labors.”

“Come, let us…” treasure our treasures, gloat over our accomplishments, forget God, lift up our hearts in pride, and set aside His biblical commands.” Oh, but I say to you, please receive Deuteronomy 8:17-18, 19c: “Then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives your power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant…” But if one says, ‘Come, let us…, then in verse 19c God says: “I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.”

Then, I know you’ve noticed in Genesis 11:4, And they said, “Come, let us build…”! Do you grasp who we are reading about in the early existence of human beings, birthed into fleshly life amidst the very handiwork of God in His masterful Creation? But they say, “Come, let us build…” Consider the universes, consider the planets, consider the vastness of our outer space and the beauty of earthly mountain-peaks and valleys, consider the awesomeness of oceans and majestic fields, consider the beauty of fields ready to be harvested, consider the Rose of Sharon, consider what He has built – and remember that Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it…”

If you carefully read and receive the Book of Jeremiah, you will discover, not our ability to build, but one’s availability to all God is and to all God does! God told Jeremiah in chapter one, verses 18-19, “Therefore prepare yourself and arise…For behold, I have made you this day a fortified city and an iron pillar…For I am with you,” says the Lord, “to deliver you.”

Yet, one chapter later, Jeremiah 2:32, God said: “Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number.”

“Build?” “Come, let us build?” Whatever man “builds” is a futile effort if they do not see, understand, or grasp for themselves what Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16:13-19! When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Do you understand that man “builds” tombs of death while God, through available men of faith and trust, build tabernacles of Holy Presence?

In Acts 20:32 Paul said: “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among those who are sanctified.” Question! What is it to be sanctified? That word means “set apart” to the honor and glory of God alone – and whoever you are, whatever you ‘do,’ is to be or to build to God’s glory! That’s to be your ‘built business’!

But what happened in Genesis 11:4 as the ‘let us’ crowd began to “build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; [and] LET US MAKE A NAME FOR OURSELVES…” This is in spite of Psalm 100:3 as David said, “Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves.” “…we ourselves?” That’s those who say, whatever God has done, we can do better. We’ll make a name for ourselves.” But do YOU understand? Whatever you do of merit, the honor belongs to God alone, whether you give it to Him or not! This is why in I John 1:8 John wrote: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

In Isaiah 28 the prophet spoke of “scornful men” who in verse 15 said, “For we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.” Then, when you come to Nehemiah 1 you see a ‘vision development’ birthed out of a burden and Nehemiah praying for his people and for their opportunity to once again be favored by God. He wrote: Nehemiah 1:3-11,

And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.” So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said: “I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before you now, day and night, for the children of Israel, Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my house and I have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept Your commandments, the Statutes, not the ordinances which You have commanded Your servant Moses. Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.’ Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” For I was the king’s cupbearer.”

But, hear me; just as Jesus ‘redeemed’ all of mankind at the Cross doesn’t mean all men are forever saved if repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of the Cross is not exercised! Nehemiah was passionate for his people as we ought to be for our people – but some are so intent on “making a name for ourselves,” Jesus is just an option for them that they never exercise! Again, Nehemiah said in verse 11, asking God to listen to those ‘who desire to fear Your name…’! Isn’t it tragic? How many do you know, even IN the church, who fear God’s name?

There’s a warning in Psalm 9:5 where the psalmist says, “You [God] have blotted out their name forever and ever.” And though their name has been erased from God’s remembrance, it doesn’t mean their eternal life is now extinct – they live forever under the curse of Hell’s flames, the devil’s domain, and cannot escape the “death that never dies”!

And then what happened in the fallen nature of men in Genesis 11:4 as they sought to “build ourselves…a tower whose top is in the heavens”? It was 400 A.D. when Augustine wrote the following in his “Confessions”: “How can you draw close to God when you are far from your own self? Grant, Lord, that I may know myself that I may know You.”

Most ‘tower-builders’ do not know themselves and thus have no intimate knowledge of Holy God who longs to “birth” their lives in the Spirit as His earthly dwelling! Most ‘tower-builders’ are stuck in themselves and have no comprehension of God’s ‘tabernacle-dwelling’ in and through their lives. And that’s because their minds and hearts are clouded over concerning the intensity and power of evil.

My son, Stan Fisher, urged me to read Peter Scazzaro’s book “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality.” In the third chapter, [pps. 42-43], Scazzaro spoke about “The Beast Today” out of Revelation 12, 13. He then said: “The beast tells us: *happiness is found in having things; *you should get all you can for yourself, as quickly as you can; *security is found in money, power, status, and good health; *above all, you should seek all the pleasure, convenience, and comfort you can; * God is irrelevant to everyday life; * Christianity is just one on many alternatives to spiritualities; * there are no moral absolutes; whatever is true for you is what is true; *you’re not responsible for anyone but yourself; and * this life on earth is all there is.

“Tower-builders or tabernacle-dwellings”? You do understand that ‘tower-builders’ choose darkness over light, the here and now over the eternal awareness, physical and earthly dividends over spiritual and eternal blessing, the temporary, fleshly satisfactions that soon disappear, waiting for a bigger and greater ‘hit’ that one received the last time around and still come up empty. OR,

What about tabernacle-dwellings? What did Paul tell us in Galatians 2:20? “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me..Verse 21, I do not frustrate the grace of God…!!”

Oh, but then in Philippians 1:19-21 Paul was so anointed in the Spirit as he wrote these words: “For I know that this [imprisonment] will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness as always, so now Christ also will be magnified in my body whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

It was Francis de Sale who described the true eternal blessing in Christ as follows: “the mind’s loving, unmixed, permanent attention to the things of God.”

But if you haven’t been seeking after God Himself, be assured that God is in hot pursuit after you. You may, even at this very moment, not be a person who has anchored himself/herself to an inexhaustible search after Him, but be aware He’s ‘smelled’ you and is tracking after you. God’s search is unceasing to make every person a ‘child of the King,’ a son/daughter in the family of God, a servant like Jesus who doesn’t appear to be served, but to serve and give one’s life for the many.

CHAPTER NINE

“FISHING FOR MEN OR A FATALISTIC MIND-CLOSURE TO MEN?”

As I began to write this chapter, I had received word of the death of a son of a life-long friend. The man who died was about the same age as my son, Scott, who is 55 years of age. He had been on a trip to Alaska with his parents and his own family. They had flown in from Alaska to Atlanta and were taking a shuttle service to Chattanooga, Tennessee, near their home in Cleveland to get their cars. They didn’t get out of Atlanta before Scott Hicks collapsed with a fatal heart attack. My friend who informed me of his death said that Scott was sharing his faith in Christ with a man who was traveling on their shuttle – and he said, “Scott shares his faith in Christ with everyone he encounters. This man who had experienced saving grace and mercy and had become a new creation was relentless about sharing the faith, making disciples, and honoring Christ Jesus his Lord and Savior!”

I could not help but think: “What if every true believer understood their ‘calling’ to share the faith with others? What would happen worldwide? But also what has been the result of a ‘fatalistic mind-closure to men’? I’m convinced that as an American citizen of 77 years of age that I have witnessed a down-turn of Christians sharing the faith! I’m also convinced that most pastors and churches have not even begun to equip their people to share their faith with others. In Matthew 4:17-20 Jesus shared His heart with the lost and encouraged His disciples to be “fishers of men.” From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

There came a ‘moment’ after Creation that God looked upon the men He created and said, Genesis 6:6, “And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth and He was grieved in His heart.” One translation says God was grieved and His heart was filled with pain. But then there was a Noah who “found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and Noah walked with God.” And ark-building began to rescue the drowning in the sea of their sins!

Jesus, our Lord and Savior, was just as much God as if He were not man, and just as much man as if He were not God. And, facing the Cross, Jesus prayed in Matthew 26:39, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless not as I will, but as You will,” because He knew and understood the suffering of the Cross was the only hope of man’s redemption, so Jesus suffered, bled, and died in behalf of YOU and me. And that is not a fatalistic mind-closure to men! The ‘spirits’ of fallen men oppose the need of man’s redemption and their response in repentance and faith, but in I John 4:1 we read, “do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if whether they are from God,” and FROM GOD there always has been and always will be the call to touch the lost with the message of grace, mercy, and love.

God’s inexhaustible grace and love at the Cross in Christ’s shed blood is indelibly placed at every turn that men need to be saved. Why should any true disciple ever question the equipping of the saints to share their faith with others? Could it be even possible that many who “profess” faith in Christ are really ‘believers’ who are buried in a casket of a false disciple? And I can only ask, ‘Is your Christ-spirituality a consciousness of the need of ‘witnessing to others’ or an ‘illusion’ that makes no sense of responsibility in you and through you?

In Acts 1:8 our Holy Word of God tells us, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and YOU SHALL BE MY WITNESSES TO ME in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” After Jesus’ death and resurrection, we read in Matthew 28:16-20 about “The Great Commission.” It says: Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshipped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen!

Have YOU announced man’s ‘pardon’ by God Himself? The following story entitled “The Strange Case of George Wilson” came from an American Baptist Association Trust: “ In 1829 two men – Wilson and Porter – were convicted of robbing the United States mails, and sentenced to death by hanging. Three weeks before the time set for Wilson’s execution, he was pardoned by President Andrew Jackson…Strangely enough, Wilson refused the pardon. The case went to the Supreme Court (United States vs. George Wilson, 7 Peters’ Report, page 150) and the court finally handed down its decision: “A pardon is a deed, to the validity of which delivery is essential, and delivery is not complete without acceptance. It may then be rejected by the person to whom it is tendered; and if it is rejected, we have discovered no power in this court to force it upon him.”…Most people would agree that Wilson was a fool for refusing to accept a pardon. Yet these same people daily reject the pardon which God has provided for them…Because God is just, He must punish our sins, But because God is merciful, He Himself suffered the awful penalty when Jesus Christ, His Son, suffered all the wrath of God against our sins as He died on the cross of Calvary. ‘For God os loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16)…Your pardon has been signed by God Himself. Now all you need to do is accept it by telling God in prayer that you are guilty of sin; ask Him to pardon you, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). At the same time you call upon God trust Him to pardon you for Christ’s sake. Do this and God will deliver the evidence of your pardon and you will be released from the prison of sin. Unless you accept the pardon, you remain condemned. “He that believes not is condemned already.” (John 3:18). Wilson’s was a strange case. But then, Wilson was a fool.”

A pardon? A release from sin’s penalty and sin’s power and sin’s perversions? Men set free to be and become all God intends for them to be “in Him”? Adopted out of the devil’s dominance into the true liberty and freedom as sons and daughters of God? No debt due to sin? No bankruptcy due to one’s old nature? No brokenness and sadness due to separation from God? And you don’t have “good news” to share?

In Psalm 32:1-7 David wrote about “the joy of forgiveness,” but you “in Christ” don’t have a song to sing? “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they shall not come near him. You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.” [Have you heard God singing over you lately?]. [Have you been singing to Him?].

And in Psalm 33:3 David, yes, spoke of “singing to Him a new song” that speaks of awe-struck wonder because of God’s “fashioning of the heart”! [I remind you that in I Samuel 16:7 the Lord said to Samuel, “…for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”] “The Fashioning of the Heart?” Psalm 33:15 says, “He [God] fashions their hearts individually…” In Ezekial 36:26 we read of God granting to repentant men and women, yes, and boys and girls, “a new heart.” In Hebrews 10:12 and verses 19-23 we read: “But this Man, [Jesus Christ], after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God…Verses 19-23, Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”

“The Fashioning of the Heart?” Acts 16:14 speaks of Lydia whom “the Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul,” but you’re unsure the Lord will do the same through your witness to others?

“The Fashioning of the Heart?” Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts…”Do you truly understand your role in touching your world around you with His mercy, grace, and love? Your family, your friends, your city, your state, and nation, needs to know they are loved by God, loosed by God to His ultimate intention, led by God, lifted by God, and liberated into the fullness of Holy Presence in them from ‘doing’ to ‘being.’ 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” And you don’t have a word to share?

What about a “new song” to sing about our names written down in glory? Do you understand “new wine”? A “new covenant”? Could your lost and “alienated from God’ friends need a “new spirit”? Our Lord promises a “new heart”! Even “new, ripened fruit” can be your inheritance! Are “new tongues” a worthy consideration for a foul-mouthed old man? Don’t you believe the promise of a “new man” births hope in the hopeless? Oh, yes, there is a “new and living way”! SHOW THEM, TELL THEM, ASSURE THEM OF THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD’S PROMISES! In a hellish earth, hellish life, hellish home and family environment, a hellish existence, you don’t have a word about “a new and living way?”

Let the fresh, vibrant, life-giving words of Paul encourage you as you, in convicting fashion, receive what Romans 6:4 tells us: “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” How encouraging is Romans 7:4 to you? “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another – to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.” And didn’t Paul say in Romans 7:5 that men, when in the flesh [old sin nature], that “the sinful passions…were at work…to bear fruit to death”? But verse 6 tells us that once, having died to what we were held by, NOW we’re at work to “serve in the newness of the Spirit…”?

Could we, should we, be discerning right now that our new-found walk of faith is to be a walk under the control; and leadership of the Holy Spirit? As Paul wrote the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 3:2-6, “You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

Is it possible that as a new believer in Christ or an aged believer that you have sensed the great need of being empowered by the Holy Spirit to become a valid, victorious witness of saving grace and you, right now, ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit that you might truly be a vibrant witness?

Then, in 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 Paul wrote: “Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech – unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing [or fading] away. But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

OH, and then look carefully at 2 Corinthians 4:1-6! “Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Did the last verse we read say that God Himself commanded ‘light to shine out of darkness, shining in our hearts TO GIVE THE LIGHT OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE GLORY OF GOD IN THE FACE OF JESUS CHRIST.’? Did Jesus Himself say anything different from what we’ve just read? In Matthew 5:14-16 our Lord said: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

But again in 2 Corinthians 4:7 Paul said, “we have this TREASURE in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” The “treasure” of Christ’s living presence in us, the “treasure” of redemptive truth, the “treasure” of God’s desire that through us, verse 11, “the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” AND WE TELL OTHERS! Do all that we tell about salvation believe, receive, and rest themselves in Christ? Jesus said in John 8:47, “He who is of God hears God’s words…” You can be at peace that if you faithfully share gospel truth you’ve done your part.

Prior to His ascension after His resurrection disciples asked Him, [Acts 1:6-8], “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?” And Jesus said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Oh, and then Jesus was taken up, leaving the sharing of saving grace and faith to His earthly disciples!

In chapter two of Acts the Holy Spirit came! And “this” became “that” which was spoken by Joel the prophet: Joel 2:28-29, “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit bin those days.”

And what an encouraging, uplifting, anointed word that we find in Acts 2:25 from David, “I foresaw the Lord always before My face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.” YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE AFRAID OF WITNESSING TO OTHERS – THE LORD is at YOUR right hand! Plus, what was instilled within Peter must be instilled in every new disciple! Acts 2:36-40, 47 says: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Verse 47, “…And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

It is vital for you as a born-again believer to examine carefully every situational opportunity that you see the early disciples experiencing. Too often God’s people re uninformed or have overlooked situational witnessing! If, as Peter Scazzero said in his book, “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality,” [p.109], that “Unhealed wounds open us up to habitual sin against God and others,” how many do you reach out to who exemplify “unhealed wounds” and “unhealed hearts” and “unhealed marriages” and “unhealed relationships” or even “unhealed churches”?

As you examine Acts 3, the very second verse shows us about “a certain man lame from his mother’s womb.” Remember that Acts 1:1 informs us “…of all that Jesus began both TO DO and TO TEACH…!” And the early disciples learned His lessons and examples fully! Have you?

I remember being in a huge government housing project in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, for a street meeting with Pastor Anand of Apostolic Christian Assembly. The musicians had sung, I had preached, and then I extended an invitation for salvation, for deliverance, or for our Lord’s healing grace. Before me a father and mother came carrying their 8 year old son who’d never walked since birth, in a blanket, laid him down at my feet, and then asked, “Can your Lord and Savior heal our son?” Anand and I laid hands on the boy and prayed, and then said, “Arise, young man, and walk!” Praise God, he did rise and walk.” I’ll never forget his toothpick legs, but then saw, through prayer, God giving him strong legs!

And if that wasn’t a ‘shocker’ enough for us, the very next night another father and mother carried to the front their 11-12 year old son who also had never walked! The same Jesus of the night before touched this young man and gave him new legs – and the family or families of both sons came to salvation in our Lord!

I like to call true disciples “The Appointed and Anointed” of the Lord! In Matthew 10:1 we read: “And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirit, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sicknesses and all kinds of disease.” Jesus then said in verses 7-8, “And as you go, preach, [witness, testify], saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely YOU HAVE RECEIVED, FREELY GIVE.” [But do you not have anything to share? Maybe it’s time to “be born again!”]

One of the most heart-wrenching stories I’ve ever read about was a Miss Havisham from the novel Charles Dickenson wrote about called “Great Expectations.” The story is about this daughter of a very wealthy family who, on her supposed wedding day, received a letter at 8:40a.m. that her fiancé who was to become her husband that day informed her he’d not be there for the wedding. The story is that exactly at 8:40a.m having received this sad word, stopped every clock in her home at the time of the letter’s arrival, deciding to spend the rest of her life in her wedding dress, plus wearing only one shoe since that was all she’d put on, living that way into old age, choosing to live an unfulfilled past even to her death!

Is it possible some Christians “assume” they are married to Christ yet never bear children of faith? They talk about their wedding to the Lord but never consummated the marriage with holy vows and a holy heart like Him to touch their world with grace. Do you think her story, your story, might resemble Judas? Was his life a life of “wasted opportunities”?

For some, what I’ve just written is so true, but at the same time I would say, “it’s not true of all disciples.” In Matthew 10:16-24 and in verses 27-28 we hear Jesus speaking to us and warning us that witnessing is not enjoying a “nice piece of cake,” but, yes, trouble! Jesus said: “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. Verse 27-28, Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” And that’s JESUS SPEAKING TO US!!

There is a serious word in Matthew 10:32-33! Jesus says: “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will deny before My Father who is in heaven.” Don’t you find Jesus’ words convicting and challenging? I don’t believe Jesus is speaking only of ‘public confession’ but also private and personal declaration of one’s need of the Savior and Lord of life, sharing with those around you of His love, grace, and mercy, that it was for them also that Jesus died on the Cross, and if they were the only person on the face of the whole earth, what He did on the Cross He would and did it just for them.

Jesus’ words to alienated sinners? Matthew 11:28-30 tells us: “Come to 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.”

Do you know anyone who “burns the candle at both ends” or “labors and is heavy ladened”? Do you know anyone who needs Christ’s ‘yoke’, yes, needs to be broken from their selfish, uncontrolled, untrained life? Do you know anyone who needs His rest for their souls? Then share the love of Jesus, share what He’s done for you, share what He’s done for your family and friends and classmates or business associates! Fishers of men or a fatalistic mind closure to men and their spiritual needs?

Christless lives are eternal disasters regardless of their earthly successes or lack of them. Christless families living faithless lives are void, yes, even destitute of the Lord’s eternal promises. It breaks my heart to say it, but Christless professors, so wise in the world’s ways, are ‘train-wrecks’ when it comes to eternal relationships and values and true wisdom of the One who made them. I don’t know of a sadder state of life than for one to be immersed in the non-reality for them of faith in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

If “practicing the presence of God” is vital for true spiritual health in the life of a believer, what about “practicing the presence of needy people” concerning their need of Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior? I’m personally convinced and appalled that too many pastors and churches in America have no awareness at all of what I call “intentional evangelism.” That means evangelism is intentional in all I am, in all I do, even expecting that every day, in all I do, He is reaching out through me to others who need His saving grace and mercy.

When it comes to “fishing for men”, have you considered prayer as a mighty war weapon for who and how we reach the lost, the unsaved, the deceived, the desperate ones who have no hope? In Philippians 1:9-11 Paul said: “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” DO YOU PRAY FOR THE LOST?

Consider also your own life situations! Is every event, every good or bad experience just happen-chance – or is God up to something good through you? What did Paul say in Philippians 1:12? “But I want you to know, brethren that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel…”

Will you be a servant of Christ who exalts, magnifies, expresses, the beauty and blessing of His saving grace and redemptive acts and glorious work of lost mankind’s salvation? In closing this chapter, look prayerfully at Acts 3:6-9! Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them – walking, leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God.”

CHAPTER TEN

“IS CONTINUAL SIN ‘OK’ FOR A NEW OR TRUE BELIEVER?”

I have no hesitation in saying to you that I know this chapter will cause a major ‘fuss’ with some because I grew up in a denomination that says one cannot do anything but sin until he/she goes to Heaven! That, I believe, is a perversion of biblical truth! I sometimes wonder if some ‘devotees’ to the Word of God are simply ‘kindergarten children’ who refuse to grow up, mature, and accept the Word of God for what God says or find it acceptable to claim that Word without its application to their own lives because they are comfortable with a ‘compromised’ profession of faith!

What did Paul say in Romans 6:1-3? “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we WHO DIED TO SIN live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” What an awesome, convicting, life-changing or life-condemning question!

Oh, but it gets better and better! Look at Romans 6:5-7! “For if we have been united together (us and Jesus) in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man WAS CRUCIFIED WITH HIM, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should NO LONGER BE SLAVES OF SIN. For he [that’s you or me] who has died has been freed from sin.”

These are some of the most liberating words you’ll ever find in God’s Word because you accept Truth that because of Jesus’ death on the Cross and your co-crucifixion with Him you are now no longer a slave to sin and your old sin nature but a transformed slave chained to God through the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross!

Look at Romans 6:17-18 and verse 22 and rejoice evermore! “But God be thanked that though YOU WERE SLAVES OF SIN, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. Verse 22, But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.”

John Piper said in his book “A Godward Life,” [p.161], “The old slave master [Satan] pays wages, but God gives gifts,” and then quoted Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Do you understand the ‘mind-set’ that many professing disciples operate by? “The wages of sin is death,” therefore many ‘strive’ to be overcomers of that which Jesus paid the ultimate price for while the revelation of God’s Word tells us, Romans 6:12-13, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” Presenting one’s self to God on the merits of Christ alone, not one’s best effort!!

Are you truly, truly fully aware of 2 Corinthians 5:21? It says: “For He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God.” What’s your choice: ‘sinner separate from God or saint set apart as the righteousness of God?’ Oswald Chambers hit a historic ‘home-run’ when he wrote in “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.224], “That Christ died for me, therefore I go scot free, is never taught in the New Testament. What IS taught in the New Testament is that “He died for all” [not- He died my death], and that by identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have imparted to me His very righteousness. The substitution taught in the New Testament is twofold: ‘He made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; THAT WE MIGHT BE MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM.’ It is not Christ FOR ME unless I am determined to have Christ formed IN me.” Amen? And that is the true battle-front in every believer’s life: Is it me or Jesus? Is it that I want the ‘best’ and the ‘worst’ of me or my conformity to the image of Christ? Am I a ‘slave of sin’ or the servant of the Most High and Holy God? Will I be a victim of continuous sin or a victor because of the finished work of Christ at the Cross and His historic resurrection Presence in me and through me?

I do want you to KNOW without hesitation that the evidence of a spiritually born, new life in Christ, is that you are one man/woman. Boy/girl, who is passionate about Christ having His way in and through you, and His image becomes more real and clear through you! I know it’s a process, a continual activity of choosing the ‘Spirit-Life in Christ’ over the ‘old man, the flesh,’ but I have a biblical promise that never changes: I John 1:7, “If we [I, you] walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

The evidence? Didn’t Paul say that one should “examine himself/herself whether he/she is IN THE FAITH”? And this is so true when one hears Jesus say in Luke 12:35-47 the following: “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you, that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But KNOW THIS, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore YOU ALSO BE READY, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?” And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming, and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, AND WILL CUT HIM IN PIECES [in two] AND APPOINT HIM HIS PORTION WITH THE UNBELIEVERS.”

What did Paul say to young Titus as he wrote to him in Titus 2:11-14? “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”

And when you read these verses, do you sense ‘performance’ or one’s position in Christ, that one ‘grinds’ out the faith or is graced, that one earns or is empowered and enveloped in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ? In Romans 5:17 Paul said: “For if by 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.”

Continual sin? Is that possible if my “life is hidden with Christ in God”? Continual sin? ‘OK’ for a new or true believer? Continual sin? Some say, “What God says is for the future – it really can’t be for the present because I have a love for the flesh, the fallen part of me, and, yes, for my sin, but I know God understands, overlooks, and even excuses what I can’t help but do!” Really? Continual sin? “Well, the ‘gift of righteousness is a future reward, not a present reality.” Oh, really?

If the last paragraph is true, then it means that God’s verdict about our sin that was issued in the very Cross of Christ was a great injustice to the very name of Christ, but it is not! Jesus took your sin and mine, your old sin nature and mine, and we “died” with Him, in Him, and through Him!

What is Hebrews 10:14 all about? The author wrote, inspired by the Holy Spirit, “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” The author had already said in verse 10, “By that will we have been sanctified THROUGH THE OFFERING OF THE BODY OF JESUS CHRIST ONCE FOR ALL.” Glory!

The blood ATONEMENT of Jesus Christ is not to give us a license to sin but our liberation from the tendency to sin! But, when we do sin, because our Savior promised and sent the Holy Spirit to inhabit ALL believers (Romans 8:9), the Spirit will do what? In John 16:8 we read, “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”

What did Paul tell us in 2 Corinthians 7:9-10? “Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”

And ‘godly sorrow,’ birthed in us by the Holy Spirit abiding in every believer, arouses within us our failures, our falls, our fickleness, but also highlights God’s faithfulness in forgiveness, and continues to shape us in the very image and likeness of Jesus – conscious sorrow resulting in an appreciation of unconscious God-likeness!

Isaiah 32:13-15 gives us a picture of God’s people apart from the Holy Spirit but then what happens when there is yieldedness to the Spirit’s control. The prophet heard God speak: “On the land of My people will come up thorns and briers, yes, on all the happy homes in the joyous city; Because the palaces will be forsaken, the bustling city will be deserted. The forts and towers will become lairs forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks – Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest.” And then He said that the peace of God will reign.” Is that true in you?

Let me share several things that I believe are of utmost importance for the true believer in overcoming ‘continual sin’!! Come with me to I Corinthians 9:27! There, Paul said: “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”

One translation says: “I buffet my body and make it my slave…” I believe Paul is telling us we are not to be blind to our progress or lack of it in being conformed to the image of Christ! If you haven’t learned it as yet, you need to know there is a spiritual war going on – and you do have a part in this!

In I Corinthians 10:1-14 we read: “Moreover, brethren I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the clod and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ,. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the end of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.”

If Christ is your Rock, and you stand on Him, and keep on standing on Him, you are one who understands your completeness in Christ, and that there is a transition of identity – we’re not slaves to sin any longer but sons of God! But, it’s true, sometimes in our journeys as followers of Christ Jesus we do have to have ‘wake-up calls’! In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Paul wrote to each of us today. He said: “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is perfected in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

In “Spurgeon’s Sermons,” [Vol. 19, pps.369-370], Spurgeon preached: “I am quite sure that some people think themselves very strong, and are not so. Their proud consciousness of fancied strength is the indication of a terrible weakness. We have among us ‘certain persons who think that they can do all that is needful for their own salvation’ whenever they please to do so. They can perform all sorts of good works, or at least quite enough to carry them to heaven. Their first idea is that they are to be saved by their own doings; and they really expect to be saved. They may admit that they have a few faults and flaws in their character; but these are so trifling as to be hardly worth mentioning, And God Almighty is too merciful to be very particular. Their lives have been excellent, their tempers amiable, their manners courteous, their spirit generous, and they quite believe that by keeping on at the same pace they will win the prize: if they do not, who will? The ship of their character is in fine condition; they have no leaks which the pumps cannot keep down; their sails are not rent, and they hope to sail into the haven of peace with a glorious cargo of merit, having an abundant entrance, and hearing a ‘Well done!” Ah, my friend! That consciousness of legal strength is a mere delusion, and it will have to be taken out of you. There is no going to heaven that way – by self or by works of self. Your error is a common one, but it is fatal. I have seen many epitaphs of persons, placed by mistaken kindness of friends upon their tombstones, which I felt sure would have been sufficient to shut them out of heaven if they had been true. These departed worthies do not appear to have been sinners at all; their virtues were superlative, their faults non-existent. Such wonderful people would appear from their epitaphs to have flown up to the gates of heaven upon the wings of their own virtues, and to have entered therefore without a passport of mercy, as burgesses by their own right of the New Jerusalem. I wonder how they would behave themselves in heaven, if they were really admitted there! All the rest are singing, ‘We have washed our robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb,” but these needed no washing, and so they would be likely to strike up a little song by themselves, and sing ‘Our robes never needed washing; we kept them as white as snow.’ What discord that would create in the music of the skies! What a division of character and feeling would be found among the celestials! I cannot see how there could be any harmony of sentiment among sinners saved by grace and righteous ones who owed nothing to mercy, nothing to the atoning sacrifice.” Oh, how truly spoken!

Then, could one be ignorant of the danger of “drifting away”, of “neglecting so great a salvation,” or ignoring the witness of God within or the gifts of the Holy Spirit”? That’s Hebrews 2:1-4! “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness, both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?”

When “self” begins to be supreme, drifting away becomes the end result! When “neglect” becomes a practice, the sea of identity “in Christ” becomes cloudy! When “Spirit-led” becomes weird, then true discipleship has begun to wane! And that leads one to:

TAKING ONE’S EYES OFF OF JESUS OUR LORD AND BEING LED AWAY FROM SPIRITUAL FREEDOM TO DEMONIC BONDAGE! Look with me at Hebrews 2:9-10, 14-15, “ But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings…Verses 14-15, Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Subject to bondage?

Jesus even said: “In the world you will have tribulation,” but too many put on “rose-colored glasses” seeing ‘peace and safety’ when there is none! Didn’t we read “that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,” but you hear only that ‘peace and safety’ song?

One last thing I want to emphasize in this chapter: Submission to Christ, our Lord and Savior, is not an open door to disobedience which breeds hardness of heart through deceitfulness of sin!! Hebrews 3:12-14 says: “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today”, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.”

And that doesn’t put the fear of God in you? Look at Hebrews 3:18-19! “And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.”

I urge you in the days ahead to major on 2 Corinthians 12:7-10! “for when I am weak, then I am strong”? Why? How? That’s eyes off self and eyes only on the Christ within! That’s eyes set, not on your weakness, but on God’s amazing strength and never-failing power! That’s a commissioned journey, not in yourself, but in His ever-abiding presence! That’s an awareness of hopelessness in one’s flesh but eternal hope in God’s Spirit! That’s faith, not in earthly dry wells, but faith in His eternal supply that never runs dry! That’s not awareness of who I am, but availability to ALL GOD IS – always has been, always will be! Amen? It’s not only our consciousness to all God is, but our complete surrender to His Sovereignty and His saving and sure ways!

Is your pilgrimage in Christ one of drudgery, duty, dejection, distraction, or is it discipline, dependence, discernment, destiny, and delight? Don’t forget Psalm 1:1-2! “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates days and night.” Is that your testimony?

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“IS ‘ALL STRESSED OUT’ THE EVIDENCE OF A SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE?”

My wife, Sue, and I flew into Utah with her sister, Amy, and her husband, Joe Rodgers, to visit our son, Stan, and his wife Leann, and their daughter Katie, and their young families, Mr. & Mrs. Zach Fisher and Mr. & Mrs. Ben Fisher. What a delight! We flew in August 3, 2013, and on August 5 I was reading the news of “USA TODAY”. On the very front page was an article entitled “All Stressed Out?’ with a sub-title: ‘Buy some peace.’ It said, “Cloaked in anxiety, our 24/7 on-the-go nation produces stress-buckets. And, of course, one person’s angst is another person’s business opportunity.”

Then the article introduced Deepak Chopra (?) who said that he never feels stress, because he’s introduced his “Dream Weaver” ‘to aid relaxation, meditation, sleep.’ It’s a business idea – and he’ll probably make a small or big fortune that has absolutely nothing to do with “the peace that passes all understanding.”

In the article Ann Mack stated that “we’re entering the dawn of the super-stress era,” then stated, “since it’s become a cost issue and serious medical concern, you’ll see more efforts to prevent or reduce it. “ The article stated further: “Little wonder in a nation that could be the world’s poster child for stress. Last year, some 7 in 10 Americans said they regularly suffered physical symptoms due to stress, and 67% said they regularly experienced psychological symptoms because of it, reports the American Psychological Association. In a still-recovering economy, it’s no surprise that the top three causes of stress last year were related to money, work, and the economy, reports the APA.” David Ballard then said, “We’re just not very good at dealing with stress.” So, welcome Deepak Chopra’s Dream Machine! Really?

“Buy some peace”? You do understand that there are multiple ways to find a temporary, false, “never feel stress” peace that has nothing to do with the peace with God, the peace of God, or “the peace that passes all understanding” through Christ Jesus!

Thomas Merton has written in his “Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander,” [New York: Doubleday, 1968, p.86], “There is a pervasive form of contemporary violence…activism and overwork. The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to violence…It kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.”

Do you recognize or even doubt that “stress” is not good, that “stress” is an evidence of absence of the Spirit and Word of God in one’s life? If “stress” is real, and it is, would we even dare consider that God Himself called a ‘Sabbath Rest’ as very good, Genesis 1:31, but some around you, maybe even yourself, truly believe “burning the candle at both ends” is not harmful but holy? I’m afraid for some, I DON’T AGREE!

In Peter Scazzero’s book “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality,” [p.170], Peter said: “On every Sabbath, we experience a sampling of something greater that awaits us. Our short earthly lives are put in perspective as we look forward to the day when God’s kingdom will come in all its fullness and we will enter an eternal Sabbath feast in God’s perfect presence. We will taste His splendor, beauty, greatness, excellence, and glory far beyond anything we ever experienced or dreamed.”

What does Exodus 20:8-11 tell us? “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work; you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” So… on Sunday you just do as you please, and ignore God’s holy day? No wonder you’re “stressed out”!

Do you believe that Holy Sovereign God knows us better than we know ourselves, and that His Word about the “Sabbath Rest” is still an absolute essential in our spiritual, even physical pilgrimage? I’m sure it’s why7 David said in Psalm 84:5, “Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, O God.”

Angelo Patri, in “Redbook,” wrote: “Spiritual power is a hidden power, locked in the silence of the soul. We cannot force it to come at command o0f will. But when in extremity our strength is as water, our will as the sighing of the wind, when we yield all physical being and lean hard on the spiritual strength within us, the soul’s strength rises to assure us as the sun rises over the rim of night…This spiritual strength is man’s inheritance, the eternal power granted him at Creation. It is God’s breath within him. On that strength we can go forward; we can take whatever comes and know it is well with us always.”

What’s the title of this chapter? “Is ‘All Stressed Out’ The Evidence of a Spirit-Filled Life?” I don’t think so! The wiseman of Proverbs wrote in Proverbs 25:28, “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.” No walls of protection in one’s life breeds “all stressed out”! Earlier, in Proverbs 16:32, the author wrote: “He who is slow to anger is better than the might, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”

Could ‘all stressed out’ be true description of one who is “heavy ladened”?” In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said: “Come to Me, all you who labor, and are heavy ladened, 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.” The word ‘laden’ is a Greek word for ‘over-burdened’ or like a cargo ship that sinks because it was over-loaded! It also means ‘loaded up with spiritual anxiety.’

I hope and pray that you saw in the Matthew 11 passage the words “all you…” and “all you who are heavy laden…” and you latch on to Jesus words: “I will give you rest…” Do you understand that that is a divine promise from the lips of Jesus our Lord and Savior and Master of our lives? Then Jesus said: “Come…take…learn…and LEAN” on Him! But I also see and sense in another word of our Lord that when we come, take, learn, and lean on Him that He “gives” – and it’s not only a “rest” FROM one’s heavy load but a “rest” IN CHRIST HIMSELF!

Oh, but then our Lord said: “Take My yoke upon you…” which tells me my rest is not from inactivity but a walk, a work, a willingness to be “yoked” to the Master-Bull who “breaks” me from walking alone in my journey of faith to walking in step with my Lord and Savior!

Do you realize how easily frustration with your circumstances and fretfulness in your situation can disable a fruitful walk with your Lord? Shutting down is the dominance of our flesh, and, yes, even demonic activity to feed off of our weariness, our wilting, our warped spiritual activity and identity ‘in Christ’! But the question of the moment is: HOW HAVE I ALLOWED IT TO HAPPEN? I’ll look with you at seven sources or roots:

FIRST, “STRESS” COMES BECAUSE OF A TROUBLED MIND. In 2 Thessalonians 2:2 Paul speaks of “not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or word or letter, as if from us…” which in context related to the ‘rumor’ that the ‘day of Christ had come.’ But the reality is that many are “soon shaken in mind or troubled” about many, various, different situations and circumstances – and it births various forms of even sickness: emotional, mental, physical, or spiritual!

To Titus Paul wrote: [Titus 1:15]. “To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.” Do you understand “vainly puffed up by [one’s] fleshly mind”? And if pride goes before a fall, maybe one needs to examine his/her fleshly mind activities!

Paul gives us all valuable words of wisdom when in Philippians 2:5-11 he wrote: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

A spiritual mind-set is extremely important, I believe, to every day “set your Mind” in direction to, dependence upon, and devotion set to honor the Lord today, through you, His honor, glory, and praise! If that is an unimportant spiritual discipline, then it’s easy to experience a shriveled soul, a parched devotion, a flooded day of preoccupation with one’s “feelings”: rather than full faith and fellowship, and, yes, even distractions of eye-set and mind-set!

In Colossians 3:1-2 Paul challenges us all: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” How challenging is that?

SECOND, “STRESS” COMES BECAUSE OF A DIVIDED HEART. In Psalm 81 there is a sad but deliberate admonition from God concerning His own people Israel. God Said: Psalm 81:8-16, “Hear, O MY people, and I will admonish you! O Israel, if you will listen to Me! There shall be no foreign god among you; nor shall you worship any foreign god. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. But My people would not heed My voice, And Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, to walk in their own counsels. Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn My hand against their adversaries. The haters of the Lord would pretend submission to Him, but their fate would endure forever. He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat; and with honey from the rock I would have satisfied them.”

The passionate prophet, Hosea, heard God speak from a broken heart when He looked upon His own people, Israel. In Hosea 9:10-12 we read: “I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal Peor, and separated themselves to that shame; they became an abomination like the thing they loved. As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird – no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception! Though they bring up their children, yet I will bereave them to the last man. Yes, woe to them when I depart from them!”

And, then, in Hosea 10:2-4, we read why it happened then and why it happens now: “Their heart is divided; now they are held guilty. He will break down their altars; He will ruin their sacred pillars. For now they say, “We have no king, because we did not fear the Lord. And as for a king, what would he do for us?” They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant. Thus judgment springs up like hemlock in the furrows of the field.”

The word ‘divided’ means “divided in loyalty”. I don’t know how you read spiritual times and seasons in church life in your nation, but “divided in loyalty” is, sadly, an ‘in-time’ evaluation of church life in America – too many ‘Christians’ on Sunday would rather ‘play’ than pray, wilt, rather than worship, gad about rather than give God the sacrifice of Praise, even when God says: “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy!” DIVIDED HEARTS!

THIRD, “STRESS” COMES THROUGH AN OVERLOADED STYLE OF LIFE. And that can be because of one’s true devotion to Gods and the opposition that arises against devoted followers of God. When Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation,” the flood of tribulation can be overwhelming at times. In Psalm 69 David cried out to God with an urgent plea for God’s help in David’s time of trouble! Psalm 69:1-18 says: “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, where the floods overwhelm me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is dry; my eyes fail while I wait for my God. Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; they are mighty who would destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully; though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it. O God, You know my foolishness; and my sins are not hidden from You. Let not those who wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me; let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel. Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face. I have become a stranger to my brothers, and an alien to my mother’s children; because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me. When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, that became my reproach. I also made sackcloth my garment; I became a byword to them. Those who sit in the gate speak against me, And I am the song of the drunkards. But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord, in the acceptable time; O God, in the multitude of Your mercy, hear me in the truth of Your salvation. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink; let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters. Let not the floodwater overflow me, nor let the deep swallow me up; and let not the pit shut its mouth on me. Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good; turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies. And do not hide Your face from Your servant, for I am in trouble; hear me speedily. Draw near to my soul, and redeem it; deliver me because of my enemies.”

FOURTH, “STRESS” COMES BECAUSE OF A SPLIT FAMILY OR A FAMILY SO ENGROSSED IN ITSELF THEY STIFLE OUT GOD, AND WHAT THEY CONSIDER “GOOD” FOR THEMSELVES BECOMES A GRAVE OF THE HEART.

In Micah 6:8 the Word says, our Lord speaking, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, [or lovingkindness] and to walk humbly with your God?” It doesn’t get any better! In Micah 7:6 it says: “For son dishonors father, daughter rises against her mother, daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own household.” Could that be sons against a father or a father against his own flesh and blood?

It was Horace Bushnell who once wrote: “A house without a roof would scarcely be a more different home, than a family unsheltered by God’s friendship, and the sense of being always rested in His providential care and guidance.”

In Titus 1:11 Paul wrote: “…whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain…”Whether an unstable or stable family, both are subject at times to false teachers who would undermine faith, trust, obedience in families.

No doubt this is why Peter, in Acts 3:25-26, wrote or spoke the following, yes, to ‘stressed out,’ stifled, starving families today: “You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ To you, first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning every one of you from your iniquities.”

We know God established family life in order that families might “be fruitful and multiply,” that man might, together with mate and children, experience and enjoy God’s blessing, to picture up close Jesus and His precious body of believers, to instill parenting as a tool to, yes, reveal the very heart of God, to reveal mutual dependence upon Him whether parent or child, to establish, train, mature, and bring children up “in the training and admonition of the Lord,” and to exhibit in small form the large, very Body of Christ Jesus!

In America, and no doubt the rest of our known world, there is an assault on Godly family life. There is prevalent, right now, an infectious spiritual disease that is out to decay, disintegrate, and deplete Godly husbands and wives and Godly fathers and mothers. “The thief is out to kill and destroy marriage and family.” Yes, even in America, right now, there are those in governmental powers nationally who believe their ‘state’ powers are more sacred than families – they want to rule over, control, and direct6 your children to trust them more than they trust God or parents! And families are being split at a rapid pace!

FIFTH, “STRESS” COMES BECAUSE OF A CORRODED LOYALTY: I pray that I can say this without being harsh, super critical, or mean-spirited, but a corroded loyalty to our Lord is the under-pinning of corroded loyalty in the home and family. In fact, a corroded loyalty, I believe, is because of ‘false liberty’ one has professed in a Christian marriage ceremony as one who desires to honor Christ, and has ‘professed’ to a church congregation that same ‘false liberty’; therefore, loyalty to the Body of Christ quickly or slowly deteriorates.

A test of loyalty always emerges in a disciple’s life, in a pastor’s life, in a church’s life and relationships and responsibilities, in a family’s close relationship and responsibility, and, yes, even in a business! And when corroded loyalty has run its course, “stress” breaks out like an infectious disease! Loyalty is because of love, not love because of loyalty. Jesus proved His love for us in that while we were still sinners He died for us!

Corroded loyalty is evidence one has forgotten “crucified with Christ”! In Oswald Chambers’ “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.228], he wrote after quoting Galatians 2:20, “These words mean the breaking of my independence with my own hand and surrendering to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. No one can do this for me, I must do it myself. God may bring me3 up to the point 365 times a year, but He cannot put me through it. It6 means breaking the husk of my individual independence of God, and the emancipating of my personality into oneness with Himself, not for my own ideas, but for absolute loyalty to Jesus.” Tell me! In you, right now, this very moment – are you standing in absolute loyalty to Jesus or has your loyalty been corroded?

SIXTH, “STRESS” IS BIRTHED BY THE SEED OF A COMPROMISED ETHIC: In John 6:60-71 we read a heart-wrenching story of defection from Christ. It says: Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?” When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to Him by My Father.” From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered them, Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.”

A safe description besides “a compromised ethic” would be “the internal assaults” on the Savior and His people. I don’t believe our Lord and Savior was ever overcome in any way by a compromised ethic or the internal assaults, but I assure you that there are numerous believers who’ve been overwhelmed by that “stress”! “Will you go away”? because of oppositional forces to your faith? “That’s a tough word, Jesus”! “That’s an offensive word, Lord”! “That’s exposing our prejudices, Master”! “That’s contradicting and compromising for us what we really think, Jesus”!

Have you ever heard an unbelieving husband berate his ‘sold-out’ wife for her devotion to her faith and church family – and see her begin to back off? Have you ever witnessed a “big boss” come down hard on a few employees for their “stand” concerning their Savior and see them go silent fearing a loss of their jobs? Have you ever sat through a condemning session by a university professor that threatens devotees of our Lord – and they become like dunces in a corner of the class? Have you seen the end result of the ‘party’ class of young people to side with godless fraternity brothers or sisters and become totally delinquent as to a stand for the eternal faith?

Deceivers, denouncers, yes, demonstraters against biblical faith can call out that response of a compromised ethic, but at the same time some “feed” on trash and not the treasure of God’s revealed Word and they starve the soul – the bread of life is substituted for foul crumbs trying to survive on a spiritual starvation diet!

And, “God, help us”! a compromised ethic is often the end result of a poor choice of friends – some are swayed to evil rather than a biblical ethic by carelessly associating with immoral men, loose women, or lewd conversation that darkens not enlightens one’s conscience and convictions.

In “Mrs. Browning,” Elizabeth Barrett Browning, wrote: “The Soul Travailing,” [pps. 80-81], about the “stress” of ‘traveling vainly.’ She wrote: “Always! Always! Must this be? Rapid Soul from city gone, Dost thou carry inwardly What doth make the city’s moan?…Must this deep sigh of thine own Haunt thee with humanity? Green visioned banks that are too steep To be overbrowsed by the sheep,…May all sad thoughts adown you creep Without a shepherd? – mighty sea, Can we dwarf Thy magnitude, and fit it to our straightest mood?…O fair, fair Nature! Are we thus impotent and querulous Among thy workings glorious – Among Thy fullnesses that still Leave us vacant and defiled,…And wailing like a kissed child, Kissed softly against his will? God, God! – With a child’s voice I cry, Weak, sad, confidingly – God, God!…Thou knowest eyelids raised not always up Toward Thy love (as none of ours are) droop, As ours, over many a tear!…Thou knowest, though Thy universe is broad, Two little tears, suffice to cover all! – Thou knowest – Thou, who art so prodigal of beauty – we are oft but stricken deer, Expiring in the woods – that care for none Of those delightsome flowers they die upon!…O blissful mouth, which breathed the mournful breath We name our souls! (self-spoilt!) by that strong passion Which paled thee once with sighs – by that strong death Which made thee once unbreathing – from the wrack, Themselves have called around them, Call them back Toward Thee in continuous aspiring!…For here, O Lord, For here they traqvel vainly; vainly pass From city pavement to untrodden sward,…Where the lark finds her deep nest in the grass Unswept of its last dew! – Yea, very vain The greatest speed of all these souls of men, Unless they travel upward to Thy Throne! There sittest THOU, the satisfying ONE, With blood for our sins, and holy perfectings For all requirements – while th’ archangel, raising Toward Thy face his full ecstatic gazing, Forgets the rush and rapture of his wings!”

SEVENTH, “STRESS” ERUPTS IN THE VOLCANO OF A WOUNDED SPIRIT: In Proverbs 18:14 we read, “The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but who can bear a broken spirit?”

A broken spirit is one who has been exchanged at a loss for an impoverished spirit! There is nothing proud for one to brag about when a wounded spirit bankrupts one’s faith, one’s devotion, or one’s dependence upon God for healing grace in a time of trouble. Most, rather than looking up, are now looking in – and wounds birth an overwhelming attitude of “poor me”!

Grasp what Jesus was saying in Matthew 26:41 when He said: “Watch and pray, lest YOU enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

I want to close this chapter with a letter I recently received from “Circuit Rider Ministries,: the support arm for Andy and Rebecca Brink’s on-going ministry of the Faith. Rebecca wrote THIS letter, yes, about “stress”. I called Andy and Rebecca and asked if I could print it in this chapter – they were glad to! Here it is: [Their address? PO Box 6241, Tyler, Texas, 75711 – phone #: 281 – 755 – 4030], and if you don’t know, their 7^th child will be birthed soon!! Are YOU ready? Rebecca wrote:

“Well, I would love to say that having another baby on the way has just been a breeze as if I have this thing down by now, but it just hasn’t quite worked out that way. There haven’t necessarily been any real complications, but man has it been hard not to sink into a major funk over the little things: -/ I have thought many times while unable to move due to utter exhaustion, “I am getting way too old for this!” I have been so easily frustrated when the kids are just being kids, and it’s not simple and easy…as if having kids is EVER simple and easy?? I think I literally spent the entire first trimester either wanting to throw up, cry, or just crawl in bed and sleep for weeks, hoping it would all magically be better when I woke up. I kinds though I had a legitimate “bone to pick” with God, that by number 7, I should have had some sort of right of passage into an easy pregnancy. I felt pretty justified in my way of thinking, until it was clear He was not being a team player. Well, then I was just plain mad! I sort of felt like I had been tricked into this deal, and the road ahead seemed impossibly long and weary. So I am going to be brutally honest here because this story has a GREAT ending!…

So, flash forward to my second trimester and you will find me in the depths of self-pity over how hard my life seemed, barely functioning from complete exhaustion (thinking FOR SURE something was wrong with me)…and only FIVE more months of pregnancy to go. Ouch! I finally had a chance to get away one weekend with some dear friends and spent the whole first day crying, wondering why this pregnancy still had to be so hard. I mean, the second trimester is supposed to be a breeze! I was desperately needing God’s grace, strength and encouragement, but was too mad at Him to ask for help[. Everyone that weekend was so sweet and attentive, but I just felt kinda numb inside. After dinner the first night, a dear friend spoke up and shared with the group something she had recently learned about Psalm 46:10. Well, some of you may remember from the last newsletter that that was the exact verse that had so impacted me the year before: “Be still and know that I am God.” My ears kinda perked up as she shared, and I began to try and let His Word penetrate my heart…

The word “still” in that verse literally translates as follows: “to cease from striving, to lay your hands down, letting God intervene in your situation without your interference.” As my friend was sharing this, I felt my heart beginning to soften. I was also struck that evening by a song that was shared. The words went something like this: “I’ll stand, my soul Lord to You surrendered…all I am is Yours.” Those words began to chip away at the hardness of my heart. Later that night, in the privacy of my room, I began to lay it all out before the Lord and genuinely ask Him for His help. I realized that when Andy and I had “abandoned” ourselves once again to God’s sovereignty, trusting that this new life He had given us was a part of His plan, I had an expectation that God would be so pleased, that He was just going to lay out a bed of roses for me to relax on for the next nine months! (Mistake #1). I was horrified that things were actually harder on me than they had ever been before, and that there might be more difficulty and suffering ahead: – / All of a sudden, I could see my heart so clearly…I was willing to “abandon and surrender all” as long as there was no inconvenience to me. And as long as it all made me feel and look good, I was all in! But to think that you can step out in faith and choose to trust Him for something hard, and then suffer for it??? I wasn’t up for that one. (Mistake # 2), Then I remembered Daniel and his faithfulness and commitment to God, and what did he get for it? A trip to the lion’s den, with an unknown outcome! He had no idea that God had a great purpose in Daniel’s suffering, and was prepared to send His angels to protect him that fateful night, but Daniel sure didn’t know it. He had already calculated the cost to his life, but it was worth it to Daniel…I guess the real question is, was He worth it to me? Did I really want to give the Lord everything, so that I could sing the words to that song without feeling like a complete hypocrite? “I’ll stand, my soul Lord to You surrendered, ALL I am is Yours!” Really? Even if it means more children? Even if it means less money because it has to stretch over so people? Even if it seems like I will NEVER get to enjoy a day of rest and relaxation without rearranging the entire universe so that all seven children are cared for in my absence? And for what? Why do I have to abandon and surrender anyway? My wrestling match with God!…

“Be still and know that I am God” continues to take on deeper meaning for me as I am learning to cease from striving when things get hard. For those of you that have had children, I am sure that at some point during childbirth classes, someone told you that you have to relax during contractions or they will be entirely ineffective, making your labor much more painful. Our midwife always has to gently remind me at the end when things are beyond tough, to let even my facial muscles relax throughout the pain so that my body can get it over with faster and easier. It sounds crazy, but it has totally worked! And I can tell you, in the very same way, that this pregnancy was so much harder than it had to be for me because I spent the first five months of it tense, frustrated and angry. When I literally chose to surrender, lay my will down, and trust that this whole thing is working for my good, my body began to respond well and it got so much easier! I went from not being able to get off the couch, to actually feeling pretty good and excited about the whole ordeal! Now did my troubles vanish? Not any more than the pain of childbirth, but there has been a special grace to get through it much easier! The incredible thing about the pain of childbirth is that when you think you cannot take it another second, that little life is right around the corner. And when that baby arrives, the pain is forgotten and totally worth it. What a perfect picture!” AMEN? THANK YOU, REBECCA BRINK!!

CHAPTER TWELVE

“IS ‘SALT’ AND ‘LIGHT’ THE REDEEMED ONE’S TRUE CALLING AND MISSION?”

As Matthew 5 opens, in Verse one, it speaks of “His disciples came to Him,” and then Jesus began to teach them. And I want you to contemplate so seriously the words that our Lord spoke to them and us in verses 11-16! “Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so the persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

In Luke 6:22-26 Dr. Luke gives us a broader picture of both true and false disciples when he wrote: “Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.”

It would do you well to spend months in the four Gospels learning not only the Life of Christ but also the lives and ministries and troubles and heartaches of His true disciples. Did you catch, were you shocked by, was self-examination the result of reading our Lord’s words in Luke 6:26? “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.”

This chapter is not to be an examination of false prophets but it does amplify for us His “true prophets” and the clear evidence describing them is “persecution for righteousness’ sake.” Has it not dawned on you yet a fallen world’s despising of the message of Christ Jesus? Our Lord and Savior became the ridicule, abuse, and slander of even the religious crowd of His day, but the identifying mark of false prophets was their extreme popularity!

Jesus never said that His disciples would find a world awaiting their ministries and rejoicing with them in what they had to say. In fact, in John 15:18-25 Jesus said: “If the world hates you, you know that i9t hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet, because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept Mt word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father.. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’

And before our Lord’s betrayal and arrest in Gethsemane, He had gone aside to pray. John 17 is Jesus’ passionate prayer for His disciples right before a religious crowd in a diabolical frenzy with the soldiers arrested Him, bound Him, and led Him to Caiaphas who told the Jews that it was advantageous if one man should die for the people! John 17:6-19 tells us: To the Father our Lord prayed: “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You, Holy Father, keep through Your name these whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

Hear me! Being true to Christ and His word and His mission means a world ‘out there’ will declare an unholy war against you, your family, your fellowship, and the more loyal you become in your commitment to Him alone the greater your opposition!

What did Jesus say in Matthew 5:11? “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.” Was Paul on target when he told Timothy in his letter to him, 2 Timothy 3:12, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” And, then, in Acts 5:41-42 we read: “So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.”

But there is an encouraging word for all true believers in Romans 8:16-19! “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.”

Then, a heavenly word follows for us in Romans 8:31-39! “What then shall we say to these things? If God id for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His Own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 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 things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Now, FIRST QUESTION: “IS SALT THE REDEEMED ONE’S TRUE CALLING AND MISSION?” What do we read in Matthew 5:13 as Jesuis says, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”

And, I wonder, does ‘salt’ lose its saltiness when it’s never sprinkled on what it has the potential to preserve, influence, add a better taste to? Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary says of ‘salt’: “To sprinkle, impregnate or season with salt, as to ‘salt’ fish, beef, or pork…To fill with salt between the timbers and planks, as a ship, for the preservation of the timber.” Do you see it? A ‘ship of life’ but no ‘salt’ as a preservative; a ‘ship of faith’ but no salty influences; a ‘ship of proclamation and testimony’ but no salt to capture the pure taste of our Lord and Savior!

Genesis 18:16-19:24 is an awesome lesson about the saltiness of God’s people. Sodom was spared for a time because of ‘salty’ Lot in its borders. And in Genesis 18:26 the Lord said: “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous men within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.” Do you grasp why America hasn’t fallen yet? Oh, it’s been grievously wounded, it rests at a place of desperation this very moment, but God “SEES” the righteous few and withholds His judgment!

In Exodus 32 we find Moses looking upon “the people of God” and he saw them “unrestrained,” verse 25. Moses called out at the entrance of the camp: Verse 26, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side – come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.” But judgment fell upon 3000 of the people that day. More were ready to die, but Moses intervened! Look at Exodus 32:30-35, Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin – but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.” And the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin.” So the Lord plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made.”

That’s not the end of the story of salty grace and mercy! In James 1:27 we read: “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” You do know how “spotted” your world is with immoral activity, in the lowering of biblical standards of holy behavior, in making dishonesty a public norm rather than a disgrace, of promoting impurity and ungodliness as an acceptable pattern of life, of advancing deliberate temptations to sin and violate even the laws of God, of wiping out, of tarnishing the righteous rather than the unholy, of promoting the unprincipled as leaders of our nations, of abusing the Ten Commandments as illogical, ‘off-the-wall’ suggestions, of disdaining biblical truth as that which helps ‘monkeys’ not people!

Oh, there’s more! Esther! What a story! Esther’s husband was the king, and Esther’s people came under the king’s judgment, and many were slaughtered! Mordecai came to Esther to inform her that she would not escape any more than all the other Jews, and she had to take a stand. Is that being ‘salt’?

Mordecai told Esther, [Esther 4:4], “Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” And Esther responded: “If I perish, I perish.”

Does that speak to you and you in your nation, in your family, in your school, in your community and state, in the time of the lowering of standards, in the time of betrayal of marriage oaths, in the time of bosses or employees going under-handed betraying ethics, morals, laws, or truths of God’s Word? Does ‘salt’ preserve from corruption, deceit, incest, dirty jokes? Is a disciple of Jesus a “cleansing agent or remedy” for a people who are about to be destroyed by bad, yes, evil choices?

And I don’t know about you but I love “salt” on my summer-grown garden tomatoes! WOW! What a flavoring miracle! Do you hear it around your kitchen table? “Pass the salt, please.” And that’s to be a believer’s life, his/her testimony, even a gift of saltiness in the Spirit-realm to flavor a tasteless life!

I love what Oliver Wendell Holmes had to say once, “I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers.” Preachers, pastors, parishioners aren’t to be offerers of ‘death’ but announcers of ‘life’, of ‘saltiness,’ of ‘blessings’ – not a dark, dead, dismal curse! A depressed world needs divine salt, divine joy, divine peace, and divine usefulness with an eternal taste – not a savorless life, or a savorless ministry, or a savorless marriage, or a savorless man! “God, help us!”

In “Tennyson’s Works,” Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote: [pps.3-4], “O God! My God! Have mercy now. I faint, I fall. Men say that Thou didst die for me, for such as me…Patient of ill, and death, and scorn, and that my sin was as a thorn Among the thorns that girt Your brow, Wounding Your soul. – That even now,…

In this extremist misery of ignorance, I should require a sign! And if a bolt of fire would rive the slumbrous summer noon While I do pray to Thee alone, Think my belief would stronger grow! Is not my human pride brought low? The boastings of my spirit still? The joy I had in my freewill All cold, and dead, and corpse-like grown?…

And what is left to me, but You, And faith in You? Men pass me by;- Christians with happy countenances – and children all seem full of You! And women smile with saint-like glances Like Your own mother’s when she bowed Above You, on that happy morn When angels spake to men aloud, And You and peace on earth were born…

Goodwill to me as well as all – I one of them; my brothers they; Brothers in Christ – a world of peace And confidence, day after day; And trust and hope till things should cease, And then one Heaven receives us all.”

That was written before 1892! Do you understand a redeemed man’s true calling and mission? ARE YOU SALT? But also a redeemed man’s true calling and mission is not only his spiritual saltiness but the reality of heaven’s LIGHT! Matthew 5:14-16 says: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

It is absolutely so amazing to me – I become awe-struck every time I read it or hear it when I know that Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” This is why in I Thessalonians 5:5 Paul said, “You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.” He told the church at Ephesus, Ephesians 5:8, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”

To the church at Galatia, Galatians 1:15-16, Paul said that it was the very “pleasure of God” to separate Paul from his mother’s womb, call him through His grace, for the purpose and plan of “revealing His Son in me,” and in you! If you haven’t heard, haven’t understood it, having received it as yet, your “old man” was “crucified with Christ; it is no longer I [YOU!} who lives, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God.” That’s Galatians 2:20-21!!

In Christ, you and I, children of faith, are vessels, containers – and every day we are to choose death to ourselves that the resurrection Light and Life of Christ might shine through us. That’s Luke 8:16 where Jesus said: “No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter [or those you encounter] may see the light.”

You’ll remember that Jesus told the people of His day about the witness of John in John 5:35, “He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.” And have you fully absorbed Peter’s testimony in 2 Peter 1:16-19? “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ And we heard this voice which came down from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”

“Dark places – shining lights!” “Dismal circumstances – a shining Light!” “Defeating darkness – overcoming Light!” “Downcast spirit – uplifting Light of glory, honor, and praise!” “Doom and gloom attitudes – songs, singing, and shouting the Light of our Savior’s glorious praise!”

True light is seen, true light is radiant, true light reveals, true light exposes, true light overshadows, true light enhances and encourages, true light warns and illuminates dangers, true light glorifies God!

William Barclay, in his Daily Study Bible Series on Matthew wrote: [p.122], “One of the old historians wrote of Henry the Fifth after the Battle of Agincourt: ‘Neither would he suffer any ditties to be made and sung by the minstrels of his glorious victory, for that he would wholly have the praise and thanks altogether given to God.” The Christian never thinks of what he has done, but of what God has enabled him to do. He never seeks to draw the eyes of men to himself, but always direct them to God. So long as men are thinking of the praises, the thanks, the prestige, which they will get for what they have done, they have not really even begun on the Christian way.” SOBERING WORDS!!

The only significance to your life is the Light of Christ within you – all else is sinking sand of selfish insignificance! If your life does not radiate the Life of Christ within it’s like ‘a boundless ocean of existence’ without eternal meaning and mission!

Darkness? Self-enhancement! Light? Christ-honoring! Darkness? A little dishonesty! Light? Living in Truth! Darkness? No sympathy! Light? Mercy and grace and kindness! Darkness? Self-promotion! Light? Self-denial to honor Christ alone! Darkness? Reckless abandonment to one’s sin nature! Light? Complete surrender to our Lord’s Lordship! Darkness? An incapacity to walk faithfully, holily, righteously before God! Light? One faithful unto death and crowned with the Light of Life!

Light? O.D. Kretzman, D.D., in the “Illinois Medical Journal,” once wrote: “If we are to survive the atomic [nuclear]age, we must have something to live by, to live on, and to live for. We must stand aside from the world’s conspiracy of fear and hate and grasp once more the great monosyllables of life: faith, hope, and love. Men must live by these if they live at all under the crushing weight of history.”

Do you understand the chaotic darkness of godless lives? And are you blessed by those God-filled lives of light and liberty and the love of God? I love what Philllip Brooks once said: “Be such a man, and live such a life, That if every man were such as you, And every life a life like yours, This earth would be God’s Paradise.”

What about St. Irenaeus, in “Adversus haereses, V, who wrote: “The Word of God, Jesus Christ, on account of Hid great love for mankind, became what we are in order to make us what He is Himself.” “Glory!”

In John 1:14-16 we read awesome words of heavenly intent for the “salt and light” folks of redemptive faith, full surrender, and awesome transformation: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me. And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.”

W. Russell Bowie, in “The Chaplain,” [December 1960] wrote: “The doctrine of the incarnation is no unrelated speculation. It is the truth by which we find God, and are found by God, both in the common times, and the times of crisis. It says to us that the glory of God can be revealed in the little place and in the everyday event, as it was in the earthly life of Jesus; and it makes us trust that the divine redeeming purpose cannot be killed by the evil which may crucify it, and that in the love of Christ the power of God stands by us even when the world is dark.” GLORY AGAIN!

“Salt and Light” for me are the seeds of God’s everlastingness, the living fruit of His eternal vineyard, the healing touch of His grace of transformation, and the blessed flood of immortal living in His holy presence.

“Salt and Light” for me, because of our Lord’s saving grace, and His eternal mission, is the evidence of His indestructability of the Spirit-man and his role in touching God’s chosen with mercy!

“Salt and Light” is God’s “academy awards” not of fiction but the fact of eternal salvation and your participation in it. “Salt and Light” is God shining, unveiling, revealing the birth of immortality for all men if they but repent and put their faith in the finished work of Christ at the Cross!

“Salt and Light” may have as its stage appearance the dim but darkening reality of a man’s separation from God, but its second and final drama is reconciliation with God, regenerated by God, and a renewal into God’s eternal intent for your life in Christ!

“Salt and Light” are a modern-day Job’s statement of faith and reason and revelation that “I know that my redeemer lives, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God.” [Job 19:25-26]

“Salt and Light” are the thoughts of eternal “rest”, eternal “restoration,” and eternal “consolation,” that says though earthly life was brief, eternal life in Him is forever!

“Salt and Light” are living hopes beyond the shadows of earthly dreams. “Salt and Light” are abandoned clothes in a casket because of absence from the body is presence with the Lord.

“Salt and Light” has a ring of nobility to it because to be in Christ is to be a part of a new creation that honors, blesses, and praises God and worships the King.

“Salt and Light”, white and bright, are those radiant colors of eternal hope, given to us that does not make us ashamed but continually blessing our Lord and being blessed.

“Salt and Light”, reminders of sins forgiven, the Savior present, the Spirit ruling, and Holy God being praised. “Salt and Light”, the great open door to our eternal home, the gathering of all the saints past, present, and future – and rejoicing in the angelic chorus at the throne of God as we all bow, adore, praise, exalt, and celebrate the King of kings and the Lord of lords!

“Salt and Light” – night and darkness are behind us and day and light ever before us, never diminishing but intensifying in our Lord’s eternal glory. “Salt and Light” – yes, it’s the heavenly language of our Lord and Master who tells us our value and worth is discovered as we look to His cross and resurrection.

“Salt and Light” – Joseph Addison, in “Cato,” [Act V, Sc 1] wrote: “The stars shall fade away, the sun himself grow dim with age, and nature sink in years, But YOU shall flourish in immortal youth, Unhurt amidst the war of elements, the wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds.” Why? In Christ, through Salt and Light, you have become a part of a new day, a new way, a new heaven, a new life, a new future!

“Salt and Light” – an anonymous author penned these words: “Think of stepping on shore, and finding it Heaven! Of taking hold of a hand, and finding it God’s hand, Of breathing new air, and finding it celestial air, Of feeling invigorated, and finding it immortality, Of passing from storm and tempest to an unbroken calm, Of waking up, and finding it HOME.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“ARE NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANS BOUND OR BLESSED BY OLD TESTAMENT LAW?”

It was four years ago, 2009, that I had had printed in India my book entitled: “Dangerous Trends From The Denouncers Of Truth.” In that book the thirteenth chapter is entitled: “The Grace of the Law – A Necessary Revival.” I’m including that chapter in this book as another question: “Are New Testament Christians Bound Or Blessed By Old Testament Law?” In Hebrews 2:14-15 the author said: “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself [Jesus] shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” And the fear of death is more than, yes, the fear of the devil, but even the fear of the broken law of God! Are you ‘bound up’?

If you’ve ever heard the statement, “We are people no longer under the Law but people under Grace!”, then you need to immediately pause, thoroughly examine the scriptures, and then respond to either the truth or error of that statement. There is a need, especially in America, for a necessary revival – THE GRACE OF THE LAW.

Without the resurrection of the grace of the law in this country, our nation will not survive these decades of decadence and immorality. God will not allow us to do so. Those who “take His name in vain” and bow down to the gods of their depraved flesh “will suddenly be broken and that without remedy.” In Matthew 5:17 Jesus is very clear: “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.”

The truth is that the law of God is either being fulfilled in you, through the presence of the indwelling Christ, or you find yourself under the Lord’s judgment because you are walking according to the flesh and not according to the Spirit! In Romans 3:31 Paul asks a vitally important question: “Do we then nullify the Law through faith?” (Then he answers his own question), “on the contrary, we establish the Law.” That word “establish” is translated from the Greek word “his–te–mi”, and means “to make to stand.” Because I’m a disciple of Jesus, I have become one who is to ESTABLISH again the law of God; I am to be one who MAKES TO STAND forever that which God requires; I am to be one who abides ‘in the Law,’ not in order to be saved, but BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN SAVED! Submission to the law of grace or transgression of that Law is the benchmark of either my obedience or my rebellion to Holy God!

In Ezekial 36 a prophetic picture is painted by the Lord. It is a picture, not only of those in Israel, but of the Church of the last days. Read carefully verses 17–31. What is God saying about that new, bold covenant that would see its fulfillment in Christ Jesus? Note especially verses 25–27: “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols, (see also Colossians 3:5). Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”

There is a new Law now! In Romans 8:2 Paul says it is “the Law of The Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus.” And then he says that as a result of the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, our Lord has done what? He “has set you free from the Law of sin and death.” I grew up singing an old hymn, “Free from the Law, O happy condition!” It was not until later that I finally learned it was not freedom from the Law of God, but freedom from the Law of sin and death! Paul clearly states, in agreement with the previously mentioned words of Jesus, in Romans 8:3, that “[God] condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Jesus issued a strong warning in Matthew 5:18–9: “For truly I say to you, until Heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of Heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall b called great in the kingdom of Heaven.”

There are some who “keep” and don’t “teach.” There are some who “teach” and don’t “keep.” But our Lord says we are to be those who “keep and teach” even the least of the commandments. Sadly, today, our nation, and even our churches, have bought into a teaching that we are “free from the Law of God.” The result has been devastating! The Law of God has become a strange thing. Some church members will even get angry with you when you read the scriptures that the requirement of the Law of God is to be fulfilled in them! Ask me how I know!

In Hosea 8:12, speaking of Israel and prophetically of last days churches, God says: “Though I wrote for him ten thousand precepts of my law, they are regarded as a strange thing.” In Hosea 4:6–7 God called the nation of Israel to accountability, and He’s doing the same today to “religious America,” the nation that is “supposedly one nation under God.” Listen to what He says: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the Law of your God, I will also forget your children.” Several years ago, my son, Scott, wrote an article entitled The Law of God Today. Let me quote from that article: “We are living in the midst of one of the greatest times of apostasy in the history of the world. Paul warned us in 2 Timothy 3:1 that “in the last days difficult times will come.” He went on to describe these difficult times in the following verses: “For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” Many teach that this is a description of the condition of the world in general during the last days. If that is true, what is so unusually different about that as compared with any other time in history? Unregenerate men have always lived that way! The tragedy of this passage is that PAUL IS DESCRIBING THE LAST DAYS CHURCH!” And Scott spoke the truth!

As one reads through the Bible, it becomes very clear that God hates sin, in fact, He says, “the wages of sin is death.” But today the church is sending a confusing message to the world. As revelations of sexual immorality in the form of pornography, adultery, and homosexuality among preachers become a common occurrence in the national and local media, the church preaches more loudly than ever “the unconditional forgiveness of God.” The message of the gospel has been lowered to a “bumper–sticker theology” that says, “Christians aren’t perfect – just forgiven,” and so they keep on sinning.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been neatly packaged into “Madison Avenue” slogans and phrases to make it more palatable to the masses, the goal being to present the “good news of God’s forgiveness” in a ”positive” non–offensive manner. All reference to man’s absolute depravity and his status before God as a sinner condemned to death apart from repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus alone, is completely ignored, and even labeled as harsh and unloving. A man like Robert Schuller can make the following statement and still be recognized as one of the leading evangelical ministers in the entire world! “I don’t think anything has been done in the name of Christ and under the banner of Christianity that has proven more destructive to human personality and, hence, counter–productive to the evangelism enterprise than the often CRUDE, UNCOUTH, AND UNCHRISTIAN STRATEGY OF ATTEMPTING TO MAKE PEOPLE AWARE OF THEIR LOST AND SINFUL CONDITION.”

It is not crude, uncouth, and unchristian to make people aware of their lost and sinful condition! It is not crude, uncouth, and unchristian to make the church aware of sin that leads to death! I guess Schuller doesn’t appreciate Jesus saying that if He hadn’t come they wouldn’t have known their sin! They have forgotten what James said – or they make light of it and say it doesn’t really say what it says. But it does! James 5:19–20, “My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth, and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins.”

Please hear me, the grace of God, the marvelous, matchless grace of God is not an excuse for sin. Grace is not licentiousness but liberty. Grace is not a frivolous teaching allowing you to flirt, court, or get into bed with any sin your heart desires. But grace is that fiery teaching of liberation and freedom emancipating you to “live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age.” (Titus 2:12). In I Timothy 1:5, Paul tells Timothy: “The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” And that’s God’s desire for His people. Notice Three Things:

First, LOVE FROM A PURE HEART.

Look at Psalm 24:3–5, “Who may ascend unto the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.” Living in the presence of Almighty God is conditional!

In Isaiah 59:1–2 the Lord specifies the consequence of sin upon our relationship with Him: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; neither is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.” But remember that Ezekial 36:26 reveals God’s provision for His people – “I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you.” And what was the evidence of a new heart and spirit? “By My Spirit, you’ll keep the Law in your heart!” In fact, Galatians 5:14 says, “For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word in the statement, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

There is no pure heart apart from a new heart. In the New Testament the same message is born out in I John 2:3–6, “And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him, the one who says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same manner as He walked.” And how did Jesus walk? He walked in heart purity! He fulfilled, established, made to stand, the Law of God.

Second, A GOOD CONSCIENCE. The Word has much to say about conscience. In I Corinthians 8:7 Paul issues a warning about conscience, “a conscience being weak is defiled.” That is why Paul challenged Timothy in I Timothy 1:19, to maintain a good conscience. In I Timothy 3:9, he again challenged his spiritual son to hold “to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.” And I assure you that the mystery of godliness is not being held onto in a lifestyle of law–breaking!

In I Timothy 4:2 Paul speaks of men who “by means of hypocrisy of liars seared in their own consciences as with a branding iron.” A seared conscience? There is no doubt what it is, it is those who violate the Law of God and feel no qualms about it – outside the church and within it, sometimes even in the pulpit! But there is hope! Hebrews 9:14 says, “how much more will the blood of Christ who through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

The prophet asked, “Can two walk together except they be agreed?” In Luke 6:46 Jesus asks, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ yet do not do what I say?”

Third, A SINCERE FAITH. Does that mean there can be an insincere faith? Of course it does! But what is a sincere faith? Romans 3:31, once again, “Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law [of God]!” Do you understand that? An insincere faith? In I Timothy 6:3 Paul describes it as “anyone who advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness.” A question – did the Lord Jesus set aside the Law of God or did He intensify its demands? I read a review of a supposedly “Christian” book in an India newspaper by a doctor of theology there. There was a quote from his book that said, “Jesus hated the Old Testament Law.” I couldn’t believe what I was reading. It was another confirmation of what the prophet Jeremiah called “the lying pen of the Scribes.”

In I Timothy 1:8–11, Paul instructs us in the purpose and proper use of God’s Law. He says: “But we know that the Law is good if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous man, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.”

Look carefully – “realize the fact that the law is not made for a righteous man.” A righteous man? I John 3:7 says, “Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.” There is by the grace of God an imputed, credited, declared righteousness through our faith in Christ that is real! But the deeper truth is, that imputed, credited, declared righteousness becomes the consuming passion of a man’s life, he’s not a play–actor (hypocrite), but a participant in the fullness of Christ’s indwelling Life. A “righteous man” is one who has been swallowed up by Life – one who has been clothed with His dwelling from Heaven. That’s Jesus, who fulfills the Law! And the man “in Christ” is the man indwelt by and overflowing with the spirit and attitude of Jesus, “I do always those things that please My Father.”

There are many who say, “Jesus is my Lord and Savior,” but it’s a matter of the head and lips, but not of the heart; it’s a matter of culture and convenience not commitment and consecration; and it’s often a matter of family tradition not a living, life–changing, vibrant, all–consuming passion and faith! In Matthew 7:21–23 Jesus says: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of the Father Who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” Listen with your heart to Romans 6:19 if you are a Law of God violator! “I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For first as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in your sanctification.”

I wonder why these verses are seldom read in many churches today? Look at the warning from John found in I John 3:4, “Everyone who practices sin also practices ; and sin is lawlessness!”

To practice lawlessness brings a curse and separation from God! Paul tells us in Galatians 3:13 that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. Not though, REDEMPTION IS FROM THE CURSE OF THE LAW, NOT THE REQUIREMENT OF THE LAW! Galatians 3:14 continues, stating that through Christ we “receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” The Spirit? The promise of the Spirit? Through faith? In Acts 5:32 the Word emphatically states who can receive the Spirit of God: “And we are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

Look at Abram – he’s a pagan living in Ur of the Chaldees. He’s called out, chosen by God, and found faithful. His name is changed. The “AH” out of YAHWEH is added to signify his relationship with Almighty God. His life is changed, he receives the promise of the Spirit, and lives a life of obedience and submission to God. In Galatians 3:17 Paul says, “What I am saying is this: The law, which came 430 years later…” Why 430 years

later?

Because there was that long and unusual period in the history of God’s people when they walked in faith and obedience. It was not true in man’s early history! Genesis 6:5–6 says of the generation that was destroyed bt the flood, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually; and the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart!” There’s the flood and a Noah. Then in the sovereignty of God, He looks to Ur of the Chaldees, to pagan Abram, and raises him up to bless him and to make his name great and to bless through Abram all the families of the earth! For 430 years there is a new spirit and attitude in the hearts of men toward Holy God! Then comes the Law! Why? Galatians 4:19 asks and answers the question: “Why the law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator until the seed should come to whom the promises have been made.”

Look to Galatians 3:21, “Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be!” Now please look back to I Timothy 1:8. It is highly critical for your understanding, and mine. “But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully.” How does one use the law of God lawfully? Whenever there is lawlessness and rebelliousness, the law of God must be upheld. Whenever there is a compromise with the unholy and the profane, you must uphold the law of God. Whenever there is immorality and sexual perversions, the law of God must be upheld. Why? The Law leads us to Christ! In Galatians 3:24 Paul says, “Therefore the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith.”

I want to quote again from Scott’s article “The Law of God Today.” “Jeremiah prophesied of the New Covenant that would be fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Jeremiah 31:33, h said, “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it.” In Hebrews 10:15–16, after stating that the Holy Spirit bears witness to us, Jeremiah 31:33 is quoted as applying to us, “I will put My law upon their heart.” In Psalm 40, a Messianic Psalm, Jesus says in verses 7 and 8, “Then I said, Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of Me, I delight to do Your will, O My god; Your law is within My heart.”

The New Covenant that we have in Jesus Christ leaves no room for lawlessness; instead; the promise we have is that He will give us A NEW HEART, a heart that DESIRES TO DO HIS WILL. In Ezekial 36:26–27, we are told, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes.”

Rather than resisting the true nature and character of God by justifying our rebellion, we are to have a heart like David, who said in Psalm 119:97, “O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.”

Israel had a law written on tablets of stone that God said was not too difficult for them to keep. We have the law of God written upon the tablets of our hearts and the Holy Spirit living within us to cause us to desire to do His will; that is why the writer of Hebrews warns us in Hebrews 2:3, after reminding us that every transgression and disobedience by Israel received a just recompense, ‘how shall we escape (judgment) if we neglect so great a salvation? We are without excuse!”

THE GRACE OF THE LAW – A NECESSARY REVIVAL BECAUSE:

Number one: MEN DON”T KNOW THEY ARE SINNERS!

There must be the necessary revival of the Grace of the Law because there are multitudes in sin and they don’t even know they’re sinners in danger of the eternal judgment of God! There was a French evangelist who said on an occasion of a deep burden over the lostness of man to a friend: “Oh, I wish I could find a sinner; I’ve got such good news to tell him.” The friend responded: “Find a sinner? Why, the world is filled with them.” And the evangelist answered: “I know, but it’s one thing to be a sinner and quite another to know it!”

Listen to Paul in Romans 7:7–12, “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the law; for I would not have known about coveting if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment producing in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the law sin is dead. And I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive, and I died; and this commandment which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me. For sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. So then the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good!” Examine Romans 3:20b,

“For through the law comes the knowledge of sin.”

Isn’t it convenient that our nation’s courts have seen fit to remove the Law of God from hanging on the walls of courts and schools? Do you realize how rampant the violation of the Law of God is across the world today? And there must be a “voice raised in the wilderness declaring – Make His paths straight!”

*“The wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23

*“Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” Matthew 7:23

* “I have seen a violent, wicked man spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil. Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more; I sought for him, but he could not be found. Transgressors will be altogether destroyed; the posterity of the wicked will be cut off.” Psalm 37:35–36, 38.

*”Zion will be redeemed with justice, and her repentant ones with righteousness: But transgressors and sinners will be crushed together, and those who forsake the Lord shall come to an end.” Isaiah 1:27–28.

* “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15. That’s not a good thing!

The Grace of the Law!

Number Two, MANY CHURCH MEMBERS HAVE BEEN TAUGHT THEY ARE NO LONGER ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR SIN.

There must be a necessary revival of the Grace of the Law because there are multitudes of churches filled with many people who truly believe they are no longer accountable to the Law of God, and even feel they are free to continue in sin because they believe they couldn’t do otherwise until they get to heaven! Yet, that is not the testimony of scripture or the truth of Christ’s triumphant victory over sin at Calvary! To the woman taken in adultery before Jesus, after her accusers left, said to her after forgiving her sin, “Go and sin no more.” That was also Paul’s challenge to the church at Corinth. In I Corinthians 15:34 he said, “Become sober–minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God; I speak this to your shame.” I pray that as a disciple of the Lord that you will be mastered by the truth of Romans 6:12–22. It is truly one of the most liberating passages in all the Word of God. Remember Jesus’ words in John 8:32, “and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free!”

Look with me at several verses from Romans 6:12–22:

*6:12, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts.”

*6:14, “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law (of sin and death), but under grace!”

*6:18, “and having been freed from sin, you became servants of righteousness.”

*6:22, “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit (grace, the Word, the Spirit) resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.” (Read also Romans 8:12–14!)

In I Peter 4:17–18 the Word declares that “it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved (and it is), what will become of the godless man and the sinner.”

A number of years ago, I was pastoring Highlands Baptist Church in Ocala Florida. On a Sunday morning there was a handsome, striking couple that visited our fellowship. They signed a visitor’s card indicating they lived in the apartment complex across the street from the church. As usual, I visited all visitors the following week. I was not prepared for what I learned. This man had been a well–known pianist for churches and quartet ministries across the U.S. and Canada. I learned that the woman was not his wife, but that they had met and “fallen in love.” He left his wife; she left her husband and children. He informed me that before they made their final decision to break up two families they sought the counsel of “leading pastors” in the U.S. and Canada, and had been encouraged to “follow your hearts.” I was stunned! I paused! Then I excused myself, but asked the man to come by my office. The next morning he came. And with smiles on his face he asked me, “Well, Pastor, what do you think?” I didn’t have to think! I pointed the “finger of God” in his face and said, “Sir, you are an adulterer. I don’t care what your ‘leading pastors’ had to say, you are a lawbreaker. If I believed what you and those pastors believed, I’d close my Bible, close the doors of this church, and tell all the people to go home – it’s all a lie. But it’s not, and unless you and that woman repent you are both going to Hell along with those false prophets who counseled your rebellion to the Law of God. And, sir, until you repent, you are not welcome in this church.” I then walked out the church door and left him standing in the foyer in shock and dismay. He never came back. But a year later, 2a.m. in the morning, I got a long distance telephone call. There was a man on the other end weeping. He gave his name. It was the adulterous gospel piano player. He said, “Farrell, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. You were the only man to tell me the truth. By the Word and the Spirit and your testimony, I finally saw the truth. I was convicted. I repented. The relationship was broken off, and by the mercy and grace of God my marriage has been restored. My wife and I would like to come to Ocala and tell what God did in our marriage. He’s even given us a ministry to hurting couples and troubled marriages.” He came – and we were blessed! I later saw him on national television playing the gospel of Christ piano and music with the countenance of Christ all over him!

Number Three, THE FUTURE OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE. There must be the necessary revival of the Grace of the Law because this nation has lost sight of the “divine intent” of truly being one nation under God. Proverbs 14:34 states: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”

Abimelech, king of Gerar, asked an interesting question in Genesis 20:4, “Lord, will You slay a nation?” He has in history, and He will also do so to our nation, unless our nation repents and returns to righteousness!

Deuteronomy 32:28 describes our nation today, “For they are a nation lacking in counsel, and there is no understanding in them.” Verse 29 says, “Would that they were wise, that they understood this, that they (as a nation) would consider their latter end or discern their future.” Listen to David in Psalm 9:15–20, “The nations have sunk down in the pit, which they have made; in the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught. The Lord has made Himself known; He has executed judgment. In the work of his own hands the wicked is snared. The wicked will return to Sheol, even all the nations who forget God. For the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever. Arise, O Lord, do not let man prevail; let the nations be judged before You. Put them in fear, O Lord; let the nations know that they are but men.”

In Isaiah 1:4, the Lord prophesies to Israel of their decline, and it is so applicable to America today, “Alas, sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, sons, who act corruptly! They have abandoned the Lord! They have despised the Holy One of Israel! They have turned away from Him!” Bill Bennett, former secretary of education and drug czar has written a book entitled “The Devaluing of America.” It should be read by every school board member in America. At one of the Republican conventions he made this statement, “There is a FRAYING of the social fabric of this great nation!” That’s true, but more than that, there is a fraying of the spiritual fabric of this once great nation! The garment of faith and obedience to Almighty God is being rent in twain from top to bottom! How does it happen?

Study Psalm 2. Look carefully at the first two verses! “Why are the nations in an uproar, and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed.” Then in verses 8–12, look at the end result of that! Don’t miss it! “Ask of Me and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall shatter them like earthenware. Now, therefore, O kings, show discernment; take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence, and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, lest He become angry, and you perish in the way. For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him.”

The Lord said to Samuel (I Samuel 8:7), “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.” We saw in the beginning of this third theme how (Proverbs 14:34) “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” Let God bring conviction to you over the spiritual condition of our nation – and let’s pray together for genuine revival!

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“ARE TEENAGERS, YOUTH, UNMARRIED YOUNG ADULTS FREE FOR ROMANTIC SLEEPOVERS?”

Again, when my Sue and I were in Park City, Utah, for about 12 days, August 3-August 15, 2013, I read another “USA Today” newspaper with an article entitled: “Let Teenagers Have Their Romantic Sleepovers,” with a picture of Angelina Jolie in 2001 with her mother, Marcheline Bertrand. It stated that when Angelina Jolie was 14 years of age, her boyfriend had been allowed to move in.

The article was written by Amanda Marcotte. She wrote: “While state education boards across the country are still embroiled in a debate over whether to even accept the realities of sex before marriage, in the real world, widespread acceptance of premarital sex and cohabitation has opened up a debate about whether parents who still have kids in the house should let them have romantic sleepovers or even let boyfriends or girlfriends move in…In 2011, Angelina Jolie shocked her fans with the news that she had lived with her boyfriend when she was 14, and that she planned to be just as liberal in the living arrangement department as her mother was. When the shock wore off, two years later, Henry Alford in “The New York Times” opened up the possibility that such a move might even be the smart one for parents and kids. It might even improve relationships between them.”

Amanda Marcotte then spoke of these “trends” as that which, she believed, was “reflective of a larger shift in American life,” which is true because the larger shift is a greater disgust of the Law and Word of Holy God. “Let’s take the Ten Commandments off the walls of our legal centers, schools, homes, and, yes, even churches – we just might offend somebody!”

Amanda Marcotte wrote: “The old-school parental claim that their offspring should never have premarital sex under their roof is yielding to a more accepting attitude about their growing and grown children’s sexuality.”

“The real world”? Yes! Enemies of God and His Truth, enemies of holiness and righteousness, enemies of the call to pure hearts and cleansed souls, enemies of anything or anyone that suggests we have a call from God to obey His Word, enemies of anyone who challenges sexual immorality is an offense against Lord God Almighty and a violation of His covenant-law and even His covenant-grace!

We live in a time period of American history of “misplaced, lost, and buried shame”! Shame over known-sin has been shed just as shame over lust, license, and the dark moments of adultery and fornication have been denied! It’s as if a former ‘stable society’ has given over to lawless claims of liberty and freedom to do as one pleases failing to recognize spiritual anarchy!

I do want you to know that I believe there is a time, there is a place, there is a ‘line’ that can be crossed – and when it’s crossed, Holy God will shut that door of opportunity to turn to Him – and judgment is birthed! Adultery, abortion, and, yes, animosity toward the God of Calvary’s love – and they shake their fists in defiance of God and His Word – and turn inward on themselves to satisfy their shameless lusts!

Do you remember Judges 17:6? “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Isn’t that true for a significant number of American citizens including many youth in our culture? And a word of warning from God’s Holy Word is essential here and now! Proverbs 17:15 says, “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.”

Are you aware of how much justification of wickedness goes on in America today? Yes, even in the White House and presidential quarters day after day after day – and there will come a time when they stand before Holy God to give an account of their words, their deeds, their actions that shame His Word, His gracious deeds, and His atoning actions!

And promiscuous young people today? In “Aurora Leigh” Elizabeth Barrettt Browning wrote: “I felt so young, so strong, so sure of God,” but many youth have said by word and deed, “I feel so free to do as I please, really, so weak morally, but I’m a believer,” and deceive themselves in a licentious fashion indulging their fallen flesh to express their independence, believing they are unrestrained by God or His Word, by parents, by their school leaders or teachers, and they become loose in thinking and deeds when in reality they strap themselves tighter and tighter in fleshly and demonic bondage.

In Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:1,13-14 we read: “Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these God will bring you into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh, for childhood and youth are vanity. Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, ‘I have no pleasure in them.’ Verses 13-14 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: ‘Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.”

I want you to grasp, young people, that liberty in Christ is not a license to Sin! There are those who will excuse your sin, give you false feelings of assurance as you sin, and even take advantage of you in participating in your sin. But neither in them or you yourself is there any genuine spiritual life at all if you bow before the American idol of sexual immorality!

In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus speaks: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practices lawlessness.’”

John Piper wrote: [“A Godward Life,” p.256], “the evidence of being savingly known by Jesus is to be an evildoer no longer, that is, to have righteousness that surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees. Religious zeal and even miracle working do not prove a new heart of love.”

Do you ‘profess’ a marriage to Christ or look forward to a wedding to come? I think about those youth, the collegians, young adults, who have been ‘reared’ with no holy revelation, or of youth who’ve had great moms and dads, but are totally untethered to anything that godly parents taught them – oh, but they do ‘profess’ Jesus as they “call their own shots,” “determine their own way, deny discipleship demands, and even say, “I acknowledge You, Lord, but when it comes to sexual preferences, I’ll do as I please.”

But look at Matthew 22:2 and verses 10-14! “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son.” Verses 10-14, “So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Are you unaware of the lack of holy wedding garments in one’s marriage to Christ? Wedding garments? Wedding garments in the spiritual, heavenly realm? No heavenly wedding garments – no marriage to Christ! Have you, young people, overlooked Titus 2:14? “who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”

I don’t hesitate in saying to youth and to adults that broken vows of honoring Christ through illicit, immoral sex-capades, deface and defame the precious picture of a Savior who washes our sins as white as snow! And forgiveness IS granted through the shed blood of our Lord, IF we accept His Word, “Go, and sin no more!”

Why was God’s law given? Romans 3:20 says, “…for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” And by the Cross and the shed blood of the Lamb of God the guilt of sin is washed away! Paul went on to say in Romans 3:21-26, “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God sent forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

Faith in Jesus is not a license to continue in sin, but liberty from the very power of it! And a young person who has embraced sexually immoral behavior, longing to be free of its curse and condemnation, repents and keeps on repenting, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of his/her faith, and establishes, not impure, but pure relationships with one of the opposite sex.

I don’t have to tell you that there are always consequences to broken laws of God, consequences to broken precepts of holy living before the Lord, and scars that often remain like a bad dream you can never forget. And the devil will surely remind you of what he believes is your unworthiness to receive God’s forgiveness. But it’s there, and there forever!

God is a good and gracious parent. In Hebrews 12:6 we read, “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.”

That’s not ‘jail-cell’ confinement imprisoning you as punishment, but an act of heavenly correction. In Hebrews 12:10-11, we learn what His conscientious purpose and plan is: “For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Young people, ‘painful’ correction or discipline spiritually is a high and holy calling AND ‘privilege’ but Jesus said in John 12:26, “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me,” and the attitude of our Lord concerning Father-God? In John 8:29 Jesus said: “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, FOR I ALWAYS DO THOSE THINGS THAT PLEASE HIM.” What a calling! What a mission for your life, young person! What holy privilege – “don’t cast your pearls before swine!”

There is no blessing in a scheme of law of God rejection or a personal pursuit of satisfaction of sexual tendencies that declares one guilty of breaking, defiling Holy Law in the pursuit of self-satisfaction of one’s “glands”! Again, John Piper wrote: [“A Godward Life,” p.119], “If you love God’s good gift of sexuality, take a stand for treating it like precious gems rather than common gravel. Guard it in the velvet-lined safe of steel commitment. Don’t strew it on the street or in the press.”

I pray that every young person in America would memorize Psalm 1! I believe a huge youthful transformation would occur concerning their response to youthful sexual immorality. Psalm 1 says: “Blessed is the man [the young person] who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

But I also believe that as Timothy, young Timothy, received counsel from his spiritual elder, Paul, if young people today would receive Paul’s words, a deepening of true faith would occur and a great respect for honoring God with the bodies would become a holy, heavenly reality! In 2 Timothy 2:19-22 Paul wrote:

“Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. Flee youthful lusts, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

I want you to know, young person, that it is God’s desire, His heart and passion, to redeem young men and young women but it is not His intent to celebrate your depraved decisions that satisfy your lusts and clashes with His Truth!

In James 3:13-17 the brother of Jesus wrote: “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”

John saw the “holy city,” the “New Jerusalem” in a vision in Revelation 21. And God spoke to him in verses 7-8 saying: “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, 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.”

Hear Jesus, young people – don’t turn a deaf ear to our Loving Savior and Lord! In Revelation 22:12-19 Jesus said: “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.. Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star. And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

Do you remember Joseph, the youngster, who honored God? In Genesis 39:1-9 there is an awesome example for youth today!! It says: “Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharoah, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight, and he served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had put under his authority. So it was, from the time he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”

I want to share a word from Josh McDowell from his book, “Beyond Belief To Convictions.” He said: [p.166], “God is so passionate about his relationship with us and our kids that he has personally – and miraculously – provided the inspiration of his word, supervised its transmission, and repeatedly reinforced its reliability so that all those who have open eyes and open hearts may believe it with assurance and conviction. Nations may have rejected it, tyrants may have tried to stamp it out, heretics may have tried to distort it, but the evidence of the Bible’s reliability is sufficient to assure us and our kids that it has remained a true reflection of reality – of who God is – and that it is “stronger and more permanent than heaven and earth,” [Luke 16:17]. Moreover, an examination of how God has meticulously and miraculously protected the integrity of His Word will impress us and move us with the depth of God’s love for us and His faithfulness toward us.”

Oh, youth, young people, those caught in a cruel trap of self-indulgence and sensual, sexual ‘pleasure’ – it is out of the very pit of hell to steal from you marriages; greatest gift for a husband or a wife – the gift of sexual pleasure untainted but celebrated on a wedding night and for untold years to come! Oh, understand it, grasp it, hold out for it – the gift of purity, saved for your wife, saved for your husband!

In sexual relationships there is a high mountain of the very glory of God in your marriage, where the armies of Satan celebrate and get their “fix” in every diabolical sexual perversion! If you’re there, you are “feeding” the demons! And most youth have never been told they “entertain” demons unaware!!

Has the ‘voice’ of shame deceived you, blinded you, deafened you? Has a fallen society so corrupted you that you cannot begin to hear God’s passionate voice about fighting the fight of faith? Has even a divided, deceived church community ‘brain-washed’ you that pre-marital sex is no big deal? Are ‘common-place’ professors violating you with ‘uncommon,’ ‘evil,’ ‘fleshly’ thoughts about what’s normal to them – immoral, perverted lifestyles?

Too many youth are garrisoned by the godless and consider they’re OK to do and be what their fatalistic friends do and are! Too many youth are entrenched in the norm of a fallen society producing in them a spiritual stagnation, refusing to even LOOK God’s Way! Too many youth are “comfortable” with a Christless crowd where their dispositions become boxed in to immoral living, sexual perversions, illicit activities, so guiltily playing “the fool” with their souls.

Oh, youth, “you must be born again”! Of, youth, “you must be born of the water of God’s Word and born of His Holy Spirit”! Oh, youth, Jesus loves you and wants YOU to be His Bride! Oh, youth, Jesus must increase and you must decrease! Oh, youth, recognize that you were crucified with Christ, yes, YOU, 2000 years ago! Your old sin man died on the Cross with your Lord and Savior! There’s forgiveness, cleansing, reconciliation, renewal, residency with your life His home on earth!

What does Isaiah 45:22-25 tell us, young people? “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath. He shall say, ‘Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come. And all shall be ashamed who are incensed against Him. In the Lord all the descendants of Israel shall be justified, and shall glory.” How does: “shall be justified and shall glory” sound to you?

I do care about where you’ve been by the choices you’ve made and what you’ve done by the choices you’ve made because there are consequences, yes, good and bad – but more importantly the Word tells me, yes, that God Himself is so pleased when one youth turns to Him!

In Acts 26:12-19 receive the testimony of Paul! “While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith.’ “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.”

Oswald Chambers wrote in his “My Utmost For His Highest” valuable words for the understanding of every young person. He said: “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.” Our Lord said, in effect, to Paul – Your whole life is to be overmastered by Me; you are to have no end, no aim, and no purpose but Mine. I HAVE CHOSEN YOU!!”…When we are born again we all have visions, if we are spiritual at all, of what Jesus wants us to be, and the great thing is to learn not to be disobedient to the vision, not to say that it cannot be attained. It is not sufficient to know that God has redeemed the world, and to know that the Holy Spirit can make all that Jesus did effectual in me; I must have the basis of a personal relationship to Him. Paul was not given a message or a doctrine to proclaim, he was brought into a vivid, personal, overmastering relationship to Jesus Christ. Verse 16 is immensely commanding – “to make YOU a minister and a witness.” There is nothing there apart from the personal relationship. Paul was devoted to a Person not a cause. He was absolutely Jesus Christ’s, he saw nothing else, he lived for nothing else. “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”

What about you, young lady? What about you, young man? To Whom or to what do you belong?

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“HOW WILL YOU PLEAD?”

Have you ever witnessed a court-room scene when someone is being arraigned for a crime and the judge asks, “Mr. So & So, HOW DO YOU PLEAD?” Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary says of “arraign”: “To call or set a prisoner at the bar of a court, to answer the matter charged against him in a indictment or information. When called, the indictment is read to him and he is to plead guilty or not guilty and to elect by whom he will be tried.”

Before the judgment bar of Holy God, how will YOU plead? Before the judgment bar of Holy God, who do you choose to be your advocate? Before the judgment bar of Holy God, what’s the case you lay out before Holy God? Think about it! Why?

In Romans 2:1-3 Paul wrote: “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, that you will escape the judgment of God?”

Paul said to the Corinthian congregation in 2 Corinthians 5:9-11, “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.”

Under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, Peter had a challenging word to every man. In I Peter 4:14-19 he wrote: “If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey 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.”

Oh, I do like what Anthony Hoekema wrote in his book, “The Bible And The Future,” [Grand Rapids: Wm.B. Eerdman’s Publ. Co., 1979, p.259], “The failures and shortcomings…of believers…will enter into the picture on the Day of Judgment. But – and this is the important point – the sins and shortcomings of believers will be revealed in the judgment as forgiven sins, whose guilt has been totally covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.

And I know this is why David wrote in Psalms 19:9-10, “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”

But pity and pray for those who see the finger of God writing over their judgment page the word “TEKEL”, [Daniel 5:27], “You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting.”

When I married my wife, Sue, she was of the Methodist persuasion, and still is! There’s an old Methodist hymn with these words: “Are you ready? Are you ready? Ready for the Judgment Day? When the saints and sinners shall be parted right and left – Are you ready for the Judgment Day?”

And do you remember Julia Ward Howe’s words in the “Battle Hymn of the Republic”? “He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat, He is sifting out the hearts of men before His Judgment Seat”? Oh, think about it! Press in to it! Have you heard the arguments?

ONE, “I’M A RELIGIOUS MAN”!! But I’m not ashamed to bust that bubble that that man based his life upon because ‘religion’ has never “REDEEMED” any man! Do you really differentiate between ‘religion’ and what Jesus said, “You MUST BE BORN AGAIN, born of the water of God’s Word and His Holy Spirit”?

Religion began in the Garden of Eden! Genesis 3:7 says, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; AND THEY SEWED FIG LEAVES TOGETHER (“FIG-LEAF RELIGION”) AND MADE THEMSELVES COVERINGS.”

That’s man-made creations! That’s religious invention that has no intention of being reconciled to God God’s Way! From “Confusionism’ to Hinduism to Islam-ism, that’s men’s intent on doing their own thing in their own way, deciding for themselves what makes them look good before a ‘god’ they claim to know.

Religion has been confronted by Christ as empty of redeeming merit! Do you remember Nicodemus, a religious man, a spiritual guru of Judaism? We read about him in John 3:3-11!! Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” Nicodemus said to Him, “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 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.” Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these be?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what we know and testify what we have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.”

Do you remember Paul before King Agrippa because of the Jews’ condemnation of him after his conversion to Christ? In Acts 26:5 we read, “They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our RELIGION I lived a Pharisee.”

But was he “saved,” was he “redeemed,” was Paul at that time, under Pharisaical religion saved? NO!! I remember Major Ian Thomas of England speak of those who are “awakened souls, but unregenerate in spirit.” SO TRUE!

Religion may awaken a soul to some form of conscience but it cannot transform into a “new creation.” Religion may excite with mandates of some shades of truth but it doesn’t, hasn’t, and never will lead to DIVINE TRUTHY except by the shocking awareness of religion’s EMPTINESS! Have you heard it?

TWO, “I LIVE BY THE GOLDEN RULE.” Do you realize how that flies in the face of God?

If the “golden rule” is redemptive, then why did God decree “the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world”? If the “golden rule” is regenerative, then why the Cross of Christ? If the “golden rule” SAVES, then why did the SAVIOR SUFFER? If man’s initiative transforms, then why the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? If you’ve determined that all you need is to live by the “golden rule,” then you’re the goose that is about to be cooked because all you can lay are brass eggs, trying to pass off as “golden,” when it’s only “fools’ gold.”

Golden rule mentality, spiritual mentality on your terms, is ‘self-determination,’ and “my best efforts ought to be acceptable even if God chooses the death of His Son.” BUT LISTEN: 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 tells us: “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation…that is, that GOD WAS IN CHRIST RECONCILING THE WORLD TO HIMSELF, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to ud the WORD OF RECONCILIATION.”

THREE, “I’VE DETERMINED I AM A RIGHTEOUS MAN.”

That’s man’s unsound declaration revealing how far he is from Holy God! What does God say? “…ALL (ARE) LIKE AN UNCLEAN THING, AND ALL (THEIR) RIGHTEOUSNESSES ARE LIKE FILTHY RAGS…” [Isaiah 64:6].

Do you remember how that happened? Genesis 2:16-17 says, “And the Lord God commanded the man saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat…but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.”

The trees of the garden of which we may freely eat? “The tree of life!!” That is Living By The Life of Another [Jesus Christ], that is Living In And Through God’s Life, That is Partaking of the Fruit of Resurrection Life, Resurrection Power, and Resurrection Hope!

But the “Good Old Boys” Network ‘measures themselves by themselves,’ and partakes of the fruit of “good and evil.”

Here’s the “shocker,” my friends: Holy God took your best and your worst, BOTH, and judged them worthy only of the Cross! In Christ Jesus God crucified your best AND your worst! “I am crucified with Christ!”

Two thousand years ago Holy God hung you on the Cross with Christ: your goodness was judged worthy of death – your evilness was judged worthy of death! And you ‘think’ you have something to offer to God? So, when you stand before the Court of God, how will you plead? Who is your advocate? What will be your defense?

“I’m a religious man”? “I’ve lived by the Golden Rule”? or “I’ve determined, God, whether You like it or not, I’m a righteous man”?

But there is another option, another life choice, another Way…it’s called the Way of love, grace, and mercy, in and through the sacrifice of Christ in YOUR behalf! And consider this: If you were the only person who ever lived, what Jesus did for the whole lost and dying world, He would have done what He did just for YOU!!**

“My faith has found a resting place – not in device or creed! I trust the ever LIVING ONE – HIS WOUNDS FOR ME SHALL PLEAD… I need no other argument, I need no other plea; It is enough that Jesus died, and that HE DIED FOR ME.”

Your life, its foundation, is built on either selfish gratification or on Sovereign Grace. “And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior’s blood? Died He for me, who caused His pain? For me, who Him to death pursued? AMAZING LOVE! HOW CAN IT BE, THAT THOU, MY GOD, SHOULD DIE FOR ME?”

You’re familiar with I Corinthians 11 where Paul talked about the Lord’s Supper. In verse 28 he said, “But let a man EXAMINE HIMSELF, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”

This IS examination time, encounter time, entreaty time. It’s “TERROR OF THE LORD” TIME or “TRIUMPHANT MERCY, LOVE, AND GRACE TIME.” This is “pump my flesh time” or “falling on the Rock of Jesus time” This is “self-measurement time” or “Sovereign mercy time.” This is “grit time” or “marvelous grace time” from our loving Lord.

This is the “mountain top of self-approval time” or the “fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins time”. This is “boastfulness and willfulness of self time” or the “bread and wine time” of God’s redemptive plan. This is the self-written “book of accomplishment time” or the “Blessed Assurance Jesus is mine time”!

Are you familiar with the old hymn entitled “At Calvary”? “Years I spent in vanity and pride, Caring not my Lord was crucified, Knowing not it was for me He died, AT CALVARY…Mercy there was great and grace was free, Pardon there was multiplied to me…There my burdened soul found liberty AT CALVARY.” Have you been there?

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“WHEN GOD SPEAKS?”

It happened many years ago when I was pastoring a church in a southern city in the U.S.A. I was sitting in my church office intent in preparation both in the Word and in prayer for the coming Sunday services. All of a sudden, I sensed a strong and powerful “Voice.” “Your friend, [I’ll leave him unnamed] is involved in an adulterous affair. Go tell him to repent or I’ll strike him dead.” I was stunned! (“What was that? Who was that? It wouldn’t be God. My friend is happily married. My friend is in church every Sunday. My friend is so hospitable to me and my wife. My friend is a successful businessman.”) That sure was strange – and I shut it down.

Three months later it broke wide open. It was true. A relationship had been going on for three years with a ‘lady’ (?) in the church unknown to no one, we thought, but later we learned from a few of our church youth they had known and had been following the couple to their ‘hidden’ rendezvous. The man’s marriage was rescued. The woman walked away from her husband and children.

Was it God speaking and I couldn’t hear? I believe it was without a doubt! Jack Deere, in his book “Surprised By The Voice of God,” [p.20], wrote: “The God of the Bible reveals much more to us than the sins of others. He speaks about many things. Sometimes we fail to hear Him because He says more than we want to hear. Sometimes we fail to hear Him because we are ignorant of the varied ways in which He chooses to speak to us. And sometimes we fail to hear Him because His voice is drowned out by competing voices that masquerade as God’s voice, throwing us into confusion.

Listen to the Word of God!! His voice is on every page: In Jeremiah 7:23-24,26, we read: “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you that it may be well with you.’ Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. Verse 26, Yet they did not obey Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.” It didn’t get any better at this time for God’s people!

Jeremiah 11:10 says, “They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers who REFUSED TO HEAR MY WORDS, and they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers.”

So God asked a question! Jeremiah 23:18, “For who has stood in the counsel of the Lord, and has perceived and heard His word? Who has marked His word and heard it?” And here comes a challenging, convicting, mind-clearing, and will-engineering word that should shake you to the core!! Jeremiah 25:4 says: “And the Lord has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear.”

Did it say, “rising early and sending them”? Was that early a.m., early morning, early in their pilgrimage, or was it that God, early on, “read their mail,” “watched their reluctance early in their journey to submit themselves to Him,” or God foreseeing, after their choices of deafness to His voice, the perception of their falling away?

In Matthew 10 Jesus had just sent out His twelve disciples, and in verse 27 He said: “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.” He had just said in verse 26, “…and there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and HIDDEN THAT WILL NOT BE KNOWN.” [HOW’S YOUR FEAR OF GOD DOING?].

Paul was giving his defense in Acts 22 after the commander was about to arrest him – and he told of Ananias coming to him, sent by the Lord. In verse 14, Ananias said to him, “The God of our fathers has chosen you that YOU SHOULD KNOW HIS WILL, AND SEE THE JUST ONE, AND HEAR THE VOICE OF HIS MOUTH.”

If you’ve ever been under my preaching ministry at all, I know you’ve heard me preaching over and over again: “God is no respecter of persons. What He’s done for Moses, Paul, David, John, He’ll do for you.” And that includes conversational language concerning His good, acceptable, and perfect will for your life!

And God is still speaking as He did to Abraham, Isaiah, Jeremiah, or James because His love for us is as great as it was for them. Our Lord is still speaking because of the intensity and overflow of His heart, purposes, plans, and missions because they are as great or greater now than they were then.

He’s still speaking because HE WANTS US TO HEAR HIS VOICE in order to know Him more perfectly, maturely, and intimately.

He’s still speaking because, like a little child with a loving father, He wants to build our confidence and assurance as to our Holy Family Heritage.

He’s still speaking because like a small ship in a big ocean we need the ‘Heavenly Stars of His Priceless Words” to give direction to our lives!

I picked up Larry Lea’s book “The Hearing Ear” a few years ago. I finally started to read it recently! I was overjoyed by what I read. In the “Preface,” Lea said: “Most of us can point to some specific time and say, ‘That was the turning-point in my life.’…I certainly can… (Lea said:), When I think of my turning point, I remember that day back in 1968 when, for the first time in my life, I heard the voice of God… I was 17 years old and I had lost my mind. Locked inside the psychiatric ward of Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler, Texas, I spent most of the time lying on my bed in a drugged stupor with my eyes rolled back in my head. I thought that the lady who cleaned my room was my mother and that the patient across the hall was the doctor…

But one day the horrible mental fog around my brain cleared just long enough for a shining ray of hope to penetrate my senses. Falling to my knees, I prayed the only prayer I knew how to pray. Pleading, weeping, I cried out to God, over and over I sobbed out His name: ‘Jesus! Jesus! Oh, merciful Jesus!…

Suddenly, I heard a voice speak in my spirit: ‘Now, you are My son. You will take My message to this generation. You will be My mouth and My minister.’ Then the voice told me I could get up and go home…In less than a week, I walked out of that hospital, and I’ve sought to walk by that same still, small voice ever since.” [THANK YOU, LARRY LEA!!].

Over and over again in the Word, it says: “He who has ears, let him hear!!” NOW, LISTEN TO JESUS!! In John 8:42-47 Jesus said: “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God, HEARS GOD’S WORDS; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

Isn’t it amazing that what some call “dumb sheep” Jesus talks about them “hearing His voice”! In John 10:3-5 Jesus said, “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

Oh, and then Jesus said in verse 16: “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.”

I tell you, Jesus HAS SPOKEN TO YOU whether you’ve heard and responded to His voice or not! He SPEAKS – you should listen! Then, in John 10:27-18 Jesus continued: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”

So…what is this really all about “When God Speaks?”

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS THE VOICE OF FRIENDSHIP AFFIRMATION! In Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron had just spoken against Moses, and God showed up!! Numbers 12:6-8 says, Then God said, HEAR NOW MY WORDS: ‘If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision, and I speak to him in a dream… Not so, with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house -…I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings, and he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?’”

We see in Exodus 33:11, “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” There’s an old hymn entitled “Day By Day.” It says: “Day by day, and with each passing moment, Strength I find, to meet my trials here; Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment, I’ve no cause for weary or for fear. He Whose heart is kind beyond all measure Gives unto each day what He deems best – Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure, Mingling toil with peace and rest…Every day, the Lord Himself is near me, With a special mercy for each hour; All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me, He Whose Name is Counselor and Power; The protection of His child and treasure Is a charge that on Himself He laid; “As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,” This is the pledge to me He made.”

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS THE VOICE OF INSTRUCTION:

I want you to come to Deuteronomy 4:10-12, 33, 35-36, and verse 39: The Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children. Then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; you only heard a voice…Verse 33, “Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?…Verses 35-36 “To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord Himself is God; there is none other besides Him. Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire.” …Verse 399, “Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.”

What is His Holy Word telling us as He speaks to our hearts? 1) “That they may learn to fear Me –“ In Matthew 10:28 Jesus confirms the legitimacy of one “fearing God” when He said: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather FEAR HIM who is able to destroy both soul and body in HELL.”

Have you seen the truth of the everlasting gospel in Revelation 14:6-7? Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth – to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people – saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has comer; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”

2) “That they may teach their children –“ Do you have a passion that your own children grow up with an intensity of godly identification? “Our parents birthed us, but we’ve chosen to truly be children of faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” WOW! How good is that?!? And, thank God, for parents who do not ignore the spiritual training of their children!

3) “That they may know the Lord Himself is God; there is none other.” I pray that you remind, teach, instill within your children and family Exodus 20:3-6!! “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image – any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Now…

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS THE VOICE OF WITNESS AND WARNING:

In Psalm 81:9-16 we are “admonished”: “There shall be no foreign god among you; nor shall you worship any foreign god. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. But My people would not heed My voice, and Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, to walk in their own counsels. Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn My hand against their adversaries. The haters of the Lord would pretend submission to Him, but their fate would endure forever. He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat; and with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you.”

The prophet Ezekial received a word from God in Ezekial 3:17, “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning for Me.”

It’s why the psalmist in Psalm 95:7-8 recorded God’s heart-cry: “Today if you will hear His voice:…Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion; and as in the day of trial in the wilderness…” I ask YOU: Was the day of trial in the wilderness of God?

In Isaiah 30:9 God said to the prophet, “this is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear THE LAW OF THE LORD.”

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS THE VOICE OF DIRECTION FOR YOUR LIFE, YOUR WITNESS, YOUR PERSONAL MINISTRY, YOUR OWN SPIRITUAL HEALTH:

In Isaiah 30:21 we read, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’ Whenever you turn to the right or whenever you turn to the left.” His voice of direction? I Corinthians 16:9 speaks of “…a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries…” Why the adversaries? Why the opposition? Because there are those who have no desire to be led by God!

In Revelation 3:7-8 we read, “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things say HE who is holy, HE who is true, HE who has the keys of David, HE who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens…I know your works. See, I have set before you an OPEN DOOR, AND NO MAN CAN SHUT IT.” Oh, and then there is Colossians 3:14-17!! “But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God through Him.”

To Noah, God said: “Make yourself an ark,” even if he didn’t know what an ark was! To Abraham, God said, “Get out of your country, from your kindred, and from your father’s house to a land I will show you…I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing…in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

To Moses, God said, “Come now and I will send you to Pharoah that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” To Paul, God said, “Rise and stand on your feet: for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things I will yet reveal to you.”

A poem written by Ella Wheeler Wilcox says this: “One ship drives east and another drives west with the selfsame winds that blow. ‘Tis the set of the sails And not the gales which tells us the way to go.”

What’s the “set of the sails” for your life? Has God Almighty “set your sails”? Or is it self-will, self-rule, self-pleasure, self-direction, or the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God? In Genesis 24:27 we read, “I being in THE WAY, the Lord led me…”

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS WITH THE VOICE OF JUDGMENT UPON THE NATIONS:

In Isaiah 34:1-6, 8, we read astounding words about the voice of God’s judgment – and not one nation is spared!! “Come near, you nations, to hear; and heed, you people! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world and all things that come forth from it. For the indignation of the Lord is against the nations, and His fury against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to the slaughter. Also their slain shall be thrown out; their stench shall rise from their corpses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; all their host shall fall down as the leaf falls from the vine, and as fruit falling from a fig tree. For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; indeed it shall come down on Edom, and on the people of My curse, for judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made overflowing with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. Verse8, For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion.”

It was Thomas Carlyle who once wrote: “Foolish men imagine that because judgment for an evil thing is delayed, there is no justice, but only accident here below. Judgment for an evil thing is many times delayed some day or two, some century or two, but it is as sure as life, it is as sure as death!” [Get ready, America! God has set you in His sights!}

In Isaiah 42:13 we read: “The Lord shall go forth like a might man; He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war. He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud; He shall prevail against His enemies.” Are you ready for the march of the mighty man, God, as He comes and clearly calls your name to stand before Him and give an account? Why? Isaiah 65:12 says: “Therefore I will number you for the sword, and you shall all bow down to the slaughter; because, when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not hear, but did evil before My eyes, and chose that in which I do not delight.”

Have you heard some say: “Old Testament! Old Testament! We’re of the New Testament crowd!” Really? In Revelation 6:12-17 we read: “I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and ion the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from THE WRATH OF THE LAMB! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

But men of saving grace and faith and mercy who truly have heard His voice and responded in true repentance and faith? Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:17-18, “But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!”

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS WITH THE VOICE OF NEW OPPORTUNITIES:

In Isaiah 42:5-9 we read: Thus says God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it: “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. I am the Lord, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

Aren’t you awed as you come to the Book of Acts and read about Philip? Acts 8:26-35 says: Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert. So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Etiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in the Scripture which he read was this: [Out of Isaiah 53], “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He opened not His mouth. In His humiliation His justice was taken away, and who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.” So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” Then Philip opened his mouth and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.”

[And aren’t you amazed as you read Acts 9:1-20 and see the blessed conversion of Saul of Tarsus who became Paul the Apostle? Please read it!!].

Isaiah 43:18-21 tells US of OUR NEW OPPORTUNITIES!! “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The beast of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen. This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise.”

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS WITH THE VOICE OF HOPE: Ezekial 36 and Ezekial 37 are both clear passages of understanding about the heart of God and His voice of hope, yes, in you and in me!

In Ezekial 36:24-30 we read, God speaking: “For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. I will deliver you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations.”

And I pray you will pause, right now, and turn in your own Bible to Ezekial 37, reading the first ten verses! You’ll be awed by what you read. It’s God’s promise of new life, new breath, new blessings!

Dead-bone nations have a sunlight of hope! Dead-bone people like you and me have a revelation- ray of holy sunshine and hope shining on us! Dead-bone churches can be raised up to resurrection life and light by Jesus only! Dead-bone marriages can, and, yes, will be renewed by the miracle of grace and mercy! And, dead-bone visions and dreams will hear His voice of hope!

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS WITH THE VOICE OF SALVATION AND DELIVERANCE FROM THE BONDS OF SPIRITUAL DEATH:

In John 5:25 we read, “Most assuredly, I SAY TO YOU, the hour is coming, AND NOW IS, when the dead WILL HEAR THE VOICE OF THE SON OF GOD; AND THOSE WHO HEAR WILL LIVE.”

Jesus now, yes, NOW, stands before the tombs of multitudinous lives “dead in trespasses and sins,” and says, “Lazarus, COME FORTH!” “FARRELL, COME FORTH!” “ANGIE, COME FORTH!” “CALEB, COME FORTH!” And His Word says: “and he who had died came forth…!” Amen?

William T. Sleeper and George C. Stebbins wrote the old hymn: “Jesus, I Come.” It says: “Out of my bondage, sorrow and night, Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come; Into Your freedom, gladness and light, Jesus, I come to You; Out of my sickness into Your health, Out of my want and into Your wealth, Out of my sin and into Yourself, Jesus, I come to You!” Amen?

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS WITH THE VOICE OF DIVINE CONVICTION:

Jesus said in John 15:22, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.” Divine Conviction? Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary says of conviction: “The act of convincing, or compelling one to admit the truth of a charge; the act of convincing of sin or sinfulness; the state of being convinced or convicted by conscience; the state of being sensible of guilt; as, the ‘convictions’ of a sinner may be temporary or lasting and efficacious. By ‘conviction’ a sinner is brought to repentance. Men often sin against the ‘conviction’ of their own consciences.”

• There is THE DIVINE CONVICTION OF HOLY PRESENCE: Luke 5:8 says, “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ feet or knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
• There is THE CONVICTION OF HOLY LAW: Romans 7:8-9 tells us, “But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.”
• There is THE CONVICTION OF THE HOLY GHOST: John 14:8-9 says, “And when He [the Holy Ghost6] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment…of sin because they do not believe in Me…”
• There is THE CONVICTION OF THE HOLY WORD: Psalm 119:133 says, “Direct my steps by Your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me.” Psalm 119:11 says, “Your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against You.” Oswald Chambers, in “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.254], has written: “Conviction of sin is one of the rarest things that ever strikes a man. It is the threshold of an understanding of God. Jesus Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict of sin, and when the Holy Spirit rouses a man’s conscience and brings him into the presence of God, it is not his relationship with men that bothers him, but his relationship with God – “against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight.” The marvels of conviction of sin, forgiveness, and holiness are so interwoven that it is only the forgiven man who is the holy man, he proves he is forgiven by being the opposite to what he was, by God’s grace. Repentance always brings a man to the point: I HAVE SINNED. The surest sign that God is at work is when a man says it and means it. Anything less than this is remorse for having made blunders, the reflex action of disgust at himself.” [Where is God in that? ‘disgust at self’, but no shame before God?]

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS WITH THE VOICE OF AWESOME, MYSTERIOUS REVELATION:

In 2 Corinthians 12:1-5 we read of these mysterious revelations. It says: “It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago – whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows – such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows – how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast except in my infirmities.”

Isn’t it amazing to you? Here’s Paul. He knows of others who’ve been blessed, encouraged, and uplifted by these awesome events of ‘hearing God’! Then Paul hears Him! And he wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. ‘Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” When our Lord speaks to you, you be strong in Him!

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS WITH THE VOICE OF UNVEILING OF THE GLORY OF CHRIST:

Oh, get ready! This is so good! Revelation 1:9-20 is a word from John for every believer! It says: “I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, “I am Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodecia.” Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with Me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.”

This is so similar to what Peter, James, and John experienced as Jesus took them up on a high mountain, Matthew 17:1-6, “Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.” Have you entered the “glory-cloud” of holy presence lately?

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS WITH THE VOICE OF VICTORIOUS CONQUEST:

In I John 5:4-5 John tells us: “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world – our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

There is such an encouraging, inspirational word for us in John 4:42 which says: Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.” Spurgeon wrote: [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Memorial library, Vol.13,p.225], “Appointed, anointed, commissioned of the Father to speak to us, to confer with us, to make known among us the mind and will of our great and gracious Sovereign,…[Jesus spoke} and we should heed and hearken to His words.” Have YOU heard the voice of God speaking to you?

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“THE NEARNESS OF OUR LORD?”

As we begin this chapter study together, I want to lay the foundation with three different passages of God’s Word: First, Psalm 139:1-6, 16-17, 23-24, “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it. Verses 16-17, Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. Verses 23-24, Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Philippians 4:4-6 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”

Jeremiah 23:23-29, “Am I a God near at hand,” says the Lord, “And not a God afar off?” Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?” says the Lord; “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord. “I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, ‘I have dreamed! I have dreamed!’ How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal. The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?” says the Lord. Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”

How is it with you as you face yourself, your walk, your pilgrimage, your journey as a follower of Christ when you come to such a word as Psalm 139 and Paul’s letter to the Philippians? Or what about Jeremiah’s deep awareness of God’s eyes on him?

Do you read it with the same insight David wrote with, or Paul, or Jeremiah? “MY LORD IS NEAR TO ME!!” When Paul wrote Philippians he was “chained,” yes, “imprisoned,” bound, not knowing if he would live or die! In Philippians 1:13 he said, “it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that MY CHAINS ARE IN CHRIST.” *QUESTION!!*

Are the “chains of YOUR circumstances ‘IN CHRIST’?” Is what happens to you seen as an opportunity “FOR THE FURTHERANCE OF THE GOSPEL”? Do you see every situation, event, happening, as another giant step of you “being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of others’ faith?

Paul faced tremendous problems, and yet he saw them as OPPORTUNITIES because “in nothing was he going to be ashamed, [but that] now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.”

And when in Philippians 4:5 Paul said, “The Lord is at hand,” he wasn’t talking about the Lord’s bodily return, or His second coming, but about HIS ABIDING PRESENCE! He eagerly waited for the Savior’s “coming again,” but here he’s gloriously overwhelmed by the deep awareness that Paul’s life was enveloped, en-sphered, encircled, en-grasped, enraptured with the precious presence of the Prince of Peace.

Do you live OVERSHADOWED BY THAT DIVINE CLOUD OF GLORIOUS PRESENCE? Spurgeon said he could not recall ever spending even a short 15 minutes without the profound thought of the presence of Christ!! “The Lord is at hand!!”

How did David put it? Psalm 139:7-12 and verse 5 says, “The Lord is at hand!” F.B. Meyer, in his Devotional Commentary on Philippians, [p.209], wrote: “We all know times like that. We have been walking in the midst of some beautiful landscape, the river rushing past, flowers dipping their cups silently into its brink, the gentle air moving through the quivering leaves above, the insect life humming its varied music, and all nature suffused with the smile of the sun. Then, all of a sudden, there has been borne in on us the consciousness of a spiritual presence; we have FELT A BREATH ON OUR FACES, A THRILL IN OUR HEARTS, [“THE LORD IS NEAR”]…In church, when saying your prayers mechanically, falling in with the murmur of repetition as you’ve done a 1000 times, standing listfully listening to the people singing, or joining them without much heart; sitting apparently intent on the words of the minister while your thoughts have been far away on business or pleasure. SUDDENLY there has been as if it were the music of GOLDEN BELLS, and YOU HAVE REALIZED THAT THE OLD PROMISE WAS BEING FULFILLED: “THERE AM I IN THE MIDST.” Without opening the door, without the sound of a footfall the Lord Jesus has glided into the shut apartment of your nature, and you have said, ‘The Lord is NEAR.’”

One of the awesome truths of life that needs to be awakened in your heart and mind is the reality of God’s desire for you TO KNOW HIS NEARNESS, for you to know His love for you, how ‘precious’ His thoughts are TO YOU, and how the Living God, the Resurrected Savior, and the reigning Holy Spirit is as much with you and for you as if there was no one else on the face of the earth – just you and Him! Let’s look at this “nearness”:

THERE’S THE NEARNESS OF OUR LORD EVEN IN OUR FALLEN STATE AND NATURE:

What does Romans 3:23 say? “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Oh, and then Isaiah 59:2 reminds us, “your iniquities have separated you from God.”

When Adam and Eve rebelled against God’s Word and bought into Satan’s “LIE” that you can sin and not die, they died spiritually and all of a sudden realized their spiritual nakedness and the separation of their souls from God.

Even then as now they began to think, “God is far away,” or “there is no God,” or “if there is a God, He doesn’t care about me,” or “If there is a God, and He knows my condition, He’ll not want anything to do with me.”

And the problem is because our own hearts, in our fallen state, are so far from God, WE CONCEIVE THE FALSE IDEA THAT GOD’S HEART IS FAR FROM US! But look at Genesis 3!!, and especially verses 4-9! What did they do?…”hid themselves from the presence of the Lord.”

Do you know about hiding? Men hide themselves in their depraved thoughts. They hide themselves in their religious deceptions. They hide themselves in their busyness. They hide themselves in their alcohol, drugs, or sexual addictions. They hide themselves in their self-made, personally designed, fleshly goals, aims, and ambitions building towers to make a name for themselves. They hide themselves even in the pews of “Cultural Christianity”!

Then…all of a sudden, “Adam, where are you?” In his hiding place – and it’s God seeking Adam! It’s not man who seeks after God. What does Romans 3:10-12 tell us? As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.

We didn’t seek God – GOD SOUGHT US! It’s not our voice, “God, where are You?” It’s God’s voice – “Adam, where are you?” [And you do know, don’t you, that God knew exactly where Adam was: geographically or positionally”]

God’s “The Seeker.” God’s “The Hound of Heaven.” It’s not “search and destroy,” but “seek and save”! What does “Immanuel” mean? God With Us. God In The Flesh. John 1:11-12 tells us: “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”

Listen to Spurgeon, [Memorial Library, Spurgeon’s Sermons, Vol.18, p.270], “Friends, I remember well when I was in the death-cart, and Jesus came to me with PARDON. Death and hell were before me; I rejoiced exceedingly when I SAW THE NAILPRINTS IN HIS HANDS AND FEET, and the WOUND IN HIS SIDE. When He said, “Your sins, which are many, are all forgiven,” I thought I never saw such loveliness before, and never heard such music in all my days.”

What did David say in Psalm 40? “HE BROUGHT ME UP OUT OF A HORRIBLE PIT, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps…He has put a new song in my mouth…PRAISE TO OUR GOD!”

What does that great old Hymn say? “Years I spent in vanity and pride, Caring not my Lord was crucified, Knowing not it was for me He died on Calvary…[But] by God’s Word at last my sin I learned – Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned, Till my guilty soul imploring turned to Calvary…O the love that drew salvation’s plan! O the grace that brought it down to man! O the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary!”

Forever man should know of God’s nearness because of that mighty span of the Cross of Jesus! But also..

THERE’S THE NEARNESS OF OUR LORD WHEN WE FIND OURSELVES IN NEED OF PERSONAL REVIVAL:

In Psalm 85:6 the question of this hour, today, right now, comes forth: “WILL YOU NOT REVIVE US AGAIN, THAT YOUR PEOPLE MAY REJOICE IN YOU?” What did Paul say in Philippians 4:4-5? “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, REJOICE!…Let your [steadfastness] be known to all men. THE LORD IS AT HAND.”

When you come to Psalm 119:67 you’ll hear King David say: “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word.” In verse 149 he said, “Hear my voice, according to Your lovingkindness; O Lord, REVIVE ME according to Your justice…” and then said in verse 151, “You are NEAR, O Lord…” Personal Revival Needed? REVIVAL BECAUSE ONE LOSES THE JOY OF SALVATION, REVIVAL NEEDED BECAUSE ONE HAS WILLFULLY GONE ASTRAY (Psalm 119:176), “I have gone astray like a lost sheep…”, and, yes, corporate revival because the church as a whole has lost the desire to pray, (Psalm 80:18), “revive us, and we will call upon Your name,” revival because one has lost that glorious inner countenance – days without number He has been forgotten – 3 times in Psalm 80 David cried out, “Restore us, O God; cause Your face to shine upon us, and we shall be saved;” and revival because one can find himself/herself in bondage – Ezra 9:8 says, “And now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our Gods, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage.”

Vance Havner, now deceased Southern Baptist prophet, wrote a little book entitled “Repent Or Else.” [pps. 14-16]. He wrote: “Revival is a work of the Spirit among God’s own people whereby they get right with God and with each other…Revivals should not be necessary…but so long as we have such a malarial brand of Christianity, a fever and a chill, a fever and a chill, we shall need revivals…The church needs time out to tune up. We are so busy building a bigger orchestra, that we cannot stop to tune our instruments…We never need to go to the mourner’s bench more than when we feel least like it. [Then quotes Finney]: ‘Revival is nothing less than a new beginning of obedience to God, a breaking of heart and getting down in the dust before Him with deep humility and obedience to God, a breaking of heart and getting down in the dust before Him with deep humility and forsaking of sin.”

And what did David say? “You are near, O Lord…” IN THE MIDDLE OF MY MESS, Our Lord is at hand. In the middle of our darkness, our Lord shines His Light. In the middle of our rebellious wanderings, our Lord finds us! “A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing; Our Helper He amid the floods of mortal ills prevailing.”

THERE’S THE NEARNESS OF OUR LORD WHEN WE FIND OURSELVES IN NEED OF CONFIDENCE AND ASSURANCE:

Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m not sure I can make it. I’m not sure I can hold on. I’m not sure I can enter in. I’m not sure I can overcome. I’m not sure I can make it to the ‘finish’ line. I’m not sure.” But Psalm 121:1-2 says: “I will lift up my eyes to the hills – from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

Are you aware of the ‘infancy’ of Israel’s faith in God as they began to follow Him out of Egypt, into the wilderness, and on in to the promised land? There were times they said, “We wish we were back in Egypt!”

The pilgrim journey was new to them – “we’ve never passed this way before!” Spurgeon said: “…their newly found liberty was darkened by a terrible fear of RECAPTURE!” But listen to Exodus 13:20-22, “So they took their journey from Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.”

What does Exodus 14:19 tell us? And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them.”

In Hebrews 13:5 God Himself said: “I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU.” Have you forgotten or overlooked God’s word to Joshua? Joshua 1:5 says, “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.”

Is that any different at all from Matthew 28:20 when Jesus said: “Lo, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, EVEN TO THE END OF THE AGE.”

You may never see visibly a natural cloud that bursts into a flame, but because of God’s promises YOU CAN STAND ASSURED, “God Is With ME and His Power, Protection, Provision, Presence ABOUNDS TOWARD ME to see me through.”

Exodus 14:19 again? “And the Angel of God who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and STOOD BEHIND THEM!!” STOOD BEHIND THEM – STANDS BEHIND ME – STANDS BEHIND YOU!!

It’s settled from God’s point of view! It’s permanent from God’s side! It’s forever, a done deal! The Glorious Angel of God is permanently fixed, shrouded in the clouds of heavenly glory, with sword drawn in His hand. Isaiah 52:12 tells us: “For the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”

[Please read Romans 8:31-32, 29-30, 37-39].

THERE’S THE NEARNESS OF OUR LORD WHEN WE FIND OURSELVES IMMERSED IN THE DEEP WATERS OF WORRY, DOUBT, OR FEAR:

Look with me at Philippians 4:6-7, 13, and 1:28! “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus….Verse 13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 1:28, And not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God.”

Have you heard them? “I have God’s blessing as long as I am real positive. I have God’s blessing as long as I am really ‘spiritual’. I have God’s blessing as long as I am real up-beat, as long as I give the appearance of being strong. I have God’s blessing as long as I am a ‘super-saint’. I have God’s blessing as long as I am an extra-ordinary disciple. I have God’s blessing as long as my thoughts and affections are set on things above. I have God’s blessing as long as I’m walking in perfection.” NO!! A 1000 times, NO!

In Proverbs 3:5-6 we read, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

Have you seen “The New 23^rd”? “Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need. He lets me rest in meadows green and leads me beside the quiet stream;…He keeps on giving life to me And helps me to do what honors Him the most, Even when walking through the valley of death, of death, I will never be afraid, For He is close beside me…Guarding, guiding all the way; He spreads a feast before me In the presence of my enemies [worry, doubt, fear!!]… He welcomes me as His special guest, With blessing overflowing, His goodness and unfailing kindness Shall be with me all of my life and afterward I will live with Him forever, in His Home.”

ALSO, IS THE NEARNESS OF OUR LORD WHEN WE FIND OURSELVES ISOLATED BY THE JUDGMENTS OF MEN:

Please come to Genesis 16:1-9, 13-14, Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes. Then Sarai said to Abram, “My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The Lord judge between you and me.” So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence. Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.” Verses 13-14, Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You-Are-The-God-Who-Sees;” for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?” Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; [Well of the One Who Lives and Sees Me!]…”

Do you know about ill-treatment, misjudgment, harsh and cruel renderings against you – the besmirching of your name, honor, character? What about the purloining of your good and godly reputation? Even Jesus was not exempt from this attitude or action!

Luke 6:7 says, “The scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely…THAT THEY MIGHT FIND AN ACCUSATION AGAINST HIM.” Jesus’ own family was saying, “He’s lost His senses!”

I want you to come with me to I Peter 3:13-17 because “the Lord is at hand” – He is so near to you as you are maligned, ridiculed, even lied about!! “And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”

Did Jezebel misjudge, threaten, and isolate Elijah? I Kings 19 says Elijah “arose and ran for his life…” He ran to the wilderness, ended up in a cave. Oh, but then, LISTEN!! I Kings 19:9, “…Behold, THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO ELIJAH…Verse 11, Then God said to him, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And BEHOLD THE LORD PASSED BY!

Do you remember Jeremiah’s pilgrimage? The weeping prophet was being walloped! Look at Jeremiah 32:1-3, 31:3, 11-14, and Jeremiah 33:1-3!

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. For then the king of Babylon’s army besieged Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah’s house. For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord; “Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it..” Jeremiah 31:3, 11-14, The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you…Verses 11-14, For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of one stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, streaming to the goodness of the Lord – for wheat and new wine and oil, for the young of the flock and the herd; their souls shall be a well-watered garden, and they shall sorrow no more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old, together; for I will turn their mourning to joy, will comfort them, and make them rejoice rather than sorrow. I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance, and My people satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord.”

Jeremiah 33:1-3, Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the prison, saying, “Thus says the Lord who made it, the Lord who formed it to establish it (the Lord id His name): Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

You’ll remember John on the island of Patmos in Revelation 1 imprisoned for the faith! YOU are going to be wronged, but “Look up! YOUR REDEMPTION DRAWS NEAR!” You will be misjudged! Get in the Spirit and hear God’s trumpet blow His rallying cry for your defense!

THERE IS THE NEARNESS OF OUR LORD WHEN WE FIND OURSELVES IN THE INTENSE BATTLES OF THE FAITH:

In 2 Chronicles 20 the people of Moab with others came to battle Jehoshaphat. He was afraid and began to seek the Lord, and Judah gathered together to seek Him. They knew they didn’t have the power to stand against their enemies so they set themselves together to seek God’s help. They “stood before the Lord” and cried out for His help. In verse 15 the Spirit of the Lord had come upon Jahaziel and he heard God speak: Thus says the Lord to you, “Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.”

Thank God for Isaiah 54:17 which tells us: “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment, you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,” says the Lord.

I love Deuteronomy 28:7 which tells us, “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before your face: they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.” SCATTERED AND SHATTERED BY GOD HIMSELF!

Do you remember the three young Israelites in the fiery furnace because they would not bow before Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image? Daniel 3:24-25, we see and hear the king saying, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?…Look!! I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire: they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God!!” WOW! In Daniel 6:22 Daniel had been cast into the lions’ den because of the battle of praying to God! “My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouth, so that they have not hurt me…” GLORY!

Paul was in that “good fight of faith”! He told Timothy (2 Timothy 4:16-18), “At my fist defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

When Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered Judah, Hezekiah gathered his people and gave them encouragement. 2 Chronicles 32:8 says, “With him is an arm of flesh: BUT WITH US IS THE LORD OUR GOD, TO HELP US AND TO FIGHT OUR BATTLES.” And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah.”

And what did John say in I John 4:4? “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because HE WHO IS IN YOU IS GREATER THAT HE WHO IS IN THE WORLD.”

THERE’S THE NEARNESS OF OUR LORD WHEN WE FIND OURSELVES SURROUNDED BY THE LITTLE FOXES THAT SPOIL THE VINEYARD:

Have you ever seen the “FOX” of envy or strife? Philippians 1:15-16 says, “Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from good will. The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add afflictions to my chains.”

Have you ever seen the “FOX” of disinterest in the progress and joy of faith for others? Philippians 1:24-26 says, “Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith.” Paul never displayed disinterest in others’ spiritual progress – it was his heart and mind every day, every way, everywhere! But too many Christians exhibit disinterest in where other young believers are – there is no concern by them for your spiritual maturity.

Have you ever witnessed that “FOX” of disunity? Philippians 2:1-4 says, “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”

What about that “FOX” of unbelief, false doctrine, false worship? In Philippians 3:1-3, 18-19, we read: “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Verses 18-19, For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ; whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is their shame – who set their minds on earthly things.”

Have you ever been shocked by the “FOX” of pettiness between women? Look at Philippians 4:1-3, “Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved. I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. And I also urge you, true companions, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.” Consider “wild cat female kittens” at one another’s throat – watch out!

Have you ever been around that “FOX” of selfishness? That’s not the Philippians because we read in chapter four, verses 15-17, of THEIR unselfish support of Paul, but I remember a church financial secretary telling me on an occasion that she did not comprehend that the most vocal opposers, disrupters, antagonists in a church business meeting were always the ones who supported the church financially the least of all!

How does one raise up stones to break bones when the Lord is at hand? How does one center so much on themselves in selfish fashion when the Selfless Savior is at hand? How does one center so much on themselves allowing pettiness to permeate them when the Prince of Peace is present? How does “my way” or the highway rule some hearts when the Marvelous Master moves among us? How does unbelief and false doctrine get a foothold in some lives when the God of all Truth rules the day?

Here’s how Paul dealt with it. Listen carefully and prayerfully to his words in Philippians 3:7-16, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.Yet indeed I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upwards call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.”

The last point in this chapter? THERE IS NEARNESS OF OUR LORD IN THE TIME OF OUR DEATH:

You do know! We are going to die! How about YOU reading Psalm 23 right now as a refresher course! The Nearness of our Lord even in our fallen state and nature! He’s drawn near to us! The Nearness of our Lord when we find ourselves in need of personal revival! He’s drawn near to us! The Nearness of our Lord when we find ourselves in need of confidence and assurance! He’s drawn near to us! The Nearness of our Lord when we are immersed in the deep waters of worry, doubt, or fear! He’s drawn near to us! The Nearness of our Lord when we are isolated by the judgments of men! He’s drawn near to us! The Nearness of our Lord when we are in intense battles of the faith! “The Lord stood with me!” The Nearness of our Lord when we find ourselves surrounded by the little foxes that spoil the vineyard! “I am with you, in your midst!” The Nearness of our Lord in the time of death! “You are with me, I’ll fear no evil!”

Is our Lord near us now? Remember Gethsemane? There Jesus knelt to pray, “Father, if it is Your will, remove this cup from ME; NEVERTHELESS not My will, but Yours be done…And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. And His sweat became like great drops of blood flowing to the ground.” WHY? “Because “I AM NEAR YOU AND FOR YOU!”

He was before Pontius Pilate, falsely accused, condemned by a thoughtless, truth-less crowd: “I take your condemnation, judgment, guilt, sins upon MYSELF, because “I AM NEAR YOU AND FOR YOU.”

Watch as He plods the streets, beaten unmercifully in the scourging, bleeding already profusely, carrying that “Old Rugged Cross” because “I AM NEAR YOU AND I AM FOR YOU.”

At this very moment He’s your Advocate, your Heavenly attorney, at the right hand throne of God, having pled your case before that eternal throne of the Most High God, because “I am near you and I am for you.”

When He comes in that heavenly cloud of glory, the second time, not as the suffering servant, but the conquering King of kings and Lord of lords, when that glorious trumpet sounds, you’ll hear Him say, “Because I’m near you and I am for you. Come on – let’s go to our eternal gathering together and to our eternal home!” AMEN?

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“THE GOD OF THE PEOPLE?”

In Isaiah 40:18 there is a powerful question. It says, “To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare Him with?” Our God, Jehovah God, the one and ONLY TRUE AND LIVING GOD IS BEYOND COMPARISON! Would you try to compare Him to the world’s wealthiest man who holds in his little fingers the destinies and fortunes of corporations and crowds of employees?

In Isaiah 1:3 it says, “An ox knows its owner, and a donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know, My people do not understand.” And too many don’t know and don’t understand that He is the OWNER of it all! Haggai 2:8 says, “The silver is MINE, and the gold is MINE,” declares the Lord of hosts.

In Psalm 50:10 we read, “For every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a 1000 hills.” Would you try to compare Him to the world’s wisest men who hold in their little fingers papers or degrees of their intellectual accomplishments?

I Corinthians 1:19-21 says, “For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.’ Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”

There used to be a song we used to sing about that said something about God holding the whole world in His hands – and HE DOES!

In Isaiah 44:6 the Word speaks, “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and His Redeemer, the Lord of hosts; I am the first and the last, and there is no god besides Me…”

Rahab stood on her gift of revelation faith and said to Joshua [Joshua 2:11], “for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.” And she rested her life on “the scarlet thread.” And it hasn’t changed.

2 Chronicles 6:14 declares, “O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no god like You in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart.”

I want to challenge you, if you haven’t been already, right now, with Isaiah 26:4 which says, “Trust in the Lord forever. For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.” And the God we serve is no respecter of persons or peoples: Deuteronomy 7:21 says, Moses speaking: “…the Lord your God is IN YOUR MIDST, a great and awesome God…”

Deuteronomy 10:17 tells us, “For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality, nor take a bribe.” It gets better!

Look with me at Deuteronomy 32:3-4, [but let me insert first Deuteronomy 31:3 where Moses declared that, “It is the Lord your God who will cross before you!” Don’t be afraid! Moses then wrote a song in chapter 31, verse 19, that he tells them about, and we find it in the 32^nd chapter!] – Deuteronomy 32:3-4, “For I proclaim the name of the Lord; ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He.”

And we also are on a journey, and there are new horizons before us all, even battles to be fought and heavenly reserves to draw upon in our most difficult and blessed moments! So, Psalm 70:4 says, “Let God be magnified!”

“THE GOD OF THE PEOPLE?” OUR GOD IS THE GOD OF ETERNAL, CREATIVE POWER: [Let me say to you, right now, that you don’t have to have full or complete understanding of a truth to stand upon it! Remember that!].

In Genesis 21:33 the Holy Word says, “And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the EVERLASTING GOD!”

God didn’t begin – HE IS, ALWAYS HAS BEEN, AND ALWAYS WILL BE! We read in Jeremiah 10:10, “But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.” Then come to verses 12-13, “It is He who made the earth by His power (don’t ever forget it!! Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created [made] the heaven and the earth” –In fact, in Hebrews 11:3 we read, “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”),…who established the world by His wisdom; and by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens…When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth: He makes lightning for the rain, and brings out the wind from His storehouse.”

Psalm 100:3 declares, “KNOW that the Lord Himself is God: It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves…” Now,

Come to Isaiah 40:9-14, and 28-31! “O Zion, You who bring good tidings, Get up to the high mountain; O Jerusalem, You who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, “BEHOLD YOUR GOD!” Behold the Lord shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has taught Him? With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding? Verses 28-31, Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

And the meaning of what we’ve just read? “NEVER FORGET THE GOD OF ETERNAL, CREATIVE POWER!” This is why, in your spiritual journey, that 2 Corinthians 5:17 is so important! “Therefore, if ANY MAN is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; and behold, new things have come.” He said in Revelation 21:5, “And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things NEW!”

Ask the “born again” – New Life! Ask Peter after he failed – New Beginning! Ask parents who know – New children! Ask children who know – New Parents! Ask businessmen who lost it all – New Opportunity! Ask ones who know of fractured, broken marriages – New Grace, Holy Households! Ask nations once ruled by tyrants and dictators – New Nations with God As Their Lord!

The church of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is to be the people who herald the “NEW HOPE”!! David Chilton wrote an exposition of Revelation entitled “Days of Vengence,” [pps. 547-548]. Listen to what he wrote about Revelation 21:5!! He said: “…The only essential difference between the subjects of 2 Corinthians 5 and Revelation 21 is that Paul is speaking of “the redeemed individual,” while John is speaking of “the redeemed community.” Both the individual and the community are recreated, renewed, and restored to Paradise in salvation, and this cosmic restoration has already begun. John sees that what has begun in seemingly (to the eyes of the first century) isolated instances is really the wave of the future. The new creation will fill the earth; the whole creation will be renewed. This is true definitively, it will be absolutely true eschatalogically – and it gives us the pattern for our work in between, for it is also to be worked out progressively. The New Creation must be unfolded, its every implication understood and applied, by the royal priesthood in this age…The great church historian Phillip Schaff understood this: ‘To the Lord and His kingdom belongs the whole world, with all that lives and moves in it. ALL is yours, says the apostle (ICorinthians 3:22). Religion is not a signal, separate sphere of human life, but the divine principle by which the entire man is to be pervaded, refined, and made complete. It takes hold of him in his undivided totality, in the center of his personal being; to carry light into his understanding, holiness into his will, and heaven into his heart; and to shed thus the sacred consecration of the new birth, and the glorious liberty of the children of God over his whole outward and inner life that may not be glorified. The creature, in the widest extent of the word, is earnestly waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God, and sighing after the same glorious deliverance. The whole creation aims toward redemption; and Christ is the second Adam, the new universal Man, not simply in a religious but also in an absolute sense. The view entertained by Romish monasticism and Protestant pietism, by which Christianity is made to consist in an opposition to the natural life, or in ‘flight from the world,’ is quite contrary to the spirit and power of the Gospel, as well as false to its designs. Christianity is the redemption and renovation of the world. It must make all things new.” Can you say AMEN to that?

In Isaiah 42:5-9 we read, Thus says God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it: I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. I am the Lord, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

And then Isaiah 45:18, 22-23 tells us, For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the Lord, and there is no other. Verses 22-23, “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath.” And, remember, as we’ve begun this study, we’ve seen THE GOD OF ETERNAL, CREATIVE POWER – at this given moment we need to bow before Him and declare our allegiance to Almighty God!

OUR GOD? OUR GOD IS THE GOD OF CONSTANT CALLING:

In Genesis 3:9 Satan had come and deceived Adam and Eve, and they rebelled and sinned, then realized their ‘nakedness’ before Holy God. Then they were feverishly ‘fig-leafing’ their lost and sinful condition, had hidden themselves, they thought, and then in verse 9, “Then the Lord God CALLED to the man, and said to him, “Where are you, Adam?”

I tell you, God is not blind. He knew where Adam was and what condition he was in spiritually. God said, “Adam, look where you are at this point in your life. Look at what disobedience has produced. Look at the absence of God from your life. Look at the end result of devilish deception and fleshly indulgence!”

Do you remember Hagar when God spoke to her in that isolated place? She said, (Genesis 16:13), “You are a God who sees.” And because He sees, He calls. In Ezekial 33:11 we read, “Say to them, ‘As I live!” declares the Lord God, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?”

We just saw in Isaiah 45:22, “Look unto Me, and be saved, all the earth: for I am God and there is none else.” Paul told Timothy (I Timothy 2:4) that God “will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Notice, it’s God who takes the initiative! I Thessalonians 5:24 says, “Faithful is He who calls you.” It’s God who sends the prophets! It’s God who produces the beautiful feet of those that preach, witness, and bring glad tidings of good things. It’s God who inspires the songs of deliverance, salvation, and healing grace. It’s God who speaks through the partner or the parent or the child! It’s God who calls to us even in the crisis of circumstances. It’s the GOD-BREATHED WORD OF HOLY SCRIPTURE BY WHICH WE ARE TO LIVE! God does it!

In Deuteronomy 30:19 we read, God speaking, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants.” Don’t let it be said of you, Proverbs 1:24, “I called and you refused…”

And old hymn says it so clearly: “Jesus Calls Us,” written by Cecil F. Alexander. It says:

“Jesus calls us; o’er the tumult of our life’s wild, restless sea, Day by day His sweet voice soundeth, saying, ‘Christian, follow Me.’…Jesus calls us from the worship of the vain world’s golden store. From each idol that would keep us, saying, ‘Christian, love Me more.’…In our joys and in our sorrows, Days of toil and hours of ease, Still He calls us in cares and pleasures, ‘Christian, love ME more than these…Jesus calls us: by Thy mercies, Savior, may we hear Your call. Give our hearts to Your obedience, Serve and love You best of all.”

OUR GOD IS ALSO THE GOD OF CLEAR UNVEILING:

In Genesis 17:1-3 we read: “Now when Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘I AM GOD ALMIGHTY; walk before Me and be blameless…And, I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.’ And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him…”

David said in Psalm 48:10, “As is Your name, O God, so is Your praise to the ends of the earth.” You’ll remember God coming to Isaac in the contentious land of the Philistines and saying to him, (Genesis 26:24), “I am the God of your father Abraham…”

To Jacob, God said, (Genesis 31:13), “I am the God of Bethel…” the God of encounter, anointing, and promise. And you’ll remember that Jacob had his name changed – “Israel of God” – and he was praying for Joseph with whom he had been reunited and in that prayer said, (Genesis 48:15),, “to the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day…”

In Joshua 24:19 Joshua called Him, “…the holy God, the jealous God.” And, yes, He is THE LORD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF MY RIGHTEOUSNESS, GOD MY HELPER, the sustainer of my soul, the God who works wonders, My Father – the rock of my salvation, God of our salvation, God our refuge and strength, The Lord – the God of Heaven, the Lord – your God, God of Israel!

Isaiah 9:6 says He is “the Child born, the Son given, upon whose shoulders the government rests – His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” And how could anyone ever forget Matthew 1:21? “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Then in Matthew 22:32 we read: “I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

JEHOVAH M’KADDESH (Sanctification), ROPHE (Healer), NISSI (Shepherd), SHALOM (Peace), JIREH (Provider), TSIDKENU (Righteousness), ROHI (SHEPHERD), SHAMMAH (Present).

Have you heard it before: (?) “Oh, that I may know Him…” And John 17:3 says, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.”

OUR GOD IS GOD OF CONTINUOUS CARE TO THE GREAT NEEDS OF FALLEN AND REDEEMED MANKIND:

Do you remember what Isaac asked his father on that mountain? “Father, where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Genesis 22:7-8, Abraham responded in faith and confidence: “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” He knew the heart of God and the promise of God – and he was sure!

What does 2 Corinthians 5:19 tell us? “God was ‘in Christ’ reconciling the world to Himself…” Are you reconciled to God? In verse 21 Paul wrote: “He (God) made Him (Christ Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Catherine Marshall, in her book “Something More” (p.7), wrote: “Our God is the Divine Alchemist. He can take junk from the rubbish heap of life, and melting this base refuse in the pure fire of His love, hand us back – GOLD!” It is our salvation – the sustenance of the soul and spirit! LOOK AT HIS WORD! REJOICE AND RECEIVE!

Deuteronomy 8:2 He “led you in the wilderness…disciplining you.”

Deuteronomy 9:3 He “crosses over before you as a consuming fire,”

Deuteronomy 9:6 He “gives you a good land”

Deuteronomy 12:7 He “blessed you” Deuteronomy 12:9 “giving you the inheritance,” Deuteronomy 13:3 “testing you” Deuteronomy 20:4 “goes before you”

Joshua 1:13 “gives you rest”, Joshua 23:5 “promised you,” Joshua 23:10 “Fights for you”

I Samuel 9:8 “tells us our way, I Samuel 10:9, “changes the heart,” I Samuel 10:10, “comes upon us mightily,” 2 Samuel 22:48, “executes vengeance for me,”

I Kings 4:29, “gives wisdom,” I Kings 18:21 calls us to “Follow Him,” I Kings 18:24, “answers by fire,”

I Chronicles 4:10, “grants what we request,” I Chronicles 12:8, “helps you,” I Chronicles 14:11, “breaks through my enemies,”

2 Chronicles 9:8, “delights in you,” 2 Chronicles 25:8, “has power to help,” 2 Chronicles 26:5, “prospered him,”

Ezra 2:8, “hand of God is favorably disposed to all who seek Him,”

Nehemiah 7:5, “puts His will in our hearts,” Nehemiah 9:17, “God of forgiveness,” Nehemiah 13:2, “turns the curse into a blessing,” Nehemiah 13:26, “loved by God,”

Psalm 14:5, “with the righteous,” Psalm 18:28, “illumines my darkness,” Psalm 18:32, “girds with strength,” Psalm 43:2, He “is my strength,” Psalm 43:4, “my exceeding joy,” Psalm 43:5, “the help of my countenance,” Psalm 46:1, “my refuge,” Psalm 49:5, “redeems my soul,” Psalm 50:2, He “shines forth,” Psalm 53:6, “Restores His captive people,” Psalm 56:9, “for me,” Psalm 57:2, “accomplishes all things,” Psalm 60:2, “Through our God we shall do valiantly,” Psalm 62:11, “power belongs to God,” Psalm 71:5, “my confidence,” Psalm 71:7, He “taught me,” Psalm 77:14, “works wonders,” Psalm 84:11,” a sun and a shield,” Psalm 86:15, “merciful and gracious,”

Ecclesiastes 3:14, “whatever God does will remain,”

Isaiah 5:16, “shows Himself,” Isaiah 40:1, “comforts His people,” Isaiah 40:3, “in the desert a highway for our God,” Isaiah 40:10, “comes with might,” Isaiah 50:4, “gives me the tongue of disciples to know how to sustain the weary one with a word,” Isaiah 51:22, “contends for the people,” Isaiah 62:5, “rejoices over me,”

Daniel 2:28, “reveals to His people,” Daniel 3:17, “able to deliver us,”

Amos 7:1, “shows me,”

Luke 1:78 revealed “the tender mercy of God,” Luke 7:16, “visited His people,” Luke 8:39, “done great things for us,” Luke 16:15, “knows our hearts,”

Acts 10:41, “chosen beforehand – verse 42, appointed by God,”

Romans 8:31, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Romans 15:5, “gives perseverance,” Romans 15:13, “fills us,” Romans 15:33, gives “peace,” Romans 16:20, “crush Satan,”

I Corinthians 10:13, “faithful,” I Corinthians 15:28, our “all in all,”

2 Corinthians 1:9, “raises the dead,” 2 Corinthians 9:8, “able to make all grace to abound toward you,”

Philippians 2:13, “at work in you,”

Colossians 4:12, “assured in all the will of God,”

I Thessalonians 2:4, “approved by God,”

Ephesians 1:6, “accepted in the beloved,”

Hebrews 2:4, “bears witness with us,”

James 4:8, “draws near to us,”

2 Timothy 4:17-18, “But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Titus 2:11, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men…” Titus 3:5, “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.”

And then I tell you, it is not a trite verse but the center of all glorious truth, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

And, then, Paul wrote in Philippians 4:19, “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” AMEN?

OUR GOD IS THE GOD OF THE “BURNING BUSHES” ALONG LIFE’S JOURNEY:

In Exodus 3:1-6 we read: Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of God appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of the bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not draw near to this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.”

And then in Deuteronomy 5:22-24 there are awesome words of hope! “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. So it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. And you said, ‘Surely the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man; yet he still lives.”

Creation itself is a ‘burning bush’ – Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God: and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.”

The two tablets of stone by the finger of God is a ‘burning bush’ – Psalm 19:7-8 says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul, the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple…The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.”

The Prophetic Word is ‘a burning bush’ – “Thus says the Lord…”

The cross of Christ is a ‘burning bush’ – Romans 5:8, “God proved His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

The Holy Spirit’s presence in us is a ‘burning bush’ – John said when Jesus came (Matthew 3:11), “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

Do you remember? There was the “burning bush” in Genesis 3:8 when Adam and Eve “heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day” and they HEARD HIS CALL! It got their attention!

There was the “burning bush” in Genesis 12 when a pagan man in a pagan land heard the divine command and obediently “went forth as the Lord had spoken to him.”

There was the “burning bush” in the isolation of ‘escapism’ in the midst of broken rlationships when (Genesis 28:12) Jacob saw a ladder, heard a voice, and declared “Surely the Lord in in this place, and I did not know it.”

There was the “burning bush” of a prophetic finger when David learned: “You’re the guilty man who needs to be reconciled to God.”

There was the “burning bush” of the ‘second chance’ when Jesus appeared to the distraught Peter who had bungled badly his oath of allegiance.

There was the “burning bush” of an obedient Phillip who went to the backside of a desert to witness and proclaim Christ to a confused yet hungry Ethiopian.

There was the “burning bush” of a flashing light on the Damascus Road that humbled Saul of Tarsus and changed him to a Paul the Apostle. [Examine Psalm 139:1-18!!].

OUR GOD IS THE GOD OF THE SINGING SYMPHONIES OF PRAISE:

Psalm 40:1-3 says, “I waited patiently for the Lord: and He inclined to me and heard my cry…He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay: and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm…And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God: Many will see and fear, and will trust in the Lord.”

Yes, the Word speaks of the songs of God in I Chronicles 16:42! Daniel Webster said to have HYMNED is to have SUNG, PRAISED, OR CELEBRATED IN SONG! Psalm 47:6 says, “Sing praises to God, sing praises: Sing praises to our King, sing praises!” In Psalm 69:30 the psalmist says, “I will praise the name of God with song, and shall magnify Him with thanksgiving.”

Have you ever considered it? Why is there such a vast storehouse of Gospel Music all over the world in the Christian faith but in other ‘religions’ there is little if none?

And there is an answer! Religions are of the ‘head’ while the Christian Faith is of the heart! True salvation births “new songs”! God’s sustenance and faithfulness overflows into our celebrations! A filling and anointing in the Holy Spirit of the Almighty erupts into “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with our hearts TO THE LORD.” Just consider the awesomeness of Handel’s “Messiah”!!

Psalm 146:2 says, “I will praise the Lord while I live: I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.” [Look at Psalm 150!!].

OUR GOD IS THE GOD OF SMITTEN SALVATION:

In Isaiah 52:13-53:12 we read, “Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Just as many were astonished at you, so His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men; So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider. Isaiah 53:1-12, Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground, He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked – but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

What does I Corinthians 1:18 tell us? “The word of the Cross…(is what?)…THE POWER OF GOD!!”

“Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt…Yonder on Calvary’s Mount outpoured – there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt…Sin and despair, like the sea-waves cold, threaten the soul with infinite loss: Grace that is greater – Yes, grace untold – points to the refuge, the mighty Cross…Dark is the stain that we cannot hide – what can avail to wash it away? Look! There is flowing a crimson tide – whiter than snow you may be today…Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed on all who believe! You that are longing to see His face, will you this moment His grace receive?…Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within; Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that is greater than all our sin.”

So Isaiah 1:18 says, “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be white as snow: though they are red like crimson they will be like wool…”

OUR GOD ALSO IS THE GOD OF THE SPOKEN WORD:

In Isaiah 46:5-11 we read, “To whom will you like Me, and make Me equal and compare Me, that we should be alike? They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver on the scales; they hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god; they prostrate themselves, yes, they worship. They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it and set it in its place, and it stands; from its place it shall not move. Though one cries out to it, yet it cannot answer nor save him out of his trouble. Remember this, and show yourselves men; recall to mind, O you transgressors. Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.’ Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed, I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.”

God spoke to men like an Abram and a Moses. He spoke to nations like Israel. He, yes, spoke to pagan kings like Cyrus and Nebuchadnezzar. He spoke to cities like Nineveh. God spoke in certain times and seasons. He’s even spoken in circumstances or events we all face at times. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

We have the promise of Jesus in John 14:18, “I will not leave you as orphans; I WILL COME TO YOU.” In 2 Samuel 7:29 David said excitedly, “…For You, O Lord God, have spoken: and with Your blessing may the house of Your servant be blessed forever.”

In Numbers 24 God met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and sent him to Balak. And, in verse 19, when he met him he said: “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

Sometimes it’s “the seven peals of thunder,” that have spoken. (Revelation 10:4). Psalm 60:6 says, “God has spoken in His sanctuary.” Isaiah 1:20 affirms it, “Truly the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

And then in Jeremiah 25:3 we read, “I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.” Are you listening? Are your ears tuned to hear God speak?

A failure to listen for God to speak to you is tragically what Oswald Chambers called “incarnate unbelief,” which means one has no faith, is god unto himself, is guided by personal feelings, and shutting the door in the face of God. This is not the day nor the time, really not ever, to shut God out of your life or ministry! Look to Him, listen for His voice, and rest in His Sovereign leadership and guidance – yes, hear Him speak to you!

Ezekial heard God!! In Ezekial 5:13 we read, “…then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken in My zeal when I have spent My wrath upon them.” Then, Paul, in I Thessalonians 2:13 wrote, “…we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God’s message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which performs its work in you who believe.”

And what did Paul say to Timothy? “ALL Scripture is GOD-BREATHED!!” Do you accept Jesus’ word? Matthew 4:4 says: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

“Holy Bible, book divine, precious treasure, you are mine; Mine to tell me from where I came, mine to teach me what I am…Mine to chide me when I rove; mine to show a Savior’s love; Mine you are to guide and guard, mine to punish or reward… Mine to comfort in distress, suffering in this wilderness, mine to show by living faith, man can triumph over death…Mine to tell of joys to come, and the rebel sinner’s doom, O Thou Holy Book divine, precious treasure, YOU ARE MINE.”

OUR GOD IS THE GOD ON FINAL, EARTHLY SUMMATION AND FULL, ETERNAL GLORY:

In Ephesians 1 Paul talked about the WORK AND WILL OF GOD, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Father of us all! He said: Ephesians 1:3, “He’s “blessed us,” Verse 4, He’s “chosen us,” Verse 5, He’s “predestined us to adoption,” Verse 7, He’s “redeemed us through His blood,” Verse 8, He’s “lavished upon us the riches of His grace.” Then…

In Ephesians 1:9-12 we read, “He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him…(LISTEN!)…with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things in the earth…In Him…also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestine3d according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will…to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ, should be to the praise of His glory.”

There is such a strong, powerful, illuminating word in Colossians 1:18 which says: “…that in all things He [Jesus!] might have the preeminence!

Our lives are to be summed up in Christ! Our marriages are to be summed up in Christ! As parents we are to so live and teach our children that their lives also are summed up in Christ! Your business and work ethic are to be summed up in Christ! Your friendship relationships are to be summed up in Christ! Your visions, dreams, goals, aims, aspirations are to be summed up in Christ!

Does Jesus reign in your heart and in your home and in your work-a-day world?

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“WHO ARE THE PEOPLE OF GOD?”

I want you to come to Ezekial 36 first. We’ll share together verses 22-28, and then Ezekial 37:24-28, and then Hebrews 8:1-2, 6, 10.

Ezekial 36:22-28, “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,’ says the Lord God, ‘when I m hallowed in you before your eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.”

Ezekial 37:24-28, “David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. The nations also will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”

Hebrews 8:1-2, 6, 10, “Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. Verse 6, But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. Verse 10, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

When you think about those who were not a people but now they are, when you think about those who were void in mercy but now filled with it, and when you think about those who had no abiding name but now they do, what do you say of them?

They’re called “the believers of the faith, saving faith,” “the Body of Christ,” “the Army of God,” “the soldiers of the Cross,” “the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ,” “the baptized ones,” “the Covenant crowd,” “the Christ-tians,” “the followers of the Way,” “the Born-again-ners,” “the sheepfold,” “the children of the Way,” “the children of Light,” “Wisemen,” “the Promised Bride,” “the Brotherhood of Love,” “the Israel of God,” “the sons of Promise,” “the citizens of the Kingdom,” “the Family of Faith,” “the branches of the True Vine,” “God’s Household,” “a habitation of God through the Spirit…”

But I like that holy covenant of Promise Word we just read, Ezekial 36:28, “So you will be My people, and I will be your God!” In Scripture, you’ll find “My People,” “Your people,” “His people,” “the people of the Lord,” “the people of His pasture,” “the flock of His people,” “Your great people,” “Your own people,” “the people of the God of Abraham,” “Your people called by Your Name.”

Samuel said in I Samuel 12:22b, “…the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself.” But you do realize that there are multitudes of people who have no desire at all to be the people of God.

Jude 12 speaks of those “caring for themselves,” and Genesis 11:4 speaks of those whose all-consuming life passion is to “make a name for ourselves,” a people of the world who’ve been squeezed into its mold, a people who think only of flesh, the temporal, and not of the Spirit or the Eternal!

But then there are “the people of God”! Who are they?

You’ll remember Exodus 32 and 33 and the “golden calf” madness of a people who rode “side-saddle” on the calf of deception, idolatry, and spiritual foolishness. And they heard from God, “I’ll see that you get to the land I promised you, but I will not go up in your midst.” And our God will never be with our deceptions, idolatries, or our spiritual foolishnesses!!

But THEY humbled themselves, and Moses interceded: Exodus 33:15-16, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all other people who are upon the face of the earth?” Who ARE these “distinguished” People of God?

IT IS THOSE WHO LIVE IN “THE REST” THAT THEY ARE CHOSEN OF GOD:

In Deuteronomy 7:6 Moses said, “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God: the Lord your God HAS CHOSEN YOU to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”

Psalm 33:12 says, ‘Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.” I would remind you of what Paul said to the church at Rome, (Romans 3:10-11), “As it is written, ‘There is none righteous, no not one…there is none who understands, there is none who seeks after or for God.”

But if now there are those ‘seekers for God,’ what happened? In Jeremiah 31:3 the prophet tells us, “The Lord appeared to me from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.”

Do you remember John 6:44? Jesus said, “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” He said later in John 15:16, “You did not choose Me, but I CHOSE YOU.”

In Revelation 17 it says that there will be those who “wage war against the Lamb.” It’s the way it has been and the way it will be! But also it says in verse 14, “and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords, and King of kings, [LISTEN!}, and those who are with Him (in Victory) are the CALLED, and CHOSEN, and FAITHFUL.”

So in Colossians 3:12-15 Paul says to us: “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things, put o love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.”

Then, in Hosea 2:19-20, 23 we read, “I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord. Verse 23, Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are MY PEOPLE!’ And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’”

THE PEOPLE OF GOD? THOSE WHO IN REPENTANCE ARE BROUGHT TO HIM:

In Luke 1:17 we read, “And it is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous: so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

John the Baptist was raised up with the ministry of repentance. Jeremiah was a major Old Testament prophet of repentance! In Jeremiah 5:3 he spoke: “O Lord, do not Your eyes look upon truth (and for truth)? You have smitten them, but they did not weaken. You have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock: they have refused to repent.”

John, in Matthew 3:2, began his ministry, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus, then, in Mark1:14-15, came “preaching the gospel of God,” saying “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe [or trust in, rely upon] the gospel.”

Before His ascension, in Luke 24:47, Jesus commissioned His disciples “that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed on the basis of His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

Paul, to the Ephesian elders, Acts 20:21, stated he testified to both “Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Do you remember when Peter went before the elders in Jerusalem about Gentiles receiving the Holy Spirit? When he explained the elders glorified God saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life!”

Look at 2 Corinthians 7:9-11! Paul said: “Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.”

THE PEOPLE OF GOD? THOSE WHO ARE JOYOUSLY REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB:

In Matthew 1:21 we read, “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.” And do you remember when the mouth of Zacharias was opened that he prophesied? Luke 1:68 says, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people.”

Peter later said, I Peter 1:18-19, “you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver and gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers…but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” Redeemed, not by religious activities, but by the blood of Christ. Redeemed, not by valiant attempts to live by the Golden Rule, but by the blood of Christ. Redeemed, not by consecrated devotion to the traditional teachings of men, but by the blood of Christ. Redeemed, not by manly attempts to live a moral life, but by the blood of Christ.

Titus 2:14 tells us, “Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed, and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”

Jesus was and is “the merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. [Hebrews 2:17]. Then, Hebrews 13:12 tells us, “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people THROUGH HIS OWN BLOOD, suffered outside the gate.”

THE PEOPLE OF GOD? THOSE WHO ARE JUSTIFIABLY RECONCILED TO GOD:

In 2 Corinthians 5:14-19 we read, “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

Did it say “reconciled us to Himself through Christ”? And he said it not once but twice! “RECONCILED”? There are two words here: ALLASSO, “to change, alter, exchange,” and KATA, “according to”. That’s ‘according to’ HIMSELF! He changes us, alters us, exchanges us “according to” JESUS!

We are reconciled to His PERSON – “we shall be like Him.” We are reconciled to His PURPOSE – “…saved us and called us with a holy calling…(2 Timothy 1:9) I Peter 4:2 says, “…live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.” We are reconciled to His POWER – I Corinthians 1:24, “Christ, the power of God…” In His prayer for the Ephesian church Paul prayed, (Ephesians 1:19), that they might know “what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.” We’re not the impotent – we’re the empowered; we’re not the addled – we’re the anointed; We’re not the empty – we’re the FILLED IN ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD.

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the truth that the word of the Cross of Christ IS the very power of God. [I Corinthians 1:18].

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. [I Corinthians 2:4].

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the faith that rests not on the wisdom of men but on the power of God. [I Corinthians 2:5].

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the truth for our raising up through power. [I Corinthians 6:14].

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the surpassing greatness of the power that is of God and not of ourselves. [2 Corinthians 4:7].

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the truth that though we know we are weak in Him, yet we shall live with Him and in Him because of the power directed toward us. [2 Corinthians 13:2].

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the truth of the working of His power. [Ephesians 3:7].

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the power of His resurrection. [Philippians 3:10].

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the truth that we have been strengthened with all power according to His glorious might. [Colossians 1:11].

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the truth of the glory of His power. [2 Thessalonians 1:9].

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the power of His indestructible Life. [Hebrews 7:16].

“In Christ” we are protected by the power of god. [I Peter 1:5]. So, Revelation 19:1 says: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God” – and to Him we have been reconciled!!

THE PEOPLE OF GOD? THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN ROYALLY BLESSED BY OUR FATHER-GOD:

Psalm 144:15 says, “How blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!” Then in Psalm 67:7 the psalmist said, “God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth may fear Him.”

The first two verses of Psalm 67 says: “God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us – that Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all the nations.”

If you haven’t read Ephesians lately, you need to be blessed by Ephesians 1:3 where Paul said that God has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” BLESSED US?

He’s blessed us because we’ve been washed in the blood of the Lamb, Revelation 22:14. He’s blessed us because our hope is only in Him, Titus 2:13. He’s blessed us because we’re of the faith of Abraham, Galatians 3:9. He’s blessed us because we’ve been willing to be reviled for the name of Christ, I Peter 4:14. He’s blessed us because we died “in the Lord,” Revelation 4:13.

I love Deuteronomy 28:6 which says, We’re “blessed when we came in, and blessed when we go out!” And then in Verse 8 it says that God even commands the blessing! Glory!

Disciples of Christ are not foolish fanatics but faithful men and women who’ve become devoted to Holy God because of His undeniable loyalty to His servants! He’s “blessed us” and He keeps on “blessing”!

THE PEOPLE OF GOD? THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN RELEASED IN THE FULLNESS OF HIS HEAVENLY AUTHORITY:

In John 20:21 Jesus said, “Peace be with you: AS THE FATHER HAS SENT ME, I ALSO SEND YOU.” Is that a call to a few or a calling for ALL His chosen disciples?

Revelation 1:5-6 tells us, “…To Him who loves us, and has released us from our sins, by His blood…and He has MADE US TO BE A KINGDOM, priests to His God and Father, to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

One of the great theological differences of men’s ministries is when the kingdom of God begins. For some it’s future while for others it is present, NOW. Let’s look at the Word!!

I Timothy 1:17 says, “Now to the King Eternal (of the ages), immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” Then, in I Timothy 6:15 Paul called Jesus “the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.”

And then John, in Revelation 1:9 gives us insight: “I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and the kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus…” Is that clear to you? THE KINGDOM IS IN JESUS!! Then our Lord, in Luke 10:19 tells us, “Behold, I give you authority…” Then boldly in Romans 5:17 Paul illumines us more: “…much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will REIGN IN LIFE through the One, Jesus Christ.”

Did that say “reign in life” or reign when you get to heaven someday? To the Ephesians, Ephesians 3:10-11, Paul wrote: “grace was given…[LISTEN!]…in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places…This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which God carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

What about what Jesus had to day about all disciples, then and now? In Luke 12:32 our Lord and Master said, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to GIVE YOU THE KINGDOM.” That’s THE KINGDOM OF GOD, THE KINGDOM RULE, THE KINGDOM AUTHORITY, THE KINGDOM PURPOSE AND PLAN, THE KINGDOM PROVISIONS AND POWER!

Didn’t He teach us to pray: “…YOUR KINGDOM COME, YOUR WILL BE DONE ‘ON EARTH’ [in the here and now] AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.” GLORY!!

Jesus calls you in Christ “the salt of the earth,” “lights on the hills,” the Ezras and Nehemiahs building greater cities than old Jerusalem – we’re ushering in the New Jerusalem! And Daniel 11:32 says, “…the people who know their God will display strength and take action…” Tell me about your personal ‘game plan’ in helping Jesus Christ change the world!

Daniel 12:3 says, “And those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” Then in Daniel 7:13-14, “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.”

Isaiah saw it! And he cried out: “Here am I! Send me!” God said, “Go, and tell this people!” And with that heavenly authority, we are His witnesses, we are “Kingdom” ambassadors of our Lord Jesus Christ!

THE PEOPLE OF GOD? THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN ORDAINED AS TRUE WORSHIPPERS OF THE ONE TRUE AND LIVING GOD:

Isaiah 43:21 says, “The people whom I have formed for Myself will declare My praise.” It was the psalmist, in Psalm 102:18, who said, “Let this be written for the generation to come; that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.”

Oh, I pray Jesus’ words in John 4:21-24 will truly speak to your heart and open it wide to worship and praise the Living God! It says: Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Our Lord said in Luke 19:40, “I tell you, if these (disciples) become silent, the stones will cry out!” The angels bless the Lord (Psalm 103:20). Even “the morning stars sing together for joy” – symphonies of praise to our God.

Why were the “Pharisees” so “in the face” of the disciples and so opposed to their joyful praising of Jesus? I like Arthur Pink’s definition of worship and it explains the void within the Pharisees and scribes. [It’s in his volume on John, p.208], “Worship is a redeemed heart occupied with God, expressing itself in adoration and thanksgiving.”

The Pharisees and scribes were devoted to print – disciples were devoted to the Prince!

The Pharisees and scribes were devoted to the page – disciples were devoted to the Author!

The Pharisees and scribes were devoted to the scroll and their interpretation of it – disciples were devoted to the Spirit of it and their need of Christ the Savior!

In closing this chapter, do you remember when the Word of God was rediscovered in the reign of Josiah, how it was read in his presence, and how he tore his cloths at the reading of the Word of God? Why? Because he knew that there was such a vast difference in what he heard and what he knew he and his people were or did or did not do! He was heart-broken!

Listen to me! “In Christ” we’re the people of God. We’re the Church, the Body of Christ, the fellowship of the believers – that’s those who are to BE the People of God. And yet too often there is such a difference in what we hear and know and what we do!

So what does God say? II Chronicles 7:14 says, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Paul really nailed it down for us when in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 he wrote: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’ Therefore ‘Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

How could a believer forget Jeremiah 2:32? “Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number?” But we’ll not be those who forget – we’ll be those who fill Heaven with praise and adoration! We’ll not be those who wilt – we’ll be those who worship with great passion and fidelity! We’ll not be those drifting into complacency and indifference – we know Him, love Him, and will serve Him faithfully. We’ll not be those who look and act like unbelievers – we’re those who are “Living Stones,” true memorials to our Lord and Savior! We’ll not be those who are silent – we’ll sing His High Praises and make joyful sounds of true devotion to Christ Jesus!

Oh, don’t miss this: I Peter 2:9-10, “But YOU are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” Glory!!

I close this chapter with words from Habakkuk 3: 17-19, “Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls – yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills.”

“The People of God”? That’s those who have come to God’s open door to “the measure of the stature of the fullness of our Lord Jesus Christ”!! That’s those who say with Paul, “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and, yes, even the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

“ENTER HIS GATES?”

It’s one of the greatest statements of faith found anywhere in the Word of God. It’s one of the most loved Psalms, Psalm 100: “Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!…Serve the Lord with gladness…Come before His presence with singing…Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves…We are His people and the sheep of His pasture…ENTER INTO HIS GATES with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise…Be thankful to Him, and bless His name…For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.”

And His “enduring truth” still says to us, “ENTER HIS GATES”! In Luke 13:23-24 one said to Jesus, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And Jesus said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” What an awesome encouragement and warning!

Psalm 122:1-2 is entitled “A Song of Assents” – and I would ask you, are you ascending into the “gates of the Lord”?

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord.’ Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!”

Bill Bennett, in his book, “The Book of Virtues,” [Simon & Schuster, New York, 1993, pps.479-480] included Henry van Dyke’s “Doors of Daring.” It says, “The mountains that inclose the vale with walls of granite, steep and high, Invite the fearless foot to scale their stairway toward the sky…The restless, deep, diving sea that flows and foams from shore to shore, calls to its sunburned chivalry, ‘Push out, set sail, explore!’…The bars of life at which we fret, that seem to prison and control, Are but the doors of daring, set ajar before the soul… Say not, “Too poor,” but freely give; Sigh not, “Too weak,” but boldly try; you never can begin to live until you dare to die.”

And Jesus our Lord straightforwardly declares: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.” The steps of Jesus led Him straight to Jerusalem for an appointment with death!

There was a physical sacred city called the city of God, Jerusalem; also called the holy city. And just as God ordained its building with “gates,” what He did then He has done now. The “holy city” of the Spirit has “gates” they’re not “doors of daring”, but “doors of dependence”! They’re not gates of timbers and iron, but gates of eternal truth and heavenly inspiration and instruction!

We know what God had to say to Obadiah about Edom and Esau because we saw in the Word “The Advancing Amalek Army.” But we also need to learn of “the reasons of God’s judgment.” Listen to Obadiah 10-11, 13: “For your violence against your brother Jacob, Shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever…In the day that you stood on the other side – In the day that strangers carried captive his forces, When foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem – Even you were as one of them…Verse 13, You should not have entered the gate of My people in the day of their calamity. Indeed, you should not have gazed on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity.”

Will you stand within the gates of grace or will you be a violator, a foreigner, a stranger standing within the gates of judgment? What did Jesus say? “…for many, I say to you, will seek to enter (the straight and narrow) gate, AND WILL NOT BE ABLE!!”

Edgar Guest wrote “The Things That Haven’t Been Done Before.” It says: “The things that haven’t been done before, Those are the things to try; Columbus dreamed of an unknown shore At the rim of the far-flung sky,

And his heart was bold and his faith was strong as he ventured in dangers new, and he paid no heed to the jeering throng or the fears of the doubting crew.

The many will follow the beaten track With guideposts on the way. They live and have lived for ages back with a chart for every day.

Someone has told them it’s safe to go On the road he has traveled o’er, And all that they ever strive to know Are the things that were known before.

A few strike out, without map or chart, Where never a man has been, From the beaten paths they draw apart To see what no man has seen.

There are deeds they hunger alone to do; Tho’ battered and bruised and sore, They blaze the path for the many, who do nothing not done before.

The things that haven’t been done before Are the tasks worthwhile today; Are you one of the flock that follows, or Are you one that shall lead the way?

Are you one of the timid souls that quail at the jeers of a doubting crew, Or dare you, whether you win or fail, Strike out for a goal that’s new?”

I want you to know there is the goal of a new and living way – it’s the gates of God that lead to His eternal life and His eternal day. What did Psalm 100:4 tell us? “Enter His gates with thanksgiving…”

In Ezekial 43:5-12 the prophet tells us: “The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple. Then I hear Him speaking to me from the temple, while a man stood beside me. And He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their kings, by their harlotry or with the carcasses of their kings on their high places. When they set their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost, with a wall between them and Me, they defiled My holy name by the abominations which they committed; therefore I have consumed them in My anger. Now let them put their harlotry and the carcasses of their kings far away from Me, and I will dwell in their midst forever. Son of man, describe the temple of the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern. And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple and its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, its entire design and all its ordinances, all its forms and all its laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its whole design and all its ordinances, and perform them. This is the law of the temple: The whole area surrounding the mountaintop is most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.” [Did you notice: “its exits and its entrances”?]

Now come with me to Nehemiah 3=

Let’s LOOK AT THE LAMB’S GATE: Nehemiah 3:1, Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors…”

We certainly are His people and the sheep of His pasture, but to enter the Holy City, there is only one way! In John 10:7 we read, Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.” Again, in verse 10 our Lord said, “I AM THE DOOR. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” Remember, it’s called the “Sheep Gate,” or the “Lamb’s Gate.”

In Exodus 12:3-8, 21, we read: “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assemble of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.” Verse 21 then says: Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, AND KILL THE PASSOVER LAMB.”

And you’re unsure about the identity of the “Passover Lamb”? In Isaiah 53:7-11 we read “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was ‘led as a lamb’ to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken, And they made His grave with the wicked – but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.” Its verification?

In John 1:29 the Word of God says: “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD!”

In Revelation 12 John informs us about the ‘great dragon’ and our war with the Devil or Satan, and then in Verse 11 informs us: “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” Don’t take lightly your own spiritual warfare with the powers of darkness but, at the same time, rest in the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world that Revelation 13:8 tells us about: “All who dwell on the earth will worship him [that’s yielded to and devoted to the Devil himself] whose names have not been written in [God’s] Book of Life of the Lamb…”

Revelation 14:1 tells us, “Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.” And they are busy preparing for the “wedding” of the Lamb and Is Bride! Revelation 19:7 tells us, “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” WOW!

The “Lamb’s Gate”? That’s entrance to God’s City of “Rest”! Matthew 11:28-29 says: Jesus speaking, “Come to 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.”

Charles Spurgeon, in his Memorial Library series, “Spurgeon’s Sermons, [Vol. 13, pps 311-312], wrote: “The gospel of Jesus Christ is intended as a refuge for those who have broken the law of God, whom vengeance is pursuing, who will certainly be overtaken, to their eternal destruction, unless they fly to Christ and find shelter in Him. Outside of Christ the sword of fire pursues us swift and sharp. From God’s wrath there is bout one escape, and that is by a simple faith in Christ. Believe in Him, and the sword is sheated, and the mercy and the love of God will become your everlasting portion; but refuse to believe in Jesus, and your innumerable sins, written in His book, shall be laid at your door in the day when the pillars of heaven shall reel, and the stars shall fall like withered fig-leaves from the tree.”

The “Lamb’s Gate”? That’s the entrance to God’s City of our eternal home!

It’s “a promised home” – John 14:2 says, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I GO TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU.” Paul clarifies it to the Philippians and us when in Philippians 3:20 he wrote: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

It’s “a permanent home” – Philippians 3:21 says, “WHO WILL (might, maybe, possibly?) transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body,…”

It’s “a prosperous home” – Revelation 21:21 says, “And the twelve gates of heaven were twelve pearls (priceless): each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.”

It’s “a pleasurable home” – Psalm 16:11 says, “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

The “Lamb’s Gate”? That’s the entrance to God’s City of abundant provisions! Doesn’t Philippians 4:19 tell us, “And my God SHALL SUPPLY all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

The “Lamb’s Gate”? That’s the entrance to God’s City of separation from all that is behind us! Judges 2:1 says, “Then the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, “I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers.” Oh, and listen carefully, thankfully: God leads US up from the world, from bondage, from sin and death, from a meaningless existence, from hollowness and helplessness, from the deception of the fruit of good and evil to the eternal fruit of one tree of hope and help of an empty tomb!

Let’s look at THE FISH GATE: Nehemiah 3:3 says: Also the sons of Hassenaah built the FISH GATE; they laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars.” So.. what significance does that have for us today?

In Matthew 4:19 Jesus is calling His first disciples, saying to them, and us: “Follow Me, And I will make you [to become] FISHERS OF MEN!!”

In Romans 10:12-15 we read: “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!’”

Gabriel Marcel said: “Conversion is the act by which one is called to be a witness!!” Isn’t that what the Resurrected Christ told His disciples just before His ascension? Acts 1:8 says, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Come to Acts 8! Acts 8:4 says, “Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.” ‘Preaching’ is the Greek word: evangelidzo!! That’s evangelizing, sharing the Word, sharing the faith, reaching out in the name of Christ Jesus!

Acts 8:5 says, “Then Phillip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them.” The word ‘preached’ here is the Greek word, KERUSSO, or “to herald,” “to blow the trumpet.”

Acts 8:6 says, “And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Phillip…” The word ‘spoken’ is the word “LEGO” or conversationally speaking to another!

Acts 8:25 says, “So when they had testified…” That word ‘testified’ is the Greek word ‘MARTUREO’ meaning “bearing witness to a fact you know about even to giving up your life if needed.”

Are you getting this beautiful picture? Deuteronomy 12:3 says, “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.” It’s why the wiseman of Proverbs said, Proverbs 11:30, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.”

Again, “Conversion is the act by which one is called to be a witness!” Psalm 126:5-6 says, “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy…He who continually goes forth weeping, Bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing Bringing his sheaves with him.” IT HASN”T CHANGED! “RESCUE THE PERISHING!!”

Let’s look at “THE OLD GATE”: the Farrell Fisher translation? “The ANCIENT Gate”!

Nehemiah 3:6 tells us: “Moreover Jehoida the son of Paseah and Meshullum the son of Besodeiah repaired the OLD GATE; they laid its beams and hung its doors, with its bolts and bars.” [Just a question since I’m fast approaching the age of 78!! “What’s so bad about the ‘old’ or ‘the ancient’?]

In Jeremiah 6:16 we read, THUS SAYS THE LORD: “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘WE WILL NOT WALK IN IT.’” Later, in Jeremiah 18:15 God spoke again, “Because My people have forgotten Me, they have burned incense to worthless idols. And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways, from the ancient paths, to walk in pathways and not on a highway…” [Could that be no desire to walk on God’s “Highway of Holiness?”] What is “The Old Gate”?

That’s the “ANCIENT GATE OF THE SOVEREIGN RULE OF HIM WHO IS CALLED THE ANCIENT OF DAYS! Daniel 7:9-10 says, “I watched till thrones were put in place, and THE ANCIENT OF DAYS was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire…A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened.”

That’s the “ANCIENT GATE OF THE APPOINTED KINGDOM RULE OF HIS HEAVENLY SON!

Daniel 7:13-14, 18, says: “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him before near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed. Verse 18, “But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.”

That’s the “ANCIENT GATE OF PROMISED VICTORY FOR THE SAINTS!

Daniel 7:21-22, 26-27 says: “I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them,…until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom. [But the beast arises, “speaking pompous words against the Most High,…persecuting the saints of the Most High…intending to change times and law”]. Verses 26-27, “But the court shall be seated And they shall take away the beast’s dominion, to consume and destroy it forever…Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.”

Oh, yes, there is another Gate!! IT’S “THE VALLEY GATE”! Nehemiah 3:13 speaks of “the low place”. It speaks of the gate or the way of humility!

In Philippians 2:3-8 we read, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

For “proud societies” I know it’s difficult but James 4:10 tells us, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” And God’s vision is not impaired!

I Peter 5:5-6 says, “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud; but He gives grace to the humble.’…Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.”

How powerful and liberating and challenging and convicting is the Word of God!! 2 Chronicles 7:14, “humble yourselves and pray – God answers! Psalm 10:17, God hears the desires of the humble. Psalm 25:9, God teaches the humble His way. Psalm 34:2, The humble hear and they rejoice. Psalm 37:11 The humble inherit the land. Proverbs 29:23 The humble obtain honor. Luke 1:52 God exalts the humble. James 4:6 God gives grace to the humble. James 4:10, God lifts up the humble.

What about in Nehemiah 3:14 the “repairing of the REFUSE GATE”?

Do you remember Exodus 12 and the preparations for Passover? Exodus 12:15 says, “..On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.” What is the Word telling us about “refuse”?

In I Corinthians 5:8 there is a word about “the leaven of malice and wickedness.” If you look at Verse 7 it speaks of “clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed, Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.”

Paul’s word to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:20-22 is so on target, not only for youth worldwide, but on target for all! “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself for the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, and prepared for every good work. Flee youthful lusts, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

Do you know and understand what the will of God is for your life? In I Thessalonians 4:3 Paul said, “For this is the WILL OF GOD, YOUR SANCTIFICATION; that you should abstain from sexual immorality.” The word “sanctification” is a word that fundamentally tells us we are “set apart” for the honor and glory of God alone, set apart for His usefulness in kingdom allegiance!

It’s why in I Thessalonians 4:7 Paul said, “For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.” We cleanse ourselves because “in Christ” we serve, represent, and honor the King of kings and Holy God. But beyond what we just read, what about what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 7:1? “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

We cleanse ourselves because we’re called with a high and holy calling. We cleanse ourselves because we possess a holy hope – being like Him. We cleanse ourselves because of our ministries of salt and light. We cleanse ourselves so Christ feels at home in us. We cleanse ourselves because cleanliness in Spirit is better than dirtiness of the flesh. Next Gate?

There is “The FOUNTAIN GATE”: Nehemiah 3:15, “ Shallun..repaired the Fountain Gate.”

I want you to look first at John 7:38-39 where Jesus said, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water…But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Then later, in John 16:7 Jesus said, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage (necessary) 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.”

Oh, and then, in John 20:22, after telling the disciples that ‘as the Father has sent Me, I also send you,” Jesus “Breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Some appropriate little brooks – others choose the flow of the mighty Niagara Falls. Some choose to dig in desert sands for a small drop of water – others choose the flow of a mighty Amazon or Nile River of the Spirit.

The Fountain Gate speaks of entering the flow of God Himself. The Fountain Gate speaks of standing on the promise of available power. The Fountain Gate speaks of resting in the fullness of Him who fills all in all. The Fountain Gate speaks of receiving available provisions of the fruit of the Spirit. The Fountain Gate speaks of trusting the baptism of Holy Ghost fire sweeping over us like the wind of a fire-cloud into the very glory of God. The Fountain Gate speaks of the acknowledgement of our impotence, but also the announcement and availability of His inexhaustible supply of His great power.

Acts 4:33 says, “And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.”

Jack Taylor, in “The Key To Triumphant Living,” [Broadman Press, Nashville, 1971, p.81], wrote: “How marvelous is the figure of a RIVER…a RIVER: is involuntary and doesn’t have to try. A river is unselfish and available wherever it goes. A river is the picture of confidence and power and doesn’t have to babble like a brook! A river is consistent and keeps on keeping on. You don’t have to prod it. A river is a picture of constant cleaning. Cast pollution in it and it will sweep it away. A river is a symbol of courage. Put obstacles in front of it, and it will overwhelm them. A river speaks of available power. It runs factories and turns lights on all over the country.” Do you see the necessity of the Fountain Gate? No production, no power, no lights apart from the anointing of the mighty Spirit of God!

This is why Paul wrote Ephesians 5:17-18, “Therefore do not be unwise but understand what the will of the Lord is…And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT!! Let the river flow through you!

But Jeremiah 2:13 says, God speaking, “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the FOUNTAIN OF LIVING WATERS, and hewn themselves cisterns – broken cisterns that can hold no water.” And then in Jeremiah 17:13 God says, “Those who depart from Me shall be written in the earth. Because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.”

But there is another option!! Zechariah 12:10 says, God speaking, “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”

Let’s meet together, right now, at “THE WATER GATE”: Nehemiah 3:26 says, “Moreover the Nethinim who dwelt in Ophel made repairs as far as the place in front of the WATER GATE…” How absolutely thrilling is God’s precious Word!

Come to Nehemiah 8:1-6, 8-9, Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood which they had made for the purpose…and Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. Then all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground….Verses 8-9, So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading. And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law.”

In Ephesians 5:25 Paul spoke of how Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it…and then in Verses 26-27 he said, “that He might sanctify and cleanse it 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.” I pray you are familiar with the ministry of the Word of God – individually, as a family, as a nation, and, yes, throughout the world!

Psalm 107:20, “He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” But come to Psalm 119!! It majors on God’s Word: Psalm 119:9, “How can a young man cleanse his way> By taking heed according to Your word.”

Psalm 119:11, “Your word have I hid in my heart, That I might not sin against You.” Verse 25 speaks of “revival” according to God’s Word! Verse 28 speaks of “strengthened according to God’s Word!” Do we walk around with fleshly, spaghetti, or like muscles or mighty muscles of Almighty God?

Psalm 119:49 says, “Remember the word to your servant upon which You have caused me to HOPE.” Then verse 89 speaks of God’s Word “settled in heaven – FOREVER.” In verse 105 the psalmist said, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Then in verse 165 he said, “Great peace have those who love Your word, and nothing causes them to stumble.” Receive His holy Word as your daily bread!

Next, let’s look at “THE HORSE GATE”: Nehemiah 3:28 says, “Beyond the Horse Gate the priests made repairs, each in front of his own house.” The HORSE GATE?

Proverbs 21:31 speaks of “The Horse prepared for the day of battle”! Tell me about your own spiritual preparation to “fight the good fight of faith”! Jeremiah 8:6 speaks of “The Horse rushing into battle!!” Oh, but then it gets really personal here when in Zechariah 10:3b we read: “For the Lord of hosts will visit His flock, the house of Judah, and will make them as His royal horse in the battle…!”

What does Revelation 19:19 tell us? “And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.”

Ernest Shurtleff wrote the great hymn entitled, “Lead On, O King Eternal.” It says: “Lead on, O King eternal, the day of march has come; Henceforth in fields of conquest Your tents shall be our home. Through days of preparation Your grace has made us strong, And now, O King Eternal, We lift our battle song…

Lead on, O King Eternal, Till sin’s fierce war shall cease, And holiness shall whisper The sweet Amen of peace; For not with swords loud clashing, Nor roll of stirring drums, With deeds of love and mercy The heavenly kingdom comes…Lead on, O King Eternal, We follow, not with fears; For gladness breaks like morning Where’er Your face appears; Your cross is lifted o’er us; We journey in its light: The crown awaits the conquest: Lead on, O God of might.”

Let’s look at “THE EAST GATE”:

Nehemiah 3:29,”…After him Shemaiah …the keeper of the East Gate, made repairs.” Malachi 4:2 says, “But to you who fear My name the Sun of righteousness SHALL ARISE with healing in His wings.”

Without a doubt I believe this East Gate is that gate of looking, preparation, anticipation, even longing, for the soon return of the King of kings and Lord of lords! Matthew 2:2 says of ‘the wise men’ from the East that they came seeking: “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him!”

Matthew 24:27 makes it even clearer: “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man.”

But God’s Holy Word inspires us to always ‘be ready’ as if today were the day keep your eyes fixed on the East! Revelation 22:12, 16 says, “And behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work, Verse 16, I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”

Almeda J. Pearce wrote a classic hymn entitled “When He Shall Come.” It says: “When He shall come, resplendent in His glory, To take His own from out this vale of night, O may I know the joy at His appearing – Only at morn to walk with Him in white!…When I shall stand within the court of Heaven Where white-robed pilgrims pass before my sight – Earth’s martyred saints and bloodwashed overcomers – These then are they who walk with Him in white!…When He shall call, from earth’s remotest corners, All who have stood triumphant in His might, O to be worthy then to stand beside them, And in that morn to walk with Him in white!”

Revelation 3:4, Jesus speaking, “You have a few names in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.”

Lastly, let’s look at “THE ASSIGNMENT – APPOINTMENT – RECRUITMENT GATE”: Nehemiah 3:31 tells us about Malchijah making repairs…in front of the Miphkad Gate, “inspection” or “recruiting gate.”

In 2 Timothy 1:9 Paul shared with Timothy the call to share in the sufferings ‘FOR THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE POWER OF GOD,’ telling him, “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works [or plans], but according to His own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before time began…Verse 10, but now has been revealed…”

Do you remember as we began this study that we heard Jesus say, “Strive to enter through the NARROW GATE?” O but now, listen to Psalm 31:8, “You, God, have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; YOU HAVE SET MY FEET IN A WIDE PLACE!!”

I tell you, it’s a wide place of spiritual adventures. It’s a wide place of touching the infinite and laying hold of the supernatural. It’s a wide place of expanding horizons within the Sovereignty of God. It’s a wide place of grasping the heart and ministry of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It’s a wide place where the bubbling of the spring becomes a mighty river of incomparable love feeding the world with grace and mercy.

Disciples of Jesus are not those confined in a small place suffering from ‘cabin fever’ – they are the ones who’ve entered the gate of holy calling and soar with Christ in the heavenly places. Though they may live in a small town they are consumed with the spirit of global-mindedness. They’re those who’ve been lifted to the vast vistas of world vision. With Abraham their desire is to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth.

John saw a vision in Revelation 5:9-10 – it’s of those singing THE NEW SONG: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals; For you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation…And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.”

Luke 13:22-30 is both a warning AND a reason to rejoice in the Lord! It says: “And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then one said to Him, ‘Lord, are there few who are saved?’ And He said to them, ‘Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open for us, and He will answer and say to you, I do not know you, where you are from; then you begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say to you, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”

It was Bob Moorehead, pastor in Seattle, Washington, in the book “Standing Tall” by Steve Farrar, who wrote: [pps. 165-166], “I am part of the Fellowship of the Unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit’s power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won’t look up, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions, mundane talking, chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by presence, lean by faith, love by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power. My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back, diluted, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won’t give up, back up, let up, or shut up until I’ve preached up, prayed up, stored up, and stayed up the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until Heaven returns, give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He comes to get His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My colors will be clear.”

And I’d say Bob Moorehead’s color is “blood-red” from the very veins of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God! Amen?

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“THE WAYS OF GOD?”

I did a message a number of years ago entitled “Restraining Affection.” One of those restrained affections was ‘the restraining affection of a limited knowledge of God.’ Several things I want to make mention of to introduce “The Ways of God”: Romans 10:1-2 showed us those who “have a zeal for God but not according to knowledge.” In Titus 1:16 we learn of those who “profess to know God, but by their deeds deny Him.”

It doesn’t let up much at all! In John 17:3 Jesus said, “this IS eternal life, that they might KNOW YOU, the only True God and Jesus Christ whom You sent”, but how many really “know” Him? We learned in that message Hebrews 10:30-31, “For we know Him who said, ‘Vengence is Mine, I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge His people – IT IS A TERRIFYING THING TO FALL INTO THE HANDS OF THE LIVING GOD.”

And then in Hebrews 3:10 we read, “Therefore I was angry with this generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their hearts; and they did not know My ways…(as a result) Verse 11, ‘As I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest.’” How serious does it sound to you to know God and His ways? But God is gracious and merciful which explains both Jesus’ presence AND the Cross!

So our Lord and Savior tells us in Matthew 10:28-30, “Come to 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.”

Moses learned the grace and mercy of God – and I don’t want you to miss what Moses said: Exodus 33:11-14, So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle. Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, SHOW ME NOW YOUR WAY, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.’ And He said, “y Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’” The psalmist wrote, Psalm 103:7, “He [God] made known His ways to Moses.” And if He did that for Moses, will He do that for you?

There are those who profess that they’re the people of God – they ‘profess’ that they know His ways, or they profess they want to know His ways, but in Psalm 95:10 God declare, “…they do not know My ways…” But then there are those who come to the spiritual crossroads of life and say, “I don’t even want to know Him or His ways.”

In Job 21:7, 13-15, are words you can hear regularly, and your heart is broken. Listen, and choose Him, not a sin-blackened heart! Job 21:7 says, “Why do the wicked live and become old, Yes, become mighty in power?” A sobering question – or should be! Then, Job 21:13-15 says, “They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. Yet they say to God, ‘Depart from us, for we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him?’”

There are those who settle for the fringes of His ways – Job 26:14, “Behold, these are the fringes of His ways: and how faint a word we hear of Him!” The fringes of – but not His ways!

But then, there are those who hunger, long, desire, walk with the very breath of life in them only to know Him: Philippians 3:10 is Paul saying, “that I may know Him!!” And Daniel 11:32 gives people like Paul a heavenly promise: “…the people WHO KNOW THEIR GOD will display strength and take action.” There are several things I want you to clearly understand:

One, GOD WANTS US TO KNOW HIS WAYS:

Psalm 32:8 says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.” I sense God focuses on us because of His great love for us – the man who is the furtherest throw away from God is the man loving God is most concerned about!

2 Chronicles 16:9 says, “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are completely His, whose hearts are steadfast.” But you must understand and be genuinely awakened in Truth: God doesn’t unveil Himself to the divided heart! Psalm 25:9 says, “…He teaches the humble His way…”. God doesn’t reveal Himself to the proud and arrogant! Psalm 25:12 says, “Who is the man who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way he should choose…” Psalm 25:14 says, “The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He will make them know His covenant.” David put it even stronger in Psalm 103:17-18 when he wrote and sang: “But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, to such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commandments to do them”

God doesn’t manifest the beauty and glory of His life when there is no fear of Holy God. David was so bold about himself before the Lord. In Psalm 25:4 he cried out to the Lord: “Make me know Your ways, O Lord.” He said in verse 5, “Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day.” Are you seeing “the surrendered life”? Are you sensing a hungering heart? Do you possess a longing soul for God Himself? Or are you ‘blind’ to what or WHO you need to see?

Understand: God doesn’t pull back the curtain to a prayer-less, self-satisfied heart.

Two, GOD NOT ONLY WANTS US TO KNOW HIS WAYS, HE WANTS US TO BE ONE WHO WALKS IN HIS WAYS:

In Deuteronomy 8:5-6 are two significant, eye-opening verses that should awaken you if you’ve lapsed into indifference to God and His ways – “You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you. THEREFORE you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to WALK IN HIS WAYS and to fear Him.”

You know Moses had a true heart for God – and Moses had a heart for His people also. In Deuteronomy 28:1-2,Moses said: “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord.”

Didn’t Jesus ask a very pertinent, pointed statement when He said, “Why do you call Me Lord, Lord, but you do not do what I say?” I hate to be the one to shock you to your senses, if needed, but ‘obedience is not an option in the day of grace’! Obedience is the hallmark of one who has truly been born again!

In Deuteronomy 19:9 we read: “and if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and to walk always in His ways, then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three..”

Have you truly come to grips with the evidence of “saving grace”? Ephesians 2:1-2 says, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience…” Paul said later in Ephesians 4:1, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.”

But the Word of God, the Holy Word of God, exposes the false foundations of disobedient, reckless, self-centered living, when in Isaiah 42:24, we read God’s response to that kind of a lifestyle: “Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to plunderers? Was it not the Lord against whom we have sinned? And in whose ways they were not willing to walk? And whose law they did not obey?”

Here they are! They knew or know His ways – but they chose, then and now, not to walk in them! Doesn’t Jeremiah 5:1-5 give us a saddened picture of, yes, even modern-day rebellion concerning those who refuse to walk in His ways? It says: “Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem; see now and know; and seek in her open places if you can find a man, if there is anyone who executes judgment, who seeks the truth, and I will pardon her. Though they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ surely they swear falsely.” O Lord, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, but they have not grieved; You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return. Therefore I said, “Surely these are poor, they are foolish; for THEY DO NOT KNOW THE WAY OF THE LORD, the judgment of their God. I will go to the great men and speak to them, for they have known the way of the Lord, the judgment of their God.”

The Book of Hosea is one great prophetic word, yes, for our modern world to discover the ways of God! In Hosea 14:9 His Word tells us, “Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous WILL WALK IN THEM, but transgressors will stumble in them.”

God’s Holy Word overflows with “promises” He makes – Zechariah 3:7 says, Thus says the Lord of hosts, “IF you will walk in My ways, and IF you will perform My service, then you will also govern My house and also have charge of My courts, and I will grant you free access among those who are standing here…” How exciting is I Kings 3:14? “And if you WALK IN MY WAYS…then I will prolong your days.” It’s in Isaiah 58:13-14 where God gives the challenge of us, all humanity, desisting from all our ways, and yielding ourselves to God’s ways, delighting ourselves in Him, then He will cause us to ride on the high hills of the earth and feed us with the heritage of Jacob.

But commitment is required! Psalm 37:5 is so clear: “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” Then in Psalm 50:23 we read, “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; and to him who orders his way aright, I will show him the salvation of God.” As a result of the eternal choice of God’s ways for your life, Psalm 138:5 says, “And they will sing of the ways of the Lord: For great is the glory of the Lord.” Are you singing yet?

Three, WHAT ARE THE WAYS OF GOD?

Without hesitation, it’s easy to say God’s ways are the ways of greatness! Deuteronomy 10:17 says, “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality or takes a bribe.”

He’s great and awesome in His creative power: Genesis 1:1 begins, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The prophet Isaiah hear Him speak: Isaiah 45:6-8, “That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things. Rain down, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it.”

He’s great in the eternal Cross of Christ: I’m sure you know John 3:16 by memory! But you haven’t attached eternal significance to Christ’s shed blood and broken body dying on the Cross for your salvation?

He’s great in His character and great in His awesome acts! Deuteronomy 7:21 says, “… for the Lord your God, the great and awesome God, is among you.” I Chronicles 16:25 says, “For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised…” Has your life of faith matured to the point that you have become one disciple who more and more erupts in praise and adoration for the glory of God like a spiritual volcano that never subsides?

How does the Word describe His greatness? “Great deliverance,” “great judgments,” “great power,” “great terrors,” “great fires,” “great voice,” “great work which He did,” “great wrath,” “great name,” “great things He has done for you,” “the greatness of His victory,” “great mercies,” “great lovingkindness,” “great compassion,” “great goodness,” “Great King of all the earth,” “great peace,” “great glory,” “great sword,” “great wisdom,” “great law,” “great faithfulness,” “great vengeance,” “great signs,” “great day of the Lord,” “great love wherewith He loved us,” “great salvation,” “great Shepherd of the sheep”!

In Mark 10:42-45 we learn about “sharing” in His greatness! But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Yes, there is the way of greatness!

There is the way of the mother hen! Matthew 23: 37-38 says, Jesus speaking, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate..”

His way is the way of blamelessness or “having integrity”: 2 Samuel22:31, 33 tells us, “As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.. Verse 33, “God is my strength and power, AND HE MAKES MY WAY PERFECT.” This is why in Psalm 101 David wrote: Verses 2-3, “I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.”

His way is the way of straightness! In Acts 13:9-10 Paul confronted Elymas the sorcerer: “Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, ‘O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?’” Oh, but of course, we don’t have to worry about that attitude in America, do we? Again, David, in Psalm 125:5 said, “But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways, the Lord will lead them away with the doers of iniquity.” Do you remember John beginning his public ministry, and they asked him, John 1:23, “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness; make straight the way of the Lord.’”

His way is the way of LIFE: I love what Peter said in the beginning of his public ministry in Acts 2:25-28, “For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Hades [or “among the dead”]. Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.” But you have a better way of life than Jesus’ way?

His way is the way of Righteousness and Truth: In Revelation 15:3 we read, They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of saints!” Isaiah 64:5 says, “You, God, meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, who remembers You in Your ways.”

His way is the way of Blessing: Psalm 67:1-2 the psalmist gives us both an invocation and a doxology. He wrote: “God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.” Have you ever heard someone say, “God wants me to be happy.” No, He wants you “blessed” – happiness is here for a moment, then gone away in the dark clouds! But God’s ‘blessing’ is forever. Plus, God isn’t interested in your happiness – He wants you to be HOLY!

His way is the way of the stronghold: Proverbs 10:29 is so clear: “The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the upright.” In Him, you don’t have to be uptight when you walk upright because we have a mighty fortress in our God, a bulwark never failing. It’s a stronghold of strength, love and compassion, protection, provision, and Holy Presence! Psalm 48:3 says, “God, in her palaces (the Holy City) has made Himself known as a stronghold…”

His way is the way of Sovereign Leadership: In Genesis 24:27 we read: And he said, “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brothers.” Isaiah 48:17 says: Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, ‘I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who LEADS YOU BY THE WAY YOU SHOULD GO.” And, praise God, that Word is still true today. He will open doors for you, and He will close the doors you do not need to be headed toward!

His way is the way of PEACE: Isn’t it interesting as you look at world events, national crisis, family eruptions, church splits – Isaiah 59:8 says, “The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their ways; they have made themselves crooked paths; whoever takes that way shall not know peace.” Don’t you remember that Jesus’ promise is for the “peace that passes all understanding”! Glory!

Then, lastly, His way, is the Everlasting Way: Habakkuk 3:6 simply says: “His ways are everlasting..” In John 10:27-28 Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”

In Oswald Chambers’ book “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.93], he wrote: “God has ventured all in Jesus Christ to save us, now He wants us to venture our all in abandoned confidence in Him. There are spots where that faith has not worked in us as yet, places untouched by the life of God. There were none of those spots in Jesus Christ’s life, and there are to be none in ours. “This is life eternal, that they might know You.” The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we take this view, life becomes one great romance, a glorious opportunity for seeing marvelous things all the time. God is disciplining us to get us into this central place of power.” That central place of power? Walking in His ways, walking in step with our Lord and Savior, and, yes, walking in step with His people!

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“WHERE ARE ALL HIS MIRACLES?”

The question of this chapter is what Gideon asked the Angel of the Lord in Judges 6 – and it is a pointed, personal, powerful question for all disciples of our Lord to be examining! Certainly, Gideon was asking concerning three areas of a disciple’s spiritual journey: 1) “Where are all His miracles …that our fathers told us about, 2) that our nation once knew, 3) And that our walk with God experienced in the infancy of our faith and pilgrimage.

Thomas Fuller, in his book entitled “Church History,” [Vol. 2, p.239) said: “Miracles are the ‘swaddling – clothes’ of infant churches.” No doubt that statement is truer, but miracles also are the garments of salvation disciples are to be walking in! Miracles are not to be the exception, but the explanation of the Indwelling Life of Christ in every true believer! That’s those believers made totally available to Almighty God and the Resurrected Christ and the very present power of the Holy Spirit!

In Numbers 11:23 the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s power limited?” It’s not the Lord’s power that is limited but the limitations of the Lord’s people that they carry around, even doubting its modern-day availability!

Deuteronomy 3:24 says, “O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand: for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours?”

But the psalmist asked, Psalm 79:10, “Why should the nations say, ‘Where Is Their God?” But is it God that is the problem when miracles appear as ancient acts or is it us? Must we have to say to the nations, ‘Our God is asleep?’ ‘Our God doesn’t do what He once did?’ Or ‘Miracles were for another day and age and no longer are they applicable to New Covenant people!’ I don’t think so! GOD IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER!

Hear what Spurgeon had to say, and receive it, walk in it, and apply it to yourself and the church of these ‘last days’! [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Memorial Library, Vol. 17, p.95], “Some deny miracles; and if they also deny God, I will not at this time deal with them. But it is very strange that anyone who believes in God should doubt the possibility of miracles. It seems to me that, granted the being of a God, miracle is to be expected as an occasional declaration of His independent and active will. He may make certain rules for His actions, and it may be His wisdom to keep them; but surely He must reserve to Himself the liberty to depart from His own laws, or else He has in a measure laid aside His personal Godhead, deified law, and set it up above Himself. It would not increase our idea of the glory of His Godhead if we could be assured that He had made Himself subject to rule, and tied His own hands from ever acting except in a certain manner. From the self-existence and freedom of will which enter into our very conception of God, we are led to expect that sometimes He should not keep to the methods which He follows as His golden rule. This has led to the universal conviction that miracle is the proof of Godhead. The general works of creation and providence are to my mind the best proofs; but the common heart of our race, for some reason or other, looks to miracle as surer evidence; thus proving that miracle is expected of God.”

A miracle? What is it? Listen to Robert South: “A miracle is a work exceeding the power of any created agent, consequently being ‘an effect of the divine omnipotence’!”

I want my life, my family, my ministry, my church, my nation, to be an effect of divine omnipotence! It was Vance Havner, in his book, “Repent or Else”, [p.18], who said: “A lot of Sunday-morning Christians, who want to sit with folded hands and listen to a mild discourse on the Teacher of Galilee, need to be aroused from their stupor by a vision of the flaming Christ of the Candlesticks.” I’m telling you, the church TODAY needs to become a true body of believers ‘ship-wrecked on His Sovereignty and stranded alone on the Sea of His omnipotence!

Isn’t it absolutely amazing to you that Jesus had to say to a church, [Revelation 3:20], “Laodecia, Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.” “WHERE ARE ALL HIS MIRACLES”?

HIS MIRACLES HAVE BEEN “BURIED IN THE ATTITUDE OF SELF-PITY” IN THE MIDST OF LIFE’S CIRCUMSTANCES RATHER THAN THE APPROPRIATION OF GOD’S AVAILABLE PRESENCE, PROPHETS, AND PROMISES TO SEE HIS SERVANTS THROUGH:

In Judges 6:1, 6-10 we read, “Then the children did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years. Verses 6-10, So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord because of the Midianites, that the Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: I brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage; and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. Also I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But you have not obeyed My voice.”

Do you understand “pity parties”? That’s a trap we set for ourselves binding us in our natural inabilities while thanksgiving is release to the availability of God’s supernatural power! Pity parties are paralyzing, but appropriation is liberating!

In Acts 16, beginning at verse 16, as Paul and Silas were ministering to a slave girl who possessed a spirit of divination and received deliverance, her masters were more than annoyed by Paul and Silas – they had them imprisoned! Opportunity now for a “pity party”? No! How about appropriation through prayer to Holy God? Acts 16:25 says, “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns, and the prisoners were listening to them.” The result? A great earthquake, prison doors opened, chains loosed, and a multitude of prisoners get saved!

We fix our eyes on ourselves so often, on our circumstances, on our enemies, that we cannot see or recognize the awesome hand of God! The Word doesn’t say, “Fix your eyes on your circumstances!” It says, “Fix your gaze upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith!”

We need to see every moment of every day the crucified, risen, ascended, reigning, glorified and coming King of kings and Lord of lords who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all we ask or think! We need to see the Christ of the Golden Candlesticks whose countenance overshadows us, brighter than the noon-day sun, whose eyes are like fire, and whose voice is like the sound of many waters.

We need to see Him (Colossians 2:15) who “disarmed the rulers and authorities, who made a public display of Satan and the powers of darkness, who stripped them naked, triumphing over them.”

If we really bow down to the Lord Jesus, if we really submit ourselves to His authority, if we gladly become His servant, under His Sovereign control, there is no circumstance we are not over! Why? Because He rules and He reigns – and we learn to let God be God in us and through us! If you haven’t, then confess your self-pity, abandon it at the altar and receive the prophet’s word and walk on with God in His miracle-working deliverance!

HIS MIRACLES HAVE BEEN BLOCKED BY A WALK OF DISOBEDIENCE RATHER THEN OPENED BY A WALK OF OBEDIENCE:

In Judges 6:10 we read, ‘Also I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But you have not obeyed My voice.” In Deuteronomy 7 we read about God’s passion to bless those who obey Him – and you would think that that is the desire of every believer, but sadly it is not! Deuteronomy 7:9-14 tells us: “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who Keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them. THEN it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers. And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples…”

Do you remember His Word? “Tell the sons of Israel, ‘Go forward,’” and as they did, the Red Sea was opened and they walked on dry land and the armies of the enemy were destroyed! Do you remember? “Stretch forth the withered hand” – and as he did, the hand was restored! Do you remember? Elijah to the widow of Zarephath, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” “I have no bread, only a handful of flour and a little oil.” “Make me a cake first, then you and your son. For thus says the Lord, ‘the bowl of flour shall not be exhausted nor the jar of oil empty until the day that the Lord sends rain on the field of the earth.’ She went and did as Elijah had spoken.”

Where are all His miracles? There was a poll nationwide that said 90% of Americans believe in God, and we know there is a church just about on every corner of American cities big or small, yet the spiritual climate of America is in a sick stage near death. It doesn’t seem to equate! You look at the seven churches in Revelation 2, 3, and 5 were in great need of the miracle power of God restoring them to their first love! And if we are going to see God’s miracles again, there must be a ‘revival’ of obedience!

Listen to Finney, quoted in Havner’s book, “Repent or Else,” [pps. 15-16], “Revival is the renewal of the first love of Christians, resulting in the conversion of sinners to God. It presupposes that the church is back-slidden and revival means conviction of sin and the searching of hearts among God’s people. Revival is nothing less than a new beginning of obedience to God, a breaking of the heart and getting down in the dust before Him with deep humility and forsaking of sin. A revival breaks the power of the world and of sin over Christians. The charm of the world is broken and the power of sin overcome. Truths to which our hearts are unresponsive suddenly become living. Whereas mind and conscience may assent to truth, when revival comes, OBEDIENCE to the truth is the one thing that matters.”

HIS MIRACLES ARE BARRED BY A LACK OF APPRECIATION OF GOD’S DIVINE MANDATE: Again, in Judges 6:14-16, hear the word of the Lord: “Then the Lord turned to him (Gideon) and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?’ So he said to Him, ‘O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manessah, and I am the least in my father’s house.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”

Is there an appreciation, a deep appreciation, for the mandates of our Master and Lord? In John 20:21 He said, “Peace to you! As My Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And they go in their own strength? No! John 20:22 says, And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” With have the Master’s Divine Mandate plus Holy Spirit anointing!

In John 14:12 our Lord says even now to us: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also, and greater works than these he will do because I go to My Father.” What an amazing word! Do you possess heavenly appreciation for our earthly mandate?

HIS MIRACLES ARE BOUND UP IN FEAR, EVEN FEAR OF FAILURE, RATHER THAN TRUE BIBLICAL FAITH THAT CALLS UPON GOD TO SHOW HIMSELF STRONG:

In 2 Chronicles 16:9 we read, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.”

Do you have even a faint idea of the dilemma of one who has no idea of the God who has shown Himself strong but they settle in to try and stand on a false foundation of fear?

I want you to come back to Judges 6 and follow carefully every word in verses 17-24: Gideon said, to God, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me. Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.” And God said, “I will wait until you come back.” So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them. The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.”

Then in verses 36-40 Gideon is either unsure of God, afraid of his own failure, or doubting himself that God could use him as a leader! That’s what these verses are about! Gideon didn’t need a fleece – he needed the unconditional offering of full surrender to the will of God for his life, submission, yes, even celebration that God had confidence in him whether he did or not! Gideon had been touched by the signature of God on his life – but he was genuinely afraid.

Is God with us? Is God with you? Why not say to Him, “Lord, consume my fears and give me a strong faith; Lord, light the fire of your blazing glory in me; Lord, show yourself strong! A fleece? Why not faith in the faithfulness of God! But, at the same time, I don’t believe it was ‘doubting Thomas’ but a man who wanted only in the divine certainty of the Living Christ’s presence, power, plan, and promise. We should not be those who ‘kick against the pricks, but those subject to the hands of our Lord’s control!

HIS MIRACLES HAVE BEEN BETRAYED AND BLOCKED BY THE ACQUISITION AND ACCEPTANCE OF IDOLS AS AN ORDINARY PART OF ONE”S LIFE:

Look again in Judges 6:25-29! It says, Now it came to pass the same night that the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and TEAR DOWN THE ALTAR OF BAAL THAT YOUR FATHER HAS, AND CUT DOWN THE WOODEN IMAGE THAT IS BESIDE IT; and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down. So Gideon took ten men from among his servants AND DID AS THE LORD HAD SAID TO HIM. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night. And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal, torn down; and the wooden image that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been built. So they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And when they inquired and asked, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.”

Do you remember the word of the Lord coming to Ezekial? Ezekial 14:2-3 says, And the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them?” I believe you know the answer!

And, sadly, most Americans don’t even know what ‘idolatry’ truly is from God’s perspective! But Colossians 3:5 informs us: “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, WHICH IS IDOLATRY.”

Are you aware of what you’ve just read? The Holy Word of God explains much of America’s fall into idol worship, even by many in the church! Rather than devotion to Christ Jesus, many faithfully bow before their idols in their minds, bodies, and, yes, their hearts – they’re captured, bound, imprisoned, to the world, the flesh, and the devil!

Have you cut down and burned the idols in your own heart and mind? Is your life hidden with Christ in God? To what or who do you bow before each day? “Where are all His miracles?” In the born-again, surrendered, yielded life – not to idols, but yielded to Christ alone! That’s THE MIRACLE!

HIS MIRACLES HAVE BEEN BESEIGED BY A FEAR OF MAN THAT LIMITS THE FULLNESS OF GOD:

In Judges 6:30-32 we read: Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the wooden image that was beside it.” But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead for Baal? Would you save him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been torn down!” Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, “Let Baal plead against him, because he has torn down his altar!”

It’s for sure: Joash had no fear of man, but at least he did have a fear of God. Proverbs 29:25 tells us, “The fear of man brings a snare [a trap], but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe [or secure].” The fear of men is wicked, but the fear of God is heavenly blessing. But it is true that some earthlings have no confidence in God Himself but fear of men dominate their every turn – and they suffer with a spiritual disease that is quickly cured when God has His rightful place in their lives. If we know God is our ‘help’, why should one ever fear?

It’s faithlessness in God Himself that breeds fleshly fear of fallen men! God doesn’t birth cowards – He births sons of God. God doesn’t birth men who are overcome by the fear of what men could do to them, but births men who know God is their defense and their defender!

HIS MIRACLES HAVE BEEN BLOCKED BY FLESHLY DEVOTIONS RATHER THAN FAITHFUL DEPENDENCE UPON THE SPIRIT OF GOD:

There is such an interesting verse in Judges 6:34 which tells us: “But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon..” Came upon? It’s a word that basically means “took possession of”!

But those who doubt, are afraid of, or ignorant about the Holy Spirit’s ministry in their lives offer God “best effort” which shuts the door on God’s blessing their lives in the anointing of His Spirit and power – they want to “wing it” on their own, producing only death not heavenly life.

Do you remember our Lord’s words to His disciples right before His ascension? John 20:21-22 says: So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit!!” Has that changed? Not from Jesus’ point of view, but certainly from those who trust in fleshly devotions, miracles are strange events they want no part of.

In Luke 5:17-26 you find Jesus forgiving and healing the ‘paralytic but also you see the Pharisees, the teachers of the law, and the scribes, who in their ‘fleshly devotions’ are opposing Jesus! That attitude has not changed even today!

HIS MIRACLES HAVE BEEN BLOCKED BY THE INTELLECTUAL RATIONALIZATIONS OF NICKLES, NUMBERS OR NOSES, RATHER THAN THE INFINITE REVELATION – “GOD IS ENOUGH”:

In Judges 7:2 the Lord spoke to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’”

In that story God shared with Gideon that if Israel went out on its own to defeat the Midianites that they would internalize the victory and it would be their personal glory – not God’s. So, He told Gideon, “Too many men, Gideon! Send home those who are afraid, and 22,000 left the battlefield!” Another large number of Israelites failed God’s test the second time, leaving only 300 men against a strong nation’s might! And their weapons? God, torches and trumpets!!

Look at Deuteronomy 8:10-20! “When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. BEWARE that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest – when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end – then you say in your heart ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ And you shall remember thye Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods and serve them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God.”

HIS MIRACLES HAVE BEEN, ARE, WILL BOOMERANG THROUGH DOUBT AND SPECULATION OF THE UNUSUAL, MIRACULOUS, SUPERNATURAL, RATHER THAN RECEIVED IN AN ATTITUDE OF HUMBLENESS, PRAISE, AND WORSHIP:

In Judges 7:12-15 we read, “Now the Midianites and Amalikites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude. And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, “I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.” Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.” And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshipped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.”

In Matthew 13:53-58 we read about Jesus going back into His own country. He went into the synagogue to teach them, but they doubted Jesus and His teaching! They were “offended at Him” – and verse 58 tells us: “Now He did not do many mighty works THERE because of their unbelief.” Does that attitude of unbelief still hinder Jesus’ miraculous ministry?

How about Abraham? Romans 4:20-21 says: “He did not waiver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being FULLY PERSUADED that what God had promised, He was also able to perform.” Amen?

HIS MIRACLES HAVE BEEN BLIGHTED BY A SPIRIT OF “FALLING SHORT” RATHER THAN ENDURING TO THE END:

In Judges 8:4 we read: When Gideon came to the Jordan, he and the three men who were with him “crossed over”, exhausted but still in pursuit.”

Isn’t it interesting to you that Jesus said in Matthew 20:16 that “Many are called, but few chosen”? You are aware, I pray, that you as a man, like Gideon, are chosen to fulfill God’s purpose in and through your life! No doubt this is why Paul said of himself, in I Corinthians 9:22, “…I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”

Life with eternal purpose, life with a divine design, life with eternal intent!! But the spirit of “falling short” of God’s plan short-circuits one’s walk of faith! Oswald Chambers wrote in “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.221], “All God’s men are ordinary men made extraordinary by the matter He has given to them. Unless we have the right matter in our minds intellectually and in our hearts affectionately, we will be hustled out of our usefulness to God.”

And I pray that is not an indictment of your spiritual walk and journey but an illumination of God’s intent for your spiritual journey – YOU WILL BE ONE AVAILABLE TO GOD FOR HIS MIRACULOUS MINISTRY!!

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“IS THERE IN YOU PREPAREDNESS AND READINESS?”

The calling of God on a man’s life is such a high and holy calling. To be ‘in Christ Jesus’ is to be a vessel, a container, set apart for the glory of God through availability to the Indwelling Lord and Savior and Master of life.

I want you to read so carefully and prayerfully Revelation 1:4-6, “Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and HAS MADE US KINGS AND PRIESTS TO HIS GOD AND FATHER, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Do YOU say ‘Amen’ to that?

In I Peter 2:4-5, 9, we also read: “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Verse 9, But YOU are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

Then in 2 Timothy 1:8-9 we read, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.” WOW!

Next foundational word for this chapter? I Peter 5:10, “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.”

God’s Holy Word is so inspirational, instructive, illuminating for us His divine intent laid out from the overflow of His heart and mind before the world had even been established! In Leviticus 16:21-22 we read about “the scape goat”! The Lord had spoken to Moses with instructions: “Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.”

And if you haven’t learned it as yet, “Christ Jesus IS God’s ‘scape goat’ in our behalf on the Cross with His broken body, shed blood, and dying form! Yet, many have not returned to the Lord! In Amos 4:11-12 the prophet spoke: “I overthrew some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning; yet you have not returned to Me,” says the Lord. Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; Because I will do this to you, PREPARE TO MEET YOUR GOD!”

Holy God is concerned, not only with the lost, the separated, the unbelievers, but also His own children of faith who take lightly spiritual preparedness and readiness. This is what apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are all about because we read in Ephesians 4:12-16, that these teacher-servants are given “for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ – from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” What an awesome foundation for us in this chapter!

So Jesus in His loving spirit of compassion said to us in Matthew 24:42-44, “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

What was it Jesus said to Simon Peter about preparation and readiness? Look at Luke 22:31-32, And the Lord said to Simon, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” The wise man of Proverbs 24:16 told us, “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity.” Who are you? The righteous man who falls and gets up or the wicked man content in his calamity?

In Matthew 22:8-14 Jesus speaks to us all about preparation and readiness. He Said: Then the king said to his servants, “The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding. So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, “Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?” And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, “Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Preparedness and Readiness? What is it all about?

THERE IS THE PREPAREDNESS AND READINESS OF THE HEART:

In Psalm 78:7-8 we learn absolute essentials for reconciliation to Holy God. It says, “That they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments; and may not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that DID NOT SET ITS HEART ARIGHT, and whose spirit was not faithful to God.”

2 Chronicles 12:14 tells us about King Rehoboam. It says: “And he did evil because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord.” And that’s the calling on every man’s life, past, present and future: Prepare your heart to seek the Lord!

Samuel had gone to Bethlehem at the Lord’s request, and he saw Eliab, saying to those around him, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!” But I Samuel 16:7 is God’s response to Samuel’s flawed response about Eliab. God said: “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Do you remember the question David asked in Psalm 23:3? “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place?” And God’s response? Verse 4, “He who has clean hands and a pure heart…”!! Well, that’s certainly a dilemma if you look only inwardly to yourself and do not look to the God who graciously offers “new hearts”! Isn’t that what God tells us in Ezekial 36:25-27? “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I WILL GIVE YOU A NEW HEART and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”

In John 7:38 Jesus tells us, “He who believes in Me, [that’s trust in, rely upon, adhere to], as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” Since the lost man’s heart is a diseased heart, spiritual heart-transplant is his only hope of being reconciled to Holy God. Prepare, get ready to meet Him face to face!

THERE IS THE PREPAREDNESS AND READINESS TO REMOVE EVERY OBSTACLE:

2 Timothy 2:19-22 hits the nail dead-center on the head of God’s concern for every disciple of Christ. Paul wrote to his young spiritual so, “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are his,” and “let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

Our journey of faith in Christ is not ‘happen-chance’ but holy commitment to be, to become, all God desires of us – and that’s explained in Colossians 3:9-10, “Do not lie to one another, SINCE you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have PUT ON THE NEW MAN who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.”

Here’s how Oswald Chambers explained it in “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.222], “When looking back on the lives of men and women of God the tendency is to say – What wonderfully astute wisdom they had! How perfectly they understood all God wanted! The astute mind behind is the Mind of God, not human wisdom at all. We give credit to human wisdom when we should give credit to the Divine guidance of God through childlike people who were foolish enough to trust God’s wisdom and the supernatural equipment of God.” Oh, how strong and on target is that!

THERE IS THE PREPAREDNESS AND READINESS FOR THE SPIRITUAL BATTLES EVERY DISCIPLE FACES:

In John 16:33 Jesus speaks to us as His disciples, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

There’s an interesting word Paul shared with the church at Corinth when in I Corinthians 14:8 he said, “For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?” That may explain the Ephraimites when Asaph said in Psalm 78:9, “The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.”

The Christian walk, the path of true disciples, the highway of holiness, always leads to a battlefield. For some it’s in their marriage, for others it’s parental-children conflicts, for businessmen it’s war with a crooked associate, for college students who serve Christ it’s war with a godless professor, for churches it can be a ‘false preacher’ who betrays the Word he professes loyalty to, for true pastors it’s ungodly men who see themselves ‘sent by God’ to keep the preacher straight –spiritual walks in Christ always leads to ‘your cross,’ ‘your war,’ ‘your test,’ and you cannot escape it, but you can prepare just like a soldier on his way to a war-front! Antagonism to the true faith and loyal disciples of Jesus is the recognition that trouble is rooted in everyone’s journey with Jesus, but there is the promise of His people leaning on Him coming out a ‘winner’ not a loser, a victor not a victim, a champion not a dejected, defeated, defiled son!

I love 2 Chronicles 20:15 which says: Thus says the Lord to YOU, “Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” Amen?

THERE IS THE PREPAREDNESS AND READINESS TO KEEP OUR LAMPS ALIGHT:

In Luke 12:35-37 Jesus tells us, “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching.” Are your lamps burning?

The call on your life as a disciple is the call to walk in the light as He is in the light, yet many ‘professing disciples’(?) choose to walk in darkness. And the ‘darkness of disillusionment’ is a black cloud, not only overshadowing many, but producing doubt, cynicism, and even rejection of the Christ-life they claim to hold.

I pray what Jesus had to say in Matthew 25:1-13 will be a light exposing your darkness if you’ve let it in or a light that reveals your devotion to the only Lord and Savior: “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now, five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!” Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”

In John 5:35 Jesus described John like this: “He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.” Will Jesus rejoice over your light as it reveals His fullness in you?

THERE IS THE PREPAREDNESS AND READINESS FOR THE APPROVAL OF GOD:

I Corinthians 9:23-27 informs us not only of the approval of God but “striving for the crown.” I was a high school and collegiate football player for my high school team in Cleveland, Tennessee, and was on football scholarship at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. I can assure you that I never played to lose but to win! What did Paul tell the Corinthians? “Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be a partaker of it with you. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”

To Timothy Paul wrote: 2 Timothy 2:15, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly diving the word of truth.”

Yes, and did you know or did you fly by what Paul said to the Corinthians why he disciplined himself in the things of the Spirit-real? BECAUSE HE HAD NO DESIRE TO BE DISQUALIFIED!! That is NO APPROVAL FROM GOD HIMSELF! That ought to scare the living—– out of you!

But there are ‘professors of faith’ who are not possessors of the true faith – they are ‘pretenders’! And in Titus 1:15-16 Paul wrote: “To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.” But is it your strong desire to be “approved by God”?

THERE IS THE PREPAREDNESS AND READINESS TO DIE:

In 2 Timothy 4:5-8 Paul wrote: “But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

I’ve already told you earlier in this book of my heart attack on April 27, 2013. My son Scott took me to the hospital just moments after we arrived back from Houston, Texas, having attended a three-day conference there. I had chest pains from across my left shoulder straight across to my right shoulder. At the emergency room an EKG was ordered: Two minutes to do the EKG, two minutes for the emergency room doctor to read it, and immediately he said to the 7 or 8 attendants working on me: “Get him out of here to surgery; he has less than an hour to live!”

Down that hospital corridor they ran with me, up an elevator, into the surgical wing – and at 8:30 on a Saturday night, there was my heart-surgeon doctor ready to perform a miracle: my main artery was 100% closed, there was a huge blood clot ready to break loose and kill me, but Holy God intervened! And here’s the miracle of grace: I had no fear AT ALL – if my Lord wanted me in Heaven, I was ready to go! Are YOU prepared to die?

I ministered for 25 years all over India leading pastors’ conferences, open-air crusades, and youth evangelism outreach. On one of my memorable trips I so clearly heard God say to me: “The church of India will blossom, but it will blossom by the blood of the martyrs.” India’s pastors are prepared to die!

THERE IS PREPAREDNESS AND READINESS TO PREACH, TEACH, OR SHARE THE WORD OF GOD:

Thank God for Paul’s passionate concern for the young Timothys. He wrote in 2 Timothy 4:1-2, “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom, PREACH THE WORD! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.”

Why is that? Because in the ‘last days’ church of the 21^st Century, Verses 3-4, “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”

Do you realize and understand what Paul was talking about as he shared the “falling away-ers” from the true faith and word because of their “itching ears”? Well, be assured, God hasn’t called you to “scratch” itching ears but to preach, teach, and share with others the revelation of God’s Holy Word! And that’s even if it costs you your life! Beware of any “community of faith” (?) that has no real emphasis on the revelation of God’s Word!

In I Peter 3:15 Peter wrote: But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” Are you ready?

THERE IS PREPAREDNESS AND READINESS FOR THE WEDDING DAY:

In 2 Corinthians 11:3 Paul challenged the church in Corinth and, yes, churches everywhere: “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.” Does it appear to you that some “professors” might not prepare for the wedding day?

In Revelation 19:5-8 John heard a voice from heaven saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!” “And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, ‘Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, AND HIS WIFE HAS MADE HERSELF READY.’ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”

There should be no surprise as to who the “bride” is preparing for the wedding day, but Revelation 17:14 tells us: “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and THOSE WHO ARE WITH HIM are called, chosen, and faithful.”

Romans 5:10 opens the door to your preparation and readiness for that eternal “wedding day”. It says, “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be [being] saved by His life.” Are YOU “being” saved by His life?

In 2 Corinthians 7:1 Paul wrote: “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” The “bride” prepares herself, making herself ready for the wedding day. And verse 3 of this same chapter lets us know this bridal path preparation when Paul said the Corinthians were in his heart “to die together and to live together.” I thought it was ‘live together so they could die together.’ That may be the natural world, but in the Kingdom of God it’s daily taking “the sentence of death” that we might share in resurrection life, resurrection power and resurrection hope – dying together so we eternally live together wedded to our Lord and Savior!

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“WHERE’S THE GRIEF?”

In Ecclesiastes 3:1,4 are words that express true cycles and events of a pilgrim’s journey. It says: “There is an appointed time for everything…A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” But for Israel Jeremiah had to ask, Jeremiah 15:5, “Indeed, who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem, or who will mourn for you, or who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?” Certainly God’s “chosen people” have little support – and if Israel was destroyed [which it won’t be] who would mourn but those who share God’s heart?

In Matthew 11:16-17 Jesus said: “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to other children…and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and yet you did not mourn.”

No grief or no mourning about personal, spiritual tragedies, or, yes, national reversals from God-fearing to a godless society, is like an evil ‘scum’ settling over the population at large! Rather than a genuine Godly sorrow, many societies just settle into a gall of bitterness. You’ve sensed it no doubt when spiritually there is no clear shining sun, no fresh spring rains of revival or renewal, no cooling clouds – only horrible spiritual hurricanes that pummel your life –only spiritual volcanic eruptions all around you, only dark, dark clouds of suffering, demonic attacks, Satanic interference…and no one seems to care!

But you don’t mourn or grieve alone – if you – because in Matthew 5:4 God’s Holy Word tells us, Jesus speaking, “Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.” I pray that you understand if you are one who does grieve over the spiritual climate surrounding you that you understand that your “grief” is but the shadow of God’s Holy Presence!

In Isaiah 53:3 the prophet tells us about Jesus: “A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” Grief or sorrow is out of the divine nature of God Himself! Grief or sorrow is assurance of eternal presence! No grief, no sorrow over the spiritual condition of individuals or a nation is evidence of a spiritual disease that needs and must have divine healing.

In Ezekial 9:4-6 The Lord said to the prophet, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.” To the others He said in my hearing, ‘Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is a mark; and begin at My sanctuary.’ So they began with the elders who were before the temple.”

Why was that? Because there was little grieving and mourning over the sins of the city and the nation! And God said, “Begin with the elders in leadership of My temple!!”

There’s another prophetic word God gave to Amos. Notice Amos 6:1-8, “Woe to you who are at ease in Zion, and trust in Mount Samaria, notable persons in the chief nation, to whom the house of Israel comes! Go over to Calneh and see; and from there go to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is their territory greater than your territory? Woe to you who put far off the day of doom, who cause the seat of violence to come near; who lie on beds of ivory, stretch out on your couches, eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall; Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments, and invent for yourselves musical instruments like David; Who drink wine from bowls, and anoint yourselves with the best ointments, BUT ARE NOT GRIEVED FOR THE AFFLICTION OF JOSEPH. Therefore they shall now go captive as the first of the captives, and those who recline at banquets shall be removed. The Lord God has sworn by Himself, the Lord God of hosts says: ‘I abhor the pride of Jacob, and hate his palaces; therefore I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.” No grief, no mourning – and God moves in judgment!

To mourn? The dictionary says, “to express grief or sorrow; to grieve; to be sorrowful…mourning may be expressed by weeping or audible sounds, or sobs, sighs or inward silent grief…to lament.”

To grieve? “To feel pain of mind or heart; to be in pain on account of an evil; to sorrow; to mourn.” Do you understand whether its grief or mourning over a broken marriage, or a wayward teenager, or a rebellious nation, or godless leaders, or a compromising pastor or church people, or lost family members and friends separated from God, your brokenness can hold back God’s judgment?

Is it possible that, “where there is no grief or mourning or sorrow” over the situations of life you find yourself in, that we can [and will] have God’s grief birthed in us if we call on Him? Yes, if one is willing to accept it and share it with Him! It begins with:

THE GRIEF OF GOD OVER THE SIN OF MAN THAT YOU WILLINGLY ACCEPT:

In Genesis 6:5-6 we read: Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and HE was GRIEVED IN HIS HEART.”

The author of “Green Pastures” wrote: “It ain’t no picnic bein’ God…”. [That was John Jasper.]. And you begin to understand and grasp the awesomeness of God’s heart for you and me! John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

In Isaiah 1:2-9, 18-20 we hear both the mind of God and the heart of God, His grief and His grace: “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: ‘I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me; The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, My people do not consider.’ Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward. Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed or bound up, or soothed with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; strangers devout your land in your presence; and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a hut in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Unless the Lord of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been made like Gomorrah. Verses 18-20, Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword, For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Listen to Jesus and the grief in His own heart as He spoke about Jerusalem: Matthew 23:37, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” And the result? Verse 38, See! Your house is left to you desolate!” But you don’t believe that’s our Lord’s concern about you or your nation?

WHAT ABOUT THE GRIEF OF CARING MEN OVER THE LOSTNESS OF OTHERS AND THEIR SEPARATION FROM GOD?

In Romans 9:1-3 we read the heart of Paul the Apostle: “I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh.”

One of the greatest dangers any professing disciple of Christ faces is a cold, cold heart concerning the lost, the perishing, the alienated from God folks! If there is no sorrow and grief over the separated from God people, it means one has become extremely shallow in his faith. And I’m not thinking of the sorrow of the rich young ruler because riches had become his god – his sorrow was because he had become disillusioned when he realized the bondage of self-love and what possessed him – and he certainly was not willing to let it go! But Jesus reached out to him, He sought to touch him with grace and mercy, He targeted what had his heart and sought to truly make him rich in faith! Who do you reach out to?

Do you remember Psalm 126:5-6? It says, “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seeds for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”

What was our Lord’s commission to the early church and has it changed? “You shall be My witnesses…!!” Are you busy about the Father’s business?

THERE IS ALSO THE GRIEF OF THE FALLING OF THE MIGHTY:

I Samuel 15 is such a powerful word to all of God’s people, and, yes, a word of warning concerning our obedience or lack of it as the Lord commissioned us. It’s about Saul as Samuel came to confront him. The commission of God to Saul was to go and Amalek and utterly destroy that people – none were to be spared!

Saul did attack them, but I Samuel 15:9 says, “but Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep…” Look with me at I Samuel 15:13-23. We read: Then Saul said to Samuel, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.” Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak on.” So Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel? Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord? And Saul said to Samuel, ‘But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.’ So Samuel said: ‘Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.” Verse 35 then says, And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.” Enough said here!

THERE IS ALSO PARENTAL GRIEF OVER THE FALLING AWAY FROM GOD OF SONS AND DAUGHTERS:

Proverbs 10:1 is so very clear, “A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish son is a grief to his mother..” And then in Proverbs 17:25 we read, “A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her who bore him.”

Isn’t it absolutely sad for parents who live Godly lives, lay their lives down in ministry and service to their sons and daughters, and, yes, train them well in the Word and by example, to have to face the devastation of their sons and daughters because they choose the world not God’s will, they choose fleshly devotion to a fallen self not faithfulness to a loving Savior, they choose loose living morally to living in and by the Holy Word of God!

For parents that is horrendous, a heavy weight hard to carry, and even a hellish assault on their own faith! Rather than God’s spirit of grace on their sons and daughters some parents are crushed as they witness sons and daughters bound by spirits of deception, bound by the control of demonic spirits that have taken their children over with hellish mind control, broken-hearted as they watch sons and daughters sold out to the spirit of godlessness.

How sad is it when a broken-hearted parent reads a passage like Proverbs 19:16 which says, “He who keeps [God’s] commandment keeps his soul, but he who is careless [reckless] of his ways will die.” And at least those parents set aside to the glory of God grieve over wayward children.

THERE IS THE GRIEF OF A DEPARTED GLORY:

Ephesians 3:21 says, “to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” That’s God’s aim, His divine will and pleasure, His goal for every life to live under the glory cloud of Holy Presence, for the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ to reign supreme in every heart, every home, every church, every life – glory all around!

But when you look to Lamentations and then look around you, one is heavy-laden by the absence of God’s glory cloud! Lamentations 1:20 speaks of one in great distress because of that recognition that His glory has departed. It says, “See, O Lord, that I am in distress; my soul is troubled; my heart is overturned within me, for I have been rebellious. Outside the sword bereaves, at home it is like death.”

Why is it? You know what Romans 3:23 says: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God!” But that’s so difficult for many to face up to – so they substitute glory in God for a spirit of godlessness in themselves!

It may be hard for a godless society to accept, but I believe the Holy Word is convicting and convincing, so follow carefully I Corinthians 5 which says: “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles – that a man has his father’s wife! And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from you. For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner – not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”

THERE IS ALSO THE GRIEF OF THE WORD-TESTING:

Didn’t we just read in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians in I Corinthians 5 two statements “inspired by God’s Holy Spirit” – Verse 9, “I wrote to you in my epistle…” and Verse 11, “But now I have written to you…”

In 2 Corinthians, again, Paul stresses the vital importance of openness and obedience to God’s divine will! 2 Corinthians 6: 11-12 the Apostle said, “O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections.”

Do you grasp what we’ve just read? Grief always overshadows a life that is resistant to the Holy Word of God! Didn’t Jesus tell us in Matthew 4:4, “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”?

Go to Genesis and read carefully God testing Abraham. Remember? “Take Isaac to the land of Moriah, offer him as a burnt offering on the mountain.” Abraham told his two servants traveling with him that “we will come back to you.” He was going to be obedient and offer Isaac, and he expected “a resurrection”! In verse 12 of chapter 22 of Genesis God said as Isaac laid on the altar, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.” [Check out Ezekial 21:1-17!!].

BUT ALSO WHERE IS THE GRIEF OVER THE NEEDY?

In Job 30:25 we read: “Have I not wept for him who was in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?” And there is no doubt God’s compassion SHOULD flow through us to the poverty-stricken physically, but just as passionate God’s people must “care” for the spiritually poor! Isn’t spiritual poverty as great a threat to a society as physical poverty? Neglect of either is not an option God’s people should hold!

Romans 12:15 says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” Then in Psalm 35:9-10 David was being persecuted, but he called out to the Living God because he knew God’s heart: “And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord; it shall rejoice in His salvation. All my bones shall say, ‘Lord, who is like You, delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him, yes, the poor and the needy from him who plunders him?’

But we who are in oneness with Jesus have no concern, no ministry, no outreach, no compassion for the poor? “As Jesus is, so are we in this world?”

THERE IS THE GRIEF OF A POTENTIAL BETRAYAL AND A PERILOUS FALLING AWAY:

In Matthew 26:17-25 we learn about Judas! But then follow carefully verses 31-35! Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.” Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And so said all the disciples.

Do you understand the fragileness of ALL disciples when persecution is unleashed? In Zechariah 13:7 it says: “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion,” says the Lord of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered…”

Mark 14:21 should plant the fear of God in any and every true believer! It says, “The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.”

The Prophet Jeremiah puts before us awesome words of warning when he told us in Jeremiah 22:8-10 these words: “And many nations will pass by this city; and everyone will say to his neighbor, ‘Why has the Lord done so to this great city?’ Then they will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods and served them.’ Weep not for the dead, nor bemoan him; weep bitterly for him who goes away, for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.”

THERE IS THE GRIEF THE WALK OF DEATH PRODUCES:

In Matthew 26 Jesus had gone to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. In verses 37-39 we read about this momentous night in the life of our Lord AND three of His disciples: And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

And you do understand – I’m not only talking about one’s facing the reality of physical death that can produce ‘grief’ about dying in many hearts, but I’m talking about the struggle between ‘flesh’ and Spirit that we all must face and fight, and some ‘fear’ that death to self or, yes, death to their old sin natures! There’s no doubt that ‘grief’ concerning a sharing of “the afflictions of Christ” that Paul talked about has and will generate grief in some hearts, but here is to be a “continuing” in the faith, grounded and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you’ve centered your life in! Hold on! Don’t give away to ‘grief’ the walk of death can produce!

THERE IS, OR SHOULD BE IN EVERY BELIEVER, GRIEF OVER HARDENED HEARTS:

In Mark 3:1-5 we see this possibility for today: And Jesus entered the synagogue again, and a man was there with a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.”

Did you notice Jesus “grieved by the hardness of their hearts”? And I have no doubt about some who hear the demands of discipleship, His call to be broken bread and poured out wine, His call to disciples to take up their own crosses and follow Him, and they say, “I’ll not be squeezed by anyone, crushed by anything to make His wine, or accept the call of a cross for anybody or anything,” and as a result, they walk away from the greatest relationship and opportunity they could be a part of – they don’t – and Jesus grieves over hardened hearts.

THERE IS ALSO THE GRIEF OF “TOO-LATE” TEARS:

Oh, how I pray that the Holy Spirit will come fully upon you and bring holy conviction on you if these verses relate to you: Hebrews 12:14-17 says, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.” “Too-Late Tears”!! “Too Late!!” Some determine they have time – but it was “too late”!

I close this chapter with James 4:7-10. I pray you receive it right now: “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

Would you please go to Revelation 21 and read carefully Verses 1-8, and verse 27!

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

“WHY GLORY IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST?”

I know as well as you that modern men major on an awful lot of things, but it certainly doesn’t mean that most men ‘glory in the Cross of Christ’! Modern men, separated from God, indulging fallen flesh, and possessing no interest in our Lord’s death on the Cross, are totally devoted to the ‘old man,’ to their fallen flesh or old sin nature, and though they do not know it or understand it, they are bound by the powers of darkness and serve like a slave of the old Roman empire!

Fallen men, away from God glory in themselves, glory in the accumulation of more and more money, glory in their fame or name that they make for themselves, glory in their indulgent, fleshly, sin natures, and really do celebrate and rejoice in their sinfulness!

I love what Oswald Chambers had to say when he said, “The evidence that I am delivered from sin is that I know the real nature of sin in me.” And sadly most men do not know that “the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.” You would think that would be good news for a sin-bound man, but some find their bondage enjoyable and saving faith a “downer”!

But in Isaiah 52:13-15 we read, “Behold, MY SERVANT shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Just as many were astonished at you, so His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men; So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider.” And that certainly is my desire for every alienated soul living apart from “amazing grace” that they shall see His face, hear His voice, sense His Spirit, and repent toward God and put their faith in the finished work of Christ at the Cross!

I don’t know if you know it or ever really considered what happened to Jesus as He was beaten, battered, spat upon, and, yes, stripped naked as they nailed Him to the cruel Cross – it was shameful! And no Roman was ever put to death on a cross – but they nailed Jesus to the Cruel Cross! But the question is: “Why [should you] Glory In The Cross of Christ?”

If a ‘self-glorying’ man ever slows down long enough, opens his ears to gospel truth, becomes sick with ‘amiable religiosity,’ is convicted by the Holy Spirit of his sinful bondage, and pauses long enough and seriously enough to view naked Jesus on the Cross because of Jesus’ love for that man to forgive him and set him free from his sin problem – if “he lifts up Jesus in His mind and his heart, Jesus will draw him unto Himself” in saving grace and mercy!

This is why Oswald Chambers wrote in “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.264], “The calling of a New Testament worker is to uncover sin and to reveal Jesus Christ as Savior [and I say Lord also], consequently he cannot be poetical, he must be sternly surgical. We are sent by God to lift up Jesus Christ, not to give wonderfully beautiful discourses. We have to probe straight down as deeply as God has probed us, to be keen in sensing the Scriptures which bring the truth home and to apply them fearlessly.” If that’s true – and it is – let’s begin:

WE ARE TO GLORY IN THE CROSS OF JESUS BECAUSE IT IS THE ONLY SATISFACTION OF OUR SIN DEBT BEFORE HOLY GOD:

God set the terms of your ‘sin-debt’ forgiveness! Ephesians 1:7 says, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of God’s grace…”

There is another vital verse that must penetrate all of our minds and hearts. It is I John 2:2 where John wrote: “And He Himself [Jesus] is the PROPITIATION for our sins, and not ours only, but also those of the whole world.”

What did John the Baptist say when he saw Jesus coming? “BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD WHICH TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD!!” One of the old, old hymns that still holds a special place in my heart is the hymn, “There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood”:

“There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuel’s veins, And sinners plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains…The dying thief rejoiced to see That fountain in his day, And there may I, tho’ vile as he, Wash all my sins away…E’er since by faith I saw the stream Your flowing wounds supply, Redeeming love has been my theme, And shall be till I die…Then in a nobler, sweeter song I’ll sing Your power to save, When this poor lisping, stammering tongue, Lies silent in the grave.” This hymn was written by William Cowper.

Paul told the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made Christ who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

I pray you have understanding of our Lord’s revelation! I Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also died for our sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit…”

Isaiah 53:10 tells us: “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.” Why? Because Verse 11 says, “He shall see the labor of His soul and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.”

Hallelujah! Jesus took our iniquities and nailed them to His Cross Himself as He suffered, bled, and died to take away your sin! Glory in Him!!

WE GLORY IN THE CROSS BECAUSE IT OPENS THE DOOR TO THE HOLY PLACE:

Hebrews 10:19 is so very, very clear. It says, “Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus…”

Do you know what the Great High Priest used to do before he entered the Holy Place in the tabernacle? Only the Great High Priest could go in once a year only, and that after great spiritual preparations! But in case he overlooked something and died on the spot as he entered the presence of God, he had tied a long rope around his ankle so the priests outside could drag him out from the presence of God. But NOW?

In Matthew 27:50-51 we read, “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit…and behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom..” What is that all about? That is our Lord, through the Cross, opening the door to the Holy Presence to all of God’s people!

Hebrews 6:19 says, “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters the veil!” But you see no reason to glory in Christ Jesus?

WE GLORY IN THE CROSS BECAUSE IT REVEALS THE DEPTH OF GOD’S LOVE FOR US:

Romans 5:8 is so on target! It says, “But God proved His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”

But I do believe some take God’s truth and twist it, determining for themselves, not His Word, that His forgiveness is a license to do as I please since God is so loving and forgiving! How preposterous and unbelieving is that! Do YOU really believe the tremendous price of Jesus’ suffering and death on the Cross was to give you an open door or free pass to sin as you please?

If, according to Isaiah 49:5, that God formed Jesus “to be His Servant” and through conversion we’ve been made One With Christ, how is that freeing us to do as we please in a ‘free-sinning lifestyle’?

Consider again John’s message in John 3:16-21! “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes 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.”

And, Romans 8:35 asks, and then answers: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” I have a question: “Does your trouble or troubles traumatize God? Does your bad experiences in life limit what God can do in your behalf? Are your “wounds” exempt from the wonders of His love, grace, and mercy?”

Listen to me – I’m telling you: “In Christ” even “bitter seasons” become “sweet blessings” because He will never leave you nor forsake you! Spurgeon preached a message that caught my attention. It was based on Ecclesiastes 11:3 which says: “If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth,” and his message was entitled “Black Clouds and Bright Blessings.” [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Memorial Library, Vol.11, p[.225].

Look with me at Ephesians 3:17-19! It says: “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to KNOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST which passes knowledge; THAT YOU MAY BE FILLED WITH ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD.”

WE GLORY IN THE CROSS OF JESUS BECAUSE IT RELEASES THE VICTORY TO OVERCOME SIN IN OUR DAILY LIVES:

Romans 6:14 is so very, very clear: “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are no longer under the law (of sin and death!!), but under grace.” And God’s grace is greater and stronger than your old sin habit! But it does require our yielding ourselves as servants of our Lord and Savior and not to our old sin nature – we yield ourselves to the victory of His “Blood Atonement”!!

If our Lord and Savior said, “Go and sin no more,” then when do some professing believers say they can’t do anything but sin until they get to Heaven? How convenient for the compromisers!

If our Lord and Savior said, “Go and sin no more,” then why do fleshly pleasure seekers shut their ears and their hearts to the finished work of Christ on the Cross in their behalf? Do you remember Jesus having a woman caught in adultery brought to Him by the Pharisees? That’s John 8. And in verses 10-12 we read, When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.” Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Romans 6:22 tells us: “But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.”

WE GLORY IN THE CROSS OF JESUS BECAUSE IT SHOWS THE WAY OF EXALTATION:

Come to Philippians 2:5-11, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on the earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Jesus humbled Himself and was exalted, lifted up. Jesus made Himself of no reputation and was exalted. Jesus took the form of a bondservant and was exalted. Jesus humbled Himself and was exalted. Jesus was obedient to the point of death and was exalted. But as His “followers” we are free to choose a different way to be exalted? I don’t think so!

It was Phillips Brooks who said: “Jesus Christ, the condescension of divinity, and the exaltation of humanity.” His guiltless blood was shed for men’s guilty hearts so that through repentance and faith they may be exalted with Him!

WE GLORY IN THE CROSS OF JESUS BECAUSE IT IS THE ONLY WAY SOVEREIGN GOD DETERMINED SALVATION BY FALLEN MEN COULD BE OBTAINED:

Acts 4:12 is the foundation of building a lasting ‘house of faith’ in God! It says: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” And that name that saves? Jesus Christ of Nazareth! Emmanuel –“God with us”!

Paul told the Corinthians in I Corinthians 15:1-3, “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, IF you hold fast that word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES…”

Do you understand ‘reconciled to God’? And if it is necessary, essential, and is by God’s determination alone – what does His Holy Word tell us? Romans 5:10 says, “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.”

You are not put into a right relationship with Holy God because you are ‘religious,’ or because you do religious acts, or because you, at least, try to obey Him. You’re saved only through the sacrificial death of Christ on the Cross, and you ‘rest’ in His finished work there! Religious or “In Christ”? Good deeds or “In Christ”? Church attendance or “In Christ”? Super efforts or “In Christ”? “Others speak well of me” or “The Spirit Himself bears witness with My Spirit”?

WE GLORY IN THE CROSS OF JESUS BECAUSE IT PROVIDES A NEW DYNAMIC OF TRUE LIFE:

In Hebrews 10:10, “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of Jesus Christ, once for all…” What will? The will of God from before the foundation of the world – Christ Jesus as the Lamb slain in the mind and heart of God BEFORE the world was even established!

Hebrews 10:14-17 tells us: “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their Minds I will write them,’ then He adds, ‘Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’”

“Sanctified”? That means ‘set apart’ by God for His glory, honor, and praise! “A New Dynamic”? Glorying in the Cross to the glory of God alone! “Living”? To honor Him alone and fulfill His eternal purposes!

WE GLORY IN THE CROSS OF JESUS BECAUSE THE CROSS WAS GOD’S WAY TO TRIUMPH OVER OUR ENEMY, SATAN:

In Colossians 2:13-15 we read: “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, having triumphed over them.”

John illumined our victory over the powers of darkness in I John 3:8 when he wrote: “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of Satan.” The works of Satan? To dismantle you! To so tempt you that you fall away! To capture you, yes, for Hell itself!

Look at Hebrews 2:14-15 and glory in the Lord Jesus’ rendering Satan powerless: “Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil:…and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

When the psalmist said in Psalms:136:24 that “[God] rescued us from our enemies, for His mercy endures forever,” don’t you think the devil and his demons are your enemy? And Jesus handled your dilemma with the devil! And you have reason to glory in Him!!

WE GLORY IN THE CROSS OF JESUS BECAUSE THROUGH THE CROSS THE GREAT POWER OF GOD IS RELEASED:

Just listen and receive I Corinthians 1:17-18, 23, which says: “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ should be made void…For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God…WE PREACH CHRIST CRUCIFIED!!”

Why was Paul sent? “TO PREACH THE GOSPEL” which we just learned that the word of the cross not only “saves us, reconciles us, redeems us,” it is also the great power of God released through us in an overcoming life, in spiritual warfare, and the release of His great power through us to honor Christ by ministering in His Name, by His available anointing and empowering!

You may face disillusioning battles but the power of the Cross promises you victory. You may face a world of trouble, but His Cross is the power of God to overcome. You may face closed doors, but the great power of God opens those doors or better doors.

WE GLORY IN THE CROSS OF JESUS BECAUSE THROUGH THE CROSS THE WORLD’S PULL HAS LOST ITS POWER:

Galatians 6:14 says it so encouragingly: “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.” The world pull, yes, has lost its power through the Lord Jesus. Settle it: ALL THAT MATTERS IS JESUS!

There’s an old hymn that says: “This world is not my home, I’m just a’passing through, My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.” That’s Heaven – my eternal home around God’s throne!

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

“THE WEAKNESS OF RESOLVE OR THE WITNESS OF A ROYAL RELEASE?”

I wonder if you’ve ever said it or experienced it, “I am going to get this done right this time,” but again you fall flat on your face. You have great confidence in yourself and you try but you’re soon crushed. You’re blessed with lofty ambitions but you live with LIMP ACCOMPLISHMENTS. You dream and drool with the drippings of SELF-DETERMINATION but end up with the nightmare of constant failure.

You know the STANDARD of moral accountability and responsibility but find yourself flawed with the reality of SIN in the heart. You aim toward “the mark” and you miss it. You RACE toward the finish line of personal faithfulness and you stumble and fall.

You reach up for the shining star of light and “GLOW-FUL-NESS” but radiate only the darkness and despair and dismay of wanting to do right but wallowing in the wrong.

And the powerful truth of the revelation of the Word of God is that a self-sufficient, self-motivated man never finds the witness of a royal release while the weakness of self-willed resolve is hidden from our eyes.

The great depth of our own weakness is a mystery to a man who is disciplined and determined to make it on his own without any outside help including God. Do you understand? STRONG CONSTITUTIONS can be our undoing. Brave soldiers are beyond numbering in basic training, but when the real battle commences few heroes are to be found with medals of HONOR.

I’m not sure if you’ll be familiar with the story called “STYX” in which THETIS dipped ACHILLES everywhere but the heel by which she held him. He was so strong and so invulnerable wherever the water had touched him, but remember, the heel hadn’t been covered by the water, and all of a sudden PARIS shot the arrow into the heel, and ACHILLES DIED.

Most men think of themselves as completely INVULNERABLE but fail to remember there is a HELPLESS HEEL. The one thing I want you to know is that without the Spirit of Christ controlling our lives we are all “SHORN SAMSONS”! Dr. Watts had a verse in one of his hymns that said: “SAMSON, when his hair was lost, Met the Philistines to his cost; Shook his vain limbs with vast surprise, made feeble fight, and lost his eyes.”

YOUR strength is your greatest weakness! YOUR proud consciousness is a strong indication of personal corruptness! YOUR ship of flawed character has had a major leak since its inception and is about to sink! YOUR own flight to the gates of heaven on the wings of self-estimation of acceptable virtues has an unacceptable visa and passport.

Why did Jesus die if we could earn our own way to heaven? Why was His blood shed if your best could merit the favor of God? TRUTH IS NEEDED!!

Listen to Spurgeon [Vol.19,p373, Memorial Library, Spurgeon’s Sermons]: “Sinner, if you grow no sweeter flowers than the dunghill of your own nature can nourish, you will die amid poisonous weeds. If you never drink of better water than the filthy well of your own heart will yield, you will perish of thirst, or of a deadly drought.”

The weakness of personal resolve is a field of broken promises. The weakness of personal resolve is a playing field of despised vows. The weakness of personal resolve is a dirty pig-lot of vain imaginations.

I’m not asking you to get a better “grip” on yourself; I’m asking YOU to let go of yourself. I’m not asking you to make a better resolution of self-determination; I’m asking you to be finished with yourself. I’m not asking you to start another chapter entitled “Better Effort;” I’m asking you to give yourself the “Blessed Encounter” with Jesus.

I’m not asking you to make a new avowal of attachment to the rod of self-improvement; I’m asking you to surrender to the rod of Spirit-anointing!

Do you know what Romans 7:18-25 says? In Romans 7 there has been a big struggle in Paul’s life because as yet he hadn’t learned Romans 8! We’re talking about a believer, a follower, a new servant of Christ with a major war going on. How do we know? Look at Romans 7:22!! “For I DELIGHT IN THE LAW OF GOD (or Word of God) ACCORDING TO THE INWARD MAN.” No unbeliever DELIGHTS in God’s Word. No unbeliever even has an inward man! But Paul did and you in Christ do!

Paul wisely shares his struggles. He wisely shares the maturing process. He wisely shares the absolute spiritual necessity of accepting one’s impotence to fulfill the purposes of God on his own. Do you remember Peter’s vow of determined resolution? Matthew 26:35, “Even if I have to die with You, Jesus, I WILL NOT DENY YOU!” “And so said all the disciples.” And the truth is, the disciples fled and Peter denied!

William Barclay said, [his Romans study, p.103], “The human will unstrengthened by Christ is bound to crack.” And it’s not that we’ve cracked – we’ve been shattered into pieces because we majored in our weaknesses rather than be mastered by the witness of the Holy Spirit!

Dr. Griffith Thomas, in his devotional commentary on Romans, [pps. 192-193], wrote: “The key to the meaning of the entire section is found in the repetition of “I” 30 times in the chapter, without a single mention of the Holy Spirit. It indicates what “I” am struggling to do, and utterly fail to do in my own strength.”

THE WEAKNESS OF RESOLVE OR THE WITNESS OF A ROYAL RELEASE?

It’s said of Muhammed Ali while flying to one of his events that his flight got into some turbulence. The seat-belt sign came on and as usual the stewardess checked it out and all had complied but Ali. She asked him to fasten his seat-belt, but the “Lip” responded, “Superman don’t need no seatbelt.” And the stewardess replied, “Superman don’t need no airplane either.”

THE WEAKNESS OF RESOLVE: LISTEN TO GOD”S HOLY WORD!!

THERE’S THE WEAKNESS OF RESOLVE BECAUSE OF THE DIVINE RECOGNITION OF FLESH’S IMPOTENCE: In Mark 14:37-38, as Jesus was going to Gethsemane to pray, he came back to the disciples and found them sleeping. He said to them, “Could you not watch one hour?…Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, BUT THE FLESH IS WEAK.” And whether or not YOU recognize the ‘flesh’s’ impotence, God Does! HE KNOWS about our weaknesses!

THERE’S THE WEAKNESS OF RESOLVE BECAUSE OF THE DIVINE DETERMINATION AND JUDGMENT UPON THE ‘FLESH’: Listen to I Corinthians 15:50, [And by the way, ‘flesh’ is your old sin nature!], “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood CANNOT INHERIT the kingdom of God.” We must learn quickly, early, life’s crossroads – Flesh or Spirit? Old man or new man? Sinner or saint? Sin nature or partaker of the divine nature? Earthly living only or Heavenly minded?

THERE’S THE WEAKNESS OF RESOLVE BECAUSE OF THE DIVINE DECLARATION OF HOPE ONLY IN CHRIST JESUS: John 1:12-13 tells us: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who will believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, NOR of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

THERE’S THE WEAKNESS OF RESOLVE BECAUSE OF THE DIVINE INSIGHT THAT PROMOTION OF THE FLESH LEADS TO A GREATER PERVERSION OF THE SAME: Look at Romans 6:19, “I speak in human terms because of the WEAKNESS OF YOUR FLESH. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, AND OF LAWLESSNESS LEADING TO MORE LAWLESSNESS…” Do you understand that? When ‘religious flesh’ gets involved it builds a bigger BARRIER between Holy God and sinful man! When ‘willful flesh’ is released for either good or bad, it leads to a greater divide between presumption and personal salvation!

THERE’S THE WEAKNESS OF RESOLVE BECAUSE OF THE DIVINE EXPLANATION THAT THE “HOW TO” NEVER COMES TO FRUITION WHEN I’M “INTO” WHAT GOD IS “ONTO” IN HOLY JUDGMENT AND CONDEMNATION: What did Paul say in Galatians 2:20? “I am crucified with Christ…” My evil and my good were both nailed to the Cross! But, for Paul, in Romans 7:18-19, he’s been struggling because his ‘religious self’ rather than his ‘redeemed, regenerated self’ has been in control. Listen to Romans 7:18-19, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) NOTHING GOOD DWELLS; for to WILL is present with me, but HOW TO perform what is good I do not find…For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, THAT I PRACTICE.”

THERE’S THE WEAKNESS OF RESOLVE BECAUSE OF THE DIVINE REVELATION THAT SELF-PROMOTION NEVER PLEASES GOD: Romans 8:5 is so very clear: “those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh..” And the result? Romans 8:7-8 says, “the fleshly, (carnal) mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be…So, then, THOSE WHO ARE IN THE FLESH CANNOT PLEASE GOD.” Don’t forget what ‘flesh’ is biblically: your old sin nature!

THERE’S THE WEAKNESS OF THE FLESH BECAUSE OF THE DIVINE UNVEILING OF FLESH’S ULTIMATE END: Romans 8:6 says, “For to be carnally (or fleshly) minded IS death…!!” Romans 8:13 says, “For if you live according to the flesh YOU WILL DIE…” Alexander Maclaren put it like this so plainly and powerfully: “That which of all things unfits man for the reception of Christ as Savior, is not gross profligacy and outward, vehement transgression, but it is self-complacency, fatal self-righteousness and self-sufficiency.”

Jean Nicolas Grau, in the “Alliance Weekly,” wrote: “Do not shelter the mirror which reflects your soul’s lack of beauty; rather welcome the truth, and believe that next to the knowledge of God nothing is so precious as the knowledge of self.”

Listen to James Milner!! “While a man rests on his own merits for acceptance with God, it is of little consequence whether he be a pagan idolater, or a proud, ignorant Pharisee. – I do not know which of the two is most distant from the kingdom of God.”

Now, let’s shift gears, and get in full throttle!! LET’S LOOK AT “THE WITNESS OF A ROYAL RELEASE”:

Come to Romans 8:1-2!! “There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, WHO DO NOT WALK ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, but (WALK) according to the Spirit…For the law of the SPIRIT OF LIFE in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Notice, in fact, in verse 4, that EVEN “the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled IN US who do not walk according to the flesh BUT WALK ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT…” In John 16:7, prior to His departure, Jesus said to the disciples, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage (necessary) 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.”

THE WITNESS OF A ROYAL RELEASE BECOMES REALITY BECAUSE OF OUR “BIRTHING” IN THE SPIRIT: In John 3 Jesus said to Nicodemus in verse 3, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born AGAIN, he cannot SEE the kingdom of God.” Verse 5 then says, Jesus speaking, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless on is born of the water (of the Word) AND the Spirit, he cannot ENTER the kingdom of God.” And then in verse 6 Jesus explains: “That which is born of the flesh is FLESH, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

In the natural we’re all born physically alive but spiritually dead to God. Romans 3:10-18 says, “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one…There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God…They have all gone out of the way; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one…Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit…the poison of asps is under their lips…Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness…Their feet are swift to shed blood…Destruction and misery are in their ways…And the way of peace they have not known…There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

OH, BUT WE’VE COME TO CHRIST JESUS! How? John 6:44 says, Jesus speaking, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him;” WHAT A REVELATION!! And LISTEN! Because of true “repentance toward God” AND “faith in the finished work of Christ” alone at Calvary, we’ve come out of DEATH into LIFE by the same Spirit who raised Christ from death in Joseph’s borrowed tomb. Romans 8:11 says, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, HE WHO RAISED CHRIST FROM THE DEAD WILL ALSO GIVE LIFE TO YOUR MORTAL BODIES THROUGH HIS SPIRIT WHO DWELLS IN YOU.”

In fact Romans 8:9 clearly says, “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. NOW IF ANYONE DOES NOT HAVE THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST, HE IS NOT HIS.” BIRTHED AND INDWELT BY THE HOLY SPIRIT! GLORY!

THE WITNESS OF A ROYAL RELEASE BECOMES REALITY BECAUSE OF THAT ADDED BLESSING OF OUR “BAPTISM” IN THE SPIRIT: Right before His ascension, after the resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples. Look at John 20:19-22, “Peace be with you…” [What is that? It’s a fruit of the Spirit!]. He said again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” Listen to verse 22, And when Jesus had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’!” IMPARTATION!!

Then come with me to Acts 1:4-8, 2:1-4, And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to part from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which He said, “you have heard from Me.; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But YOU SHALL RECEIVE POWER when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Then in Acts 2:1-4 we read: When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. What do you see in these two different passages?

Well, there is an Indwelling – but also an Overflowing. There is a residence – but also a release. There is an enveloping – but also an enduement of power from on high. There is the presence – but also a powerful anointing. The Holy Spirit is the Mighty Breath of God imparting Divine Life, but He’s also the Mighty Wind releasing God’s directional force, and also the mighty river sweeping us up in a delightful flow of heavenly blessings!

Don’t ever forget Acts 19:1-6!! And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?” So they said, “Into John’s baptism.” Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.” When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.”

You’ll remember that John the Baptist went out into the wilderness of Judea preaching and multitudes came to him. In Matthew 3:11 he said, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall Baptize YOU WITH THE HOLY GHOST AND WITH FIRE.” Is there the spiritual fire of God in your bones?

HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM IS FOUR ILLUMINATING REALITIES: 1) IT’S A CERTAIN EXPERIENCE! They tarried, they anticipated, they obeyed, and a transformation occurred. Listen to Arthur Wallis! (“In The Day Of Thy Power,” pps.69-70), “These who but a few days before had slunk into the upper room and bolted the door for fear of the men who had murdered their Master, are now standing in the open and alleging that this Jesus is alive, and accusing their hearers of murder. Peter, who a month and a half before had denied his Lord at the jibe of a servant-girl, now stands before the multitudes in the very city where He was crucified, and asserts that God had made this Jesus ‘both Lord and Christ.’ Certainly something very definite has happened to these believers…IT IS THE BIRTHRIGHT OF EVERY CHILD OF GOD TO RECEIVE THAT ANOINTING, AND TO KNOW THAT HE OR SHE HAS RECEIVED IT.”

2) IT’S A CLARIFYING EXPERIENCE! It’s so evident: “He’s not ‘fleshly,’ he “walks in the Spirit.” It’s not the ordinary for her, “she walks in the supernatural.” There’s nothing ordinary about them, “they walk in the dimension of the extraordinary!”

In Acts 2:5-18 read carefully these dynamic events in the early church! And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs – we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?” Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”

But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: “And it shall come to pass in the last days,” says God, “That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams, and on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.” It happened just as God said: He clarified it for them!

3) IT’S A COMPULSIVE EXPERIENCE! “Compulsive”? It means “The application of a force that is irresistible.” Luke 24:49 says, “Clothed with power from on high.” Acts 10:38 speaks of “anointed…with the Holy Spirit and with power.

To the church at Corinth, I Corinthians 2:4-5, Paul said, “And my speech and my p[reaching 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.”

E. Paul Hovey wrote: “The word ‘Comforter’ as applied to the Holy Spirit needs to be translated by some vigorous term. Literally, it means ‘with strength.’ Jesus promised His followers that “The Strengthener” would be with them forever. This promise is no lullaby for the faint-hearted. It is a blood transfusion for courageous living.” AMEN!!

4) IT’S A COVETED EXPERIENCE! In Matthew 5:6 Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, FOR THEY SHALL BE FILLED.” Are you ‘hungry’ for Spirit-anointing?

In Isaiah 44:1-3 we read, “Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. Thus says the Lord who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you; ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.” Do you understand how ready God is to pour out His power and anointing on a thirsty, hungry soul?

THE WITNESS OF A ROYAL RELEASE BECOMES REALITY AS WE BEGIN TO RECOGNIZE OURSELVES THE BLESSINGS OF SPIRIT-ANOINTED LIVING: Consider the Blessing of Confidence and Assurance: Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”

Let it well up within you: “I KNOW, I REALLY KNOW, I’M A CHOSEN GENERATION, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, GOD’S OWN SPECIAL PERSON, I’M NOW A PART OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD! HOW DO I KNOW? Because the Spirit of God has written it on my heart!”

Consider the Blessing of Unshakable Awareness: I John 3:24 says, “…And hereby we know that Jesus abides in us, by the Spirit which He has given us.”

Consider the Blessing of Unveiled Encouragement: John 14:26, “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 said to you.” In fact, in Luke 12:12, Jesus assures us, “For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what you ought to say.”

Consider the Blessing of An Opened or Closed Door: Acts 13:2 says, “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” OPEN DOOR! But in Acts 16:6 we read, “Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia.” CLOSED DOOR!

Jonathan Edwards, one of God’s appointed-anointed leaders of the Great Awakening wrote: “God has had it much on His heart, from all eternity, to glorify His dear and only begotten Son; and there are some special seasons that He appoints to that end, wherein he comes forth with Omnipotent Power to fulfill His promise and oath to Him; and these times are times of remarkable pouring out of His Spirit, to advance His kingdom; such a day is a day of His power.”

And here you and I are. What about us? Will it be, “The Weakness of Resolve or the Witness of a Royal Release?” Will it be, our testimony, our epistle, read of all men, as that of the Flesh or that of God’s Spirit through us? Will it be self-determination or Spirit Dependence?

Will it be active, animal like acceleration or mighty anointing of His Spirit? Will it be a shallow stream of self-effort or an ocean of omnipotent occupation? Will it be fleshly energized excitement or a Spirit- quickening of the saints in the fires and rivers and baptisms of the Holy Spirit?

Will it be man at his best that falls so short or God unveiling Himself in irresistible power and anointing? Will it be man taking the field to play his understanding of the religious game or God’s Spirit at bat in the excellence of His extraordinary enduements on the evangels of the faith?

Will it be us in our masterful, fleshly manipulations or the manifestation of God’s Falling Fire kindled in Heaven and in His heart?

God gives us a promise in Ezekial 34:26. It says, “I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their seasons; there shall be showers of blessing.”

And I believe our nation and our churches have not been in seasons and showers of blessing, but in spiritual drought and dryness because we’ve tried hard and at the same time resisted the outpouring of the Holy Spirit! And God is saying, “There’s going to be a change. Get ready. The Fire is going to fall!!”

Listen to Spurgeon’s powerful prayer and let’s make it our own: “O God, send us the Holy Ghost! Give us both the breath of spiritual life and the fire of unconquerable zeal. O You are our God, answer us by fire, we pray! Answer us both by WIND and FIRE, and then we shall see You to be God indeed. The kingdom comes not, and the work is flagging. Oh, that You would send the wind and the fire! You WILL do this when we are all of one accord, all blessing, all expecting, all prepared by prayer…

Lord, bring us to this waiting state! God, send us a season of glorious disorder. Oh, for a sweep of the wind that will set the seas in motion, and make our ironclad brethren, now lying so quietly at anchor, to roll from stem to stern!…

Oh, for the fire to fall again – fire which shall affect the most stolid! Oh, that such fire might first sit upon the disciples, and then fall all around! O God, You are ready to work with us today even as You did then. Stay not, we beseech You, but work at once…

Break down every barrier that hinders the incoming of Your might! Give us now both hearts of flame and tongues of fire to preach Your reconciling word, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

“ON WHAT DO YOU MAJOR?”

In Philippians 1:21 Paul shared his heart: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Think about that with me: “For to me…” My choice, my selection, my determination…! But remember, it’s God Himself who reaches out to us! In fact, in Proverbs 1:24-25, we read: “Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out My hands and no one regarded, because you disdained all My counsel, and would have none of My rebuke…Verse 26, I’ll laugh at your calamity..” God said a similar word in Jeremiah 7:13, “And now, because you have done all these works,” says the Lord, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer.”

And then, “For to me to live…”. For most it is a life-long search for ‘life’ but always in the wrong places with the wrong persons and for the wrong reasons. But Jesus said in John 10:9-10, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief [Satan the liar], does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

“For to me to live IS CHRIST”… Jesus IS the eternal reality of Heaven’s pre-ordained plan and blessing for fallen men. And without Christ we are separated from God, lost, on the wrong foundation, majoring on the minors that sound out the ultimate chord of sadness, separation, and senselessness instead of the desires of God for us. Augustine said it: “Restless are our souls, O Lord, until we rest in You.”

Do I major on my faults and failures or on Christ’s strengths and His redemptive conquests? Do I major on un-acceptance before others or that I am “accepted in the Beloved”? Do I major on the inevitable defeats or on His eternal victories that always cause me to triumph, declaring me a “winner” in my journey?

Do I major on my fear that no one really loves me or that God proved His love for me in that while I was yet a sinner Christ died for me? Do I major on a search for personal identity or do I major on the fact of a true, fulfilling identity of who I am “in Christ”? Do I major on my sinfulness and the filthy rags of attempts at self-justification or on my declared redemptive righteousness “in Christ”?

Do I major on my weaknesses in a debilitating fashion or magnify my weakness so that the power of Christ may rest upon me? Do I major on the oldness in the old sin nature or on the fact that I am a new creation in Christ and declared by God to be a ‘saint’ or one set apart to the glory of God?

Do I major on cultural or familial curses that want to dominate me or on the kingdom of Christ and the faith-filled blessings of His kingdom that liberates me?

Do I major with the psalmist on the sad fact that no man really cares for my soul or on the glad fact that God has loved me with an everlasting love and drawn me with His lovingkindness? Do I major on the futility of the fleshliness of First Adam or on the finality of Spirit-Life in the Second Adam?

Do I major on what I was before Christ or on who I am in Christ? Do I major on the reigning death of my old sin nature or the reign of righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior?

Do I major on the reality of earthly opposition, that so many are against me, OR on the blessed truth that Almighty God is for me? Do I major on my own personal ineptness in things of the Spirit-realm or that I am more than conqueror through Him who loved me?

Do I major on my feebleness in human effort of being a witness to my world around me or on the fullness in divine oneness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Do I major on my fears of war with the powers of darkness or that the God of peace will soon crush Satan under my feet?

Do I major on my inability and shortcoming of impacting my world effectively or on Him who is able to establish me redemptively in my world? Do I major on my personal poverty in the Spirit-realm or that I am already enriched in everything spiritually by my Lord and Savior?

Do I major on my earthly learning that never brings me to the knowledge of the truth or on the benefit of the new blood covenant in Christ where I receive His wisdom and His mind? Do I major on my continual war with temptation or on the truth that my God made a way of escape from it?

Do I major on my restlessness in life or that there is rest in Christ now and a rest that remains for the people of God? Do I major on that in my life that is unsure and fading or upon the anchor of my soul that is both sure and steadfast and which enters into the Presence of God behind the veil?

Do I major on my tendency to wander and draw back or upon the faith and trust and reliance upon Him that causes me to press in to the saving of my soul? Do I major on my sorrowful chastenings or do I look beyond to the yielding of the peaceable fruit of righteousness by which God trains me?

Do I major on all that can be shaken in my life or do I rest and receive in its fullness the kingdom of Christ which cannot be shaken? Do I major on the passion for the praise and honor of men or am I consumed with the passion for the praise of God alone?

Do I major on the works of the law by which no one is ever justified or on the deeds of the law written on the tablets of my heart by the finger of God through the blood of Christ? Do I major on the fallen life of my former self without Christ or on the redeemed life in Christ who loved me and gave Himself for me?

Do I major on setting aside the grace of God in me and focusing on “grit” or do I stand in the grace of God and focus on His glory as His gift to me? Do I major on being made perfect by the flesh or do I major on having been perfected by the Spirit?

Do I major on the weak and beggarly elements of life that leads again to bondage or on the joy of the Lord that is my strength and the blessed revelations that lead me to true freedom and liberty? Do I major on the entanglements of the world, the flesh, and the devil that leads again to bondage or do I stand fast in the liberty by which Christ Jesus made me free?

Do I major on the less of my former, unredeemed life or on the “much more” of reconciliation, being continually saved by Christ’s Life?

Do I major on what I was without Christ, without strength and ungodly, or on the revelation, Ramah Truth, that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and by His grace be being continually transformed to the kingdom of the godly?

Do I major on personal condemnation incited by the accuser of the brethren or on a powerful confidence inspired by the affirmer and advocate of the elect? Do I major on the power of sin in the old man or on the truth of power over sin because I know I died with Christ at the Cross, my old body of sin, and that now sin is no longer my master but Jesus is?

Do I major on the law of sin and death or on the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus who has made me free from the law of sin and death? Do I major on the emphasis of a carnal mind that is enmity against God or on the Leadership of the Spirit that is life and peace?

Do I major on the program of “of me,” “through me,” “for me,” or upon the ministry of “of Him,” “through Him,” and “to Him” to whom be glory forever? Do I major on making constant provision for the flesh to fulfill its lust or do I put on the Lord Jesus Christ?

Do I major on the kingdom of food and drink or on the Kingdom of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost? Do I major on the emptying of my life of faith of all confidence or assurance or on the God of hope who fills me with all joy and peace in believing that I may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit?

Do I major on my sadnesses and sorrows or on the provision of Holy God that I can live before others with joy by the will of God and may be refreshed and renewed with them as I walk by faith? Do I major on my earthly, fleshly house that is daily dying or on the eternal Temple of God which is my body where the Holy Spirit of God dwells?

Do I major on the kingdom that is word only of men or on the Kingdom that is of God filled with Holy Ghost supernatural power from on high? Do I major on the mindful discouraging picture of what I was or on the truth that I’ve been washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God?

Do I major on the constant attempts of the thievery of your time or on the redemption of your time and the revelation of truth that you may serve the Lord without distraction? The Christ-Life in you is not a small compartment but the total summation of ALL HE IS and ALL HE DOES through your available life!

Do I major on the sounding brass and clanging cymbals or on the greatness of that which abides: FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE? Do I major on the fact that I have many adversaries as a disciple of Christ or on the fact that through it all God has opened a great and effective door for me?

Do I major on that which was buried with Christ and it stinks or on the fact that through the new birth you and I are of God now and by His grace we have become the fragrance of Christ? Do I major on the letter that kills or on the Spirit who gives life? Do I major on the ministry of condemnation from the devil or on the ministry of righteousness that comes from God abounding in His glory?

Do I major on the veiled face of an unrepentant heart or on your unveiled face by the grace of God that continually transforms you into the same image from glory to glory? Do I major on despair because heaven’s treasures are in an earthern vessel not discerning it’s God’s design so the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us?

Do I major on the fact that I’ve lost heart because my outward man is perishing or on the glorious fact that the inward man is renewed day by day? Do I major on selfish living for the satisfaction of SELF or on living no longer for myself but for Him who died for me and rose again?

Are you yielded to the domination of the old man or on the discipline of the new creation miracle of God? Do you major on the restriction of your own affections or on the marvelous truth that the love of God has been poured out in your heart by the Holy Spirit who was given to you?

Do you major on the reality of trouble on every side, that without are conflicts and within are fears, or on the reality that nevertheless God comforts the downcast? Do you major on the poverty of your personal soul life or on the grace of the Lord Jesus who for your sake became poor, that you through His poverty might be made rich?

Do you major on the emptiness and void of your former life without Christ or that in Christ by the grace of God you always have all sufficiency in all things to every good work? Do you major on measuring yourself by yourself and comparing yourself among others or on the Holy Blessed Gospel that as He is, so am I in this world?

Do you major on the thorns that pierce your life or on the grace that is sufficient to see you through? Do you major on what was crucified with Christ, dead and buried, or on that resurrection life, hope, and power of God?

Do you major on the futility of your former self with all its deeds of fleshliness or on the fruit of the Spirit? Do you major on your doubts and uncertainties or on the fact that, having believed and trusted, you’ve been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise?

Do you major on those accusations of the powers of darkness of your former emptiness or on the truth of Jesus, the fullness of Him who fills all in all? Do you major on the fall-out of having been a child of wrath or on the fill-up of the truth that I’m a son or daughter of God now by grace and faith?

Do you major on your perplexities, conflicts, and anxieties, or on Him who is your Peace? Do you major on the heartache of living in a loveless world or on the joy of knowing the love of Christ which surp[asses knowledge?

Do you major on your own personal ineptness in your spiritual journey or on God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all you ask or think? Do you major on your sadness for no greater progress in your spiritual maturity or on the confidence that He who began the good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ?

Do you major on the failures of the past or on forgetting the things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are before you, pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus? Do you major on the temporariness of your earthly home or on the blessed truth that your citizenship is in heaven?

Do you major on all the sad events of your life and maybe even multiple sorrows or do you REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS? Do you major on being anxious about everything or in everything do you pray to God and find the peace that passes all understanding?

Do you major on the kingdom and the power of darkness around you or on the holy truth that God has translated you out of that kingdom into the Kingdom of the Son of His love? Do you major on the emphasis of your reaching earthly stardom for earthly glory and recognition or on the emancipation of your soul and spirit as you discover Christ only ‘in you’ is the hope of God’s glory?

Do you major on the shadows of former things from the past, even in the historic events of scripture yesterday or on the substance Who is Christ? Do you major on the involvement of earthly attractions or on setting your mind on the things above?

Do you major on your inability to speak the Gospel like Moses and Jeremiah both did or on the revelation that you’ve been approved by God, entrusted with the Gospel to speak faithfully its claims not as pleasing men but God?

Do you major on the establishment of your place in the world or that God desires to establish our hearts blameless in holiness before our God? Do you major on your short-comings or on the gracious fact that God counted you worthy of the Kingdom of God?

Do you major on your unworthiness of Heavenly Kingdom Life or that God from the beginning CHOSE YOU FOR SALVATION through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth? Do you major on the reality of having made shipwreck of your faith at some point or on the rescue of God like the restoration of Peter?

Do you major on the mystery of iniquity or on the mystery of godliness? Do you major on the earthly opposition to the Gospel that sometimes makes you feel ashamed of the testimony of our Lord ( the Gospel is an offense, it brings reproach!), or do you major on the glorious truth that He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us before time began?

Do you major on what you don’t know about the things of God or on what you do know – whom you believed and how you once were persuaded that He is able to keep what you’ve committed against that day?

Do you major on the discouragement of having been a vessel of dishonor or on the promise that he who cleanses himself WILL BE a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the master and prepared for every good work?

Do you major on the forsaking of friends and family because of your faith or on the glorious truth that the Lord stands with you and strengthens you, delivering you from every evil work and preserving you for His heavenly kingdom?

Do you major on earthly blessings alone in this present age or are you majoring on looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ? Do you major on the hopelessness of your flesh or on the hopefulness in Christ that is an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which does enter the veil of God’s Holy Presence?

Do you major on the prayerlessness of men in your behalf or on Christ who ever lives to make intercession for YOU? Do you major on religiosity and ‘churchy-anity’ or on pure and undefiled religion before God the Father?

Do you major on the aftermath of your old sin nature, on the burial clothes from your death in trespasses and sins or on the truth that you’ve been made a partaker of the divine nature? Do you major on the disappointment of lost battles in the spiritual war or on the truth that you are of God, you HAVE overcome, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world?

Do you major on the fact that the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one or that you are of God and have overcome him through the blood of the Lamb, through the word of your own testimony, and that you truly don’t love your life, even unto death?’ Do you major on your ‘trip-ups’ or on Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy?

I don’t really know what all this is about…why the Lord poured these questions into me. But I was reading Revelation 3 as the Lord spoke to the pastor or messenger at Sardis, and in Verse 2, Jesus said: “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.”

And I know in one sense He is saying, “You’ve not been mature in your understanding of who YOU are IN CHRIST.” Proverbs 23:7 says: “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”

Out of the passion of his soul for the church at Rome, Paul wrote: Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world but be [being] transformed – BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND – that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

With the renewing of your mind fresh this very moment, consider Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brethren, whatever thing are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of a good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – think on these things.”

And we know from I Peter 2:10- that though once we were not a people, “but..now [we are] the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy!!”

Have YOU obtained mercy? Are YOU the person of God, His son, His daughter? Are you His own special people? Are you a holy nation? Are you a royal priesthood? Are you the chosen race?

Listen carefully: I’m not asking you to take the name of the Lord your God in vain – I’m asking you to take His name in Victory!! Confess? That means agree – same the same thing as:

“I AM THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS!” “I AM BLESSED WITH ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS!” “I AM MADE ALIVE TOGETHER WITH CHRIST!” “I AM SEATED WITH CHRIST IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES!” “I AM BORN AGAIN!” “AS JESUS CHRIST IS IN THE WORLD, SO AM I.” “I AM BORN AGAIN BY THE WORD OF GOD.” “I AM KEPT BY THE POWER OF GOD.” “I WAS REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB!” I AM COMPLETE IN CHRIST LACKING NOTHING.” “MY SINS WERE NAILED TO HISW CROSS – THE BLOOD COVERS THEM.” “I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME!”

And on and on and on, God celebrates who we are “in Christ!!” Why don’t you celebrate right now, and continue to identify who YOU ARE IN CHRIST!

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

“SAD DEFECTIONS OR SURE ELECTIONS?”

Every pastor with a shepherd’s heart and every small part of the Body of Christ knows that the greatest calamity that occurs to a fellowship of believers is not outward assaults from the Church’s or disciples’ enemies, but inward assaults from wounds in the house of our friends, from the wiliness of warped false teachers, from even the wars of the apostates and traitors to the truth.

Every true shepherd’s heart and even every small part of the Body of Christ has grieved and been broken-hearted over supposed sanctified selfishness when people save themselves for themselves and have nothing to pour out for the greater body of Christ.

Every true shepherd’s heart and even every small part of the Body of Christ has experienced a Judas with his sop and his subtle, severing kisses and maybe hollow hand-shakes. Every true shepherd’s heart and even every small part of the Body of Christ knows the sickness of slander, the sickness of a ‘good-by, been good to know you salute, the disease of loose tongues, and the death of divisiveness of lies about God’s people – and they have no shame. But we can overcome all that.

The greatest heart-ache, the heaviest, sickening feeling and emotion that God’s people experience is when there is out and out DEFECTION. They are here, they are with us – but then, even though we didn’t see it or sense it, they’re going back to Egypt!

Numbers 11:5 says, “We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic.” AND THEY TURN BACK! Numbers 11 is not much different from John 6. There had been a great deliverance, a heavenly provision; it’s not manna out of heaven now but the “living bread” and the call of true discipleship to “eat My flesh and drink My blood!” Then listen to John 6:60, 66:

“Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can understand it?’…Verse 66, FROM THAT TIME MANY OF HIS DISCIPLES WENT BACK AND WALKED NO MORE WITH HIM!!”

Then Jesus turned to the 12 and said, Verse 67, “Do you also want to go away?” And Peter responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life!”

The devil is a “genius” at finding ways to make run-a-ways from the faith to really feel at home in the strange land and making “feeding swine” feel as if it’s a royal service.

Every “Samson” has his “Delilah” who is out to say “The Philistines are UPON YOU, Samson.” They long to see you grinding at the mill, spiritually blinded to your hope and help, chained to them and not to Christ!

Every DISCIPLE has not only a demon but Legions that stand at his door demanding, demeaning, deceiving, desiring to steal, kill, and destroy – but you don’t have to open that door!

On the High Mount of Transfiguration we stand in the Glory-cloud of God’s Presence and right below us the devil rages in a young son in an epileptic fit. If Satan will ask of Christ Jesus to bow down and worship him, will he bid to us, call to us, come to us in frequent solicitation to cross the line and stand on his side? You can bet your last dollar on that – unless you already are His lo0ck, stock, and barrel!

WHAT IS IT THAT SO DRAWS TO THE DARK CLOUDS OF SAD DEFECTIONS?

THERE IS THE SAD DEFECTION OF ANSWERING THE CALL OF THE WORLD AROUND US:

Song of Solomon 6:13 says: “Return, return, O Shulamite: Return, return, that we may look upon you!” I want you to notice several things about the timing of the call to defection! For one, it’s in the high moment of spiritual ecstasy – she’s just heard from Jesus! Verse 4 says, “O my love, you are as beautiful as TIRZAH, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners!”

It’s in the holy moment of confidence and assurance! Verse 3 says, “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine. He feeds me among the lilies.”

It’s in the hand moment of busyness about the Father’s business. Verse 11 says, “I went down to the garden of nuts to see the verdure of the valley, to see whether the vine had budded and the pomegranates had bloomed.” AND HERE COMES THE WORLD!! “Return, return, O Shulamite: Return, return that we may look upon you!”

That’s the call that appeals to pride: “that we may look upon you!” It’s the call of past haunts, pleasurable indulgences, the call of paralyzing persons of emptiness and shallowness, appealing to one’s flesh! The voices of the sirens are the calls to the old slavery of the sisterhood of selfishness and the manhood of ego-madness, manipulation, and misery – all coated with the poisonous sugar or poisoned essence of peppermint – looks sweet, then kills!

It seems so innocent, so beneficial, so pleasurable! And then, ensnared, it becomes so deathly! 2 Timothy 4:10 says, “…Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world.”

Spurgeon, in his “Spurgeon’s Sermons, [Memorial Library, Vol.15, p.18], wrote: “When the world loves the holy man it is the love of the vulture for the sick lamb.”

It’s why J.B. Phillips said: “Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold!”

THERE ALSO IS THE SAD DEFECTION OF NEGLECTING THE HOLY SPIRIT:

In Matthew 25:1-13 listen carefully: “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were wise took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”

You should know and receive faithfully Galatians 5:16, “I say then, ‘Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.” But what if you do? What if you’re deceived, distracted, detoured away from following the Holy Spirit’s lead? Look at Galatians 6:7-8, “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 I’m convinced this is why Paul was so clear to the church at Thessalonica! In I Thessalonians 5:19, he said: “DO NOT QUENCH THE SPIRIT!” To the Ephesians he wrote in Ephesians 4:30, “And do not GRIEVE the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

The prophetic word of Isaiah 63:8-10 reveals so much about God’s people and their relationship with the Holy Spirit AND God’s concern for His own people’s reaction to the Holy Spirit. He said: ‘Surely they are My people, children who will not lie.’ So He became their Savior…In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them and carried them all the days of old…But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; so He turned against them as an enemy, and He fought against them.”

To neglect the Holy Spirit is: 1) Shutting the door to conviction – John 16:8 says, “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin…” 2) Shutting the door to remembrance – John 14:26, “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 said to you.” 3) Shutting the door to guidance into Truth – John 16:13, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth…” 4) Shutting the door to testimony and the glorifying of Christ – John 15:26 says, “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” 5) Shutting the door to the Spirit is deciding to live by the letter only that kills – 2 Corinthians 3:6 “who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

Hebrews 10:29 makes mention, yes, of the danger of “insulting the Spirit of grace…!” Yield to the Spirit, don’t ‘yelp’ like a deranged dog!

THERE IS THE SAD DEFECTION BECAUSE OF AN ATTITUDE OF COMPLACENCY AND INDIFFERENCE:

Look with me at Luke 12:35-41! “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them to sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do you speak this parable only to us, or to all people?”

It might be best for us all to consider carefully whether or not we’ve been truly devoted to the honor of Christ alone or have we drifted into complacency or indifference Why? In Luke 12 look at verses 42-46! And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.”

“Cut in pieces”? “Sweet Jesus” doing that? In Jeremiah 34:18 & 20 the Lord speaks: “And I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it – Verse 20, “I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their dead bodies shall be for meat for the birds of the heaven and the beasts of the earth.”

Complacency and indifference is like partaking of poisoned “Kool-Aid”!

THERE IS THE SAD DEFECTION BECAUSE OF THE BIRTHING OF A GREATER LOVE FOR SENSUAL INDULGENCE THAN THE SACRED LOVE OF HOLY GOD:

In Proverbs 21:16 we read, “A man who wanders from the way of understanding will rest in the congregation of the dead.” What congregation do you want to dwell in? The congregation of the dead or the congregation of the living? For you, is it the congregation of ‘fleshly’ pleasure or the congregation of the priceless pleasure of Holy Presence?

In I Thessalonians 4:3-8 we see opposite points of view as to a selection of a lifestyle that honors or shames Holy God: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.”

Didn’t Paul tell young Timothy, I Timothy 5:6, “…she who lives in pleasure is DEAD while she lives.” You need to be so aware and alerted that all around you in a godless society are those who take pleasure in unrighteousness!

Spurgeon, [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Memorial Library, Vol.12, p.303], wrote: “Certain it is that the pleasures of sin for a season fascinate their minds till they sacrifice their souls at the shrine of sordid vanity…they have renounced the pleasures that never pall, the immortal hopes that never fail, and turned their backs upon that blessed Savior who gives and feeds the tastes for joys unspeakable, for joys of glory full…,” for transient joys, temporary pleasures, and tantalizing terrors that seemed so full of good and acceptable.

THERE IS THE SAD DEFECTION BECAUSE OF ONE’S MEDDLING IN MYTHS AND SPECULATIONS MAKING SHIPWRECK OF THEIR VESSEL OF FAITH:

In I Timothy 1:18-19, Paul wrote: “This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophesies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck…” And I have no doubt that Paul was referring to what he’d already written in verses 3-7 of the same chapter: “As I urged you when I went into Macedonia – remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.”

He gave Timothy a greater challenge in 2 Timothy 4:2-4, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”

Do you understand that for some myths and speculations become more palatable than the meat and surety of God’s historical, holy Word? Have YOU grasped the reality that to eat His flesh and to drink His blood is to take on Christ Jesus – His Spirit, His way of bringing about victory; that death, burial, and resurrection is the only path to true salvation?

And, as a result, the Gospel becomes offensive to some!! Remember the disciples saying to Jesus, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”

Do you realize how many people say, “I just don’t understand what the Bible is saying,” when in reality the TRUTH of God’s Holy Word has clashed with their personal prejudices and their pride? Do you understand why many choose to walk no more with Him because His cause, His character, His claims and demands of discipleship kick against the goads and they won’t have it any longer? THIS FAR AND NO MORE, for them!

Can’t you see that private stronghold, those long-held habits, or maybe their favorite ‘pleasures’ finally bringing one to that place where they say, ‘No More!’ and in an unholy huff, they turn away?

THERE IS THE SAD DEFECTION BECAUSE THE GOD OF GRACE, MERCY, AND LOVE HAS TO TAKE A BACK-SEAT TO THE GOD OF GREED:

In I Timothy 6:6-11 Paul wrote, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

Luke 12:13-15 tells us of a man who sought to get Jesus to help settle a dispute over an inheritance: Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But He said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” Yet, how many do you know who would react to Jesus Himself saying to Him brazenly, “O YES IT IS!” And they walk away from the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

In his book, A Minister’s Obstacles, Ralph Turnbull has a chapter entitled “The Dry Rot of Covetousness”. [Fleming Revell Com., 1954, p.26 & p.32]. And many never know that the disease of the dry rot of covetousness is consuming not only their lives but their faith and ministries.

Turnbull quoted D.R. Davies in his “The Sin of Our Age” calling attention to this “dogma of increasing wants.” And once the seed of greed is implanted in the heart it ever grows in an increasing appetite for more and more.

Chuck Swindoll in “The Quest For Character,” [p.22], wrote: “Nobody ever withstood greed without a fight that was both relentless and fierce. The god FORTUNE dies a slow, painful death.”

But please REMEMBER – it’s not money but “the love of money” that is the root of all kinds of evil. Money or greed becomes an idol in the heart that men bow down to! Now…

Remember we began with the question, “Sad Defections Or Sure Elections?” Come with me to 2 Peter 1:2-11, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” NOTICE, “SURE ELECTIONS”!

• In the context of 2 Peter 1, we CLEARLY UNDERSTAND THAT SALVATION IS NOT ONLY DEPENDENCE BUT ALSO A “DOING OF THE WORD.” It’s actively “Standing On The Promises!”

The overcoming attitude of “sure election” is the attitude of “add-to-it is.” Salvation is not stationary but a progressive walk in the way, the will, and the Word of God.

Our walk in salvation is not only EARNING A LIVING but BUILDING A LIFE! It’s why in I Peter 2:2 Peter said, “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow up into your salvation.”

2. We know our calling and election is SURE BECAUSE WE ARE “PRESSING IN TO CHRIST!!” I Peter 2:21 says, “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.”

It’s that spirit and passion of Paul in Philippians 3:7-14, “But what things were gain to me, these things I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

3. We know our calling and election is sure, being made sure, BECAUSE WE LOVE SIN LESS AND LESS AND LONG TO FULFILL ONLY THE WILL OF GOD MORE AND MORE:

I Peter 4:1-2 says, “Therefore since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same purpose or mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin…that he NO LONGER should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.”

In verse 17 Peter puts it in a little different way but so enlightening: “If anyone ministers, let him do it with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 2 Peter 3:14 says, “…be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.”

……….4. We know our calling and election is sure BECAUSE IN THE WAY OF HUMILITY WE’VE BEEN DRAWN NEAR TO GOD AND LONG TO STAY THERE:

I Peter 5:5-7 says, “Yes, all of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility, for…’God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble…’ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time…casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”

………..5. We know our calling and election is sure BECAUSE WE REST ON THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD’S WORD: [I’m going to close this chapter, this last point on sure election, by asking you to read carefully and over and over for several weeks Psalm 119!! Will you?}

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“IS THERE DANGER IN WILDERNESS WANDERINGS BECOMING PERMANENT?”

The title of this last chapter sounds so foreign to the purpose of God in the leading of His people – and yet ‘so true’ for far too many disciples! The wilderness pilgrimage is ‘legitimate’ and according to the sovereign purposes of God in leading His people from the beginning of the journey to its completion; from the infancy of faith to its full maturity, from “little children” to “young men” and beyond to “fathers of the faith,” according to I John 2:12-13; from a land of spiritual bondage and slavery to the promised land of “the fullness of the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

In Deuteronomy 6:1 the Word says, “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, THAT YOU MIGHT DO THEM IN THE LAND where you are going over to possess it.” And then in Verse 23, “and HE BROUGHT US OUT…in order TO BRING US IN, to give us the land which He had sworn to give to our fathers.” Our God has sworn to give us the land which has been promised to us, just as with the children of Israel in the wilderness, and that promised land for you and me is that He has predetermined from before the foundation of the world, that we should be conformed to the image of His Son. It’s His desire, His purpose, even His provision of all-sufficient grace that we finish the course. But sadly, not all pilgrims successfully pas through the wilderness; what is intended to be temporary becomes permanent, instead of the door to life and oneness with Christ it becomes their door to death and eternal separation from God.

Why the wilderness? Deuteronomy 8:2 tells us: “…God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, TESTING YOU to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.” [If YOU have a problem with this, ask yourself why Jesus said, “Why do you call Me Lord and do not do what I say?”]. I heard a friend once teach, “whatever God makes, He tests.” Peter said the same thing in I Peter 4:12, “Beloved, DO NOT BE SURPRISED at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you FOR YOUR TESTING, as though some strange thing were happening to you.” Jesus Himself was tested – by the devil, in the wilderness. In Luke 6:40 Jesus tells us, “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been FULLY TRAINED, WILL BE (JUST) LIKE HIS TEACHER.” We are instructed to expect this time of testing in the wilderness to find out what is really in our hearts, “whether (we) would keep His commandments or not.”

In I Corinthians 10:1-12, the apostle Paul warns us to learn from what happened to the children of Israel in their wilderness wanderings because it is an example for us in our wilderness walk. In Verse 1 he says, “For I do not want you to be unaware, BRETHREN…” about what happened to our fathers in the wilderness. They had taken into themselves the Passover Lamb (in I Corinthians 5:7 we are told that Christ is our Passover Lamb), they were delivered out of the bondage of Egypt (we are delivered out of the world and the bondage of Satan), they were baptized in the cloud and in the sea (a symbol of the Holy Spirit and the “washing of the water of the Word”), they had experienced the power of God as He delivered them over and over again with mighty signs and wonders, BUT “THEY WERE LAID LOW (DESTROYED) IN THE WILDERNESS!”

Why were they destroyed? Because of their evil desires, idolatry, immorality, they tested God, and they grumbled and complained about the difficulties and hardships they were encountering along the way. Contrary to popular evangelical belief, God did not destroy them because “they were ruining their witness of earth, so He decided to bring them on home early,” God’s destruction is forever, and one lives in a state of death that never dies! And Paul says to you and me in verse 11, “Now these things happened to them as AN EXAMPLE, and they were written FOR OUR INSTRUCTION, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” Then follows a staggering warning that most people today simply choose to ignore. “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”

It is not God’s desire that any disciple perish but that all come to repentance and walk in holiness, finishing the course, obtaining the witness, not aborting the formation of Christ within us, but going on – going over into the land promised – completion in Christ, “the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ,” (Ephesians 4:13). After the Lord had led Israel into the wilderness He gave them a choice – “See, I have set before you today LIFE and prosperity, and DEATH and adversity…So CHOOSE LIFE in order that you may live…by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life…” His desire for them, as well as for us, was that they follow Him fully; the Word tells us that He does not will for anyone to perish. But He clearly placed the choice of life and death in their hands. “If your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that YOU SHALL SURELY PERISH.” (Deuteronomy 30:15-20).

Many of the children of Israel chose to die in the wilderness, they chose not to go all the way with Christ; for them the wilderness became permanent. Why does the wilderness that God intends to be temporary become permanent in the lives of His people? Psalm 106 gives an account of Israel’s wilderness wanderings, and it is a solemn warning for you and me.

THEY FORGOT HIS WORKS

In Psalm 106:13 we are told that “they quickly forgot His works.” This is really an astonishing statement. The mighty works of God were demonstrated before the whole world as a testimony of His power and His choosing of Israel, all of the nations had heard of the works of the God of Israel and it struck fear in their hearts. But Israel forgot! They forgot the power of God that was released in their behalf to deliver them from the captivity of Egypt. They forgot the plagues, they forgot the death angel, they forgot the Blood that spared them, they forgot about the opening of the Red Sea and the destruction of the enemy, they forgot about His provision of manna and the water that came from the rock. The tragedy is that they forgot all of this in just a few short years!

The result of their forgetfulness is found in verse 15, so “He sent a wasting disease among them.” His judgment was released upon them. Now remember that P{aul had told us that “all these things happened as an example, and were written for our instruction…” Is it possible that we could follow in their example of forgetfulness? In Revelation 2 we hear the words of Jesus to the church at Ephesus. “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. REMEMBER from where you and fallen, and REPENT and do the deeds you did first; or else I am coming to you, and I will remove your lampstand out of its place.” Ephesus forgot. They forgot His mercy and love that He had extended to them. They forgot what they were like before He saved them. They forgot the hell they were living in and the hell they were destined to before He snatched them out of the fires.

Have you forgotten what Christ did for you at Calvary? Have you forgotten the price He paid to redeem you from every lawless deed? Have you forgotten that it was He who sought you out, not you who sought Him out? Paul reminds the Corinthians in I Corinthians 6:9-11, “that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God…neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God. AND SUCH WERE SOME OF YOU, BUT YOU WERE WASHED, BUT YOU WERE SANCTIFIED, BUT YOU WERE JUSTIFIED…”

Have you forgotten that while you were an enemy of God living in the futile way of life handed down to you by your ancestors, “foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another…” Titus 3:3; the kindness of God then appeared to you and saved you? Peter tells us in II Peter 1:9, “For he who lacks these qualities (the character and nature of Jesus Christ) is blind or short-sighted, HAVING FORGOTTEN HIS PURIFICATION FROM HIS FORMER SINS.”

Remember Jesus, remember the price He paid, remember His works! Don’t ever let the enemy cause your mind to become so cluttered with self and the affairs of this life that you forget His works, as Israel did.

THEY DID NOT WAIT FOR HIS COUNSEL

Psalm 106:13 also tells us that “they did not wait for His counsel.” His desire for them was to follow the leading of His Spirit, He would show them the way. In Isaiah 30:21 He tells them, “And your ears will hear a word behind you, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right or to the left.” Jesus told the disciples in John 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” There is the reality of following the voice of Jesus, the counsel of God, waiting upon Him. And yet the testimony of so many today is to rush out in the impulsiveness of human will rather than the absoluteness of divine will.

The true disciple of the Lord Jesus who wants to go on will not follow the voice of strangers. Many strangers rose up among the children of Israel with ‘a word from God’ to go back to Egypt, to build a golden calf, not to go in to the promised land, not to drive out the nations, to marry foreign women. But God’s word is forever settled and not one jot or tittle of it has passed away. In Jeremiah God addressed the problem of following the words of men rather than the words of God. In Jeremiah 23:16 He said to them, “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; THEY SPEAK A VISION OF THEIR OWN IMAGINATION, NOT FROM THE MOUTH OF THE LORD.”

How do we know or recognize a stranger? By knowing the voice of the Lord, by knowing His Word and His Spirit. When you acquaint yourself with The Shepherd you’ll have no problem discerning strangers. Paul foresaw this problem when he gathered to himself the elders of the church at Ephesus. In Acts 20:28-30 he said to them, “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit haqs made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure SAVAGE WOLVES WILL COME IN AMONG YOU, not sparing the flock; and FROM YOUR OWN SELVES MEN WILL ARISE SPEAKING PERVERSE THINGS, TO DRAW AWAY THE DISCIPLES AFTER THEM. Therefore be on the alert…” His advice to them was to discern the difference: “And now I commend you to God and TO THE WORD…”

THEIR HEARTS CRAVED EVIL THINGS

Another sign that the wilderness is dangerously close to becoming a place of permanent torment is found in Psalm 106:14, “They craved intensely in the wilderness.” Their hearts turned back to Egypt. Suddenly the wilderness struggle that God was using to work His character and His nature into them, to bring them to a place of total dependence upon Him, became too difficult. And although they were free from slavery, slavery began to look good to them once again. In Numbers 11 we find that they had “greedy desires.” And although they had FORGOTTEN the works of God, they REMEMBERED “the fish we used to eat in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic.” Their hearts turned back to Egypt and they began to long for having their fleshly desires fulfilled once again. It did not matter that it meant enslavement, they were like Esau, willing to trade their inheritance for a bowl of stew

There is the reality of the inward struggle, the battle to bring our minds and bodies into subjection to the will and the way of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is just that, A STRUGGLE! Jesus said in Mark 8:36, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him DENY HIMSELF, TAKE UP HIS CROSS, AND FOLLOW ME.” Paul knew the reality of this struggle when he wrote in Galatians 5:17, “The flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another.” But if you desire to enter in to the promised land, “you may not do the things that you please.”

In the same way that we were formerly slaves of sin, we are to now become slaves of righteousness. How? In Romans 6:12,13 Paul said, “Do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness.” We are not to allow our fleshly cravings to control us, but we are to bring our desires into conformity with His Word. Paul spoke of buffeting his body and making it his slave; bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ; and no longer carrying out the desires of the flesh.

In II Timothy 4:10 Paul sadly reports that “Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me.” In Philippians 2:20-21, in recommending Timothy to that church he admitted the loneliness of his walk; “For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. FOR THEY ALL SEEK AFTER THEIR OWN INTERESTS, not those of Christ.” In the same way that Israel was warned the people of God are warned today, but just as the nation of Israel, many of the people of God today are “craving intensely in the wilderness.” Jesus said in Luke 9:62, “No one, after putting his hand to he plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” An example of the judgment that comes upon those who look back is found in Lot’s wife, who looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. In Luke 17:32 Jesus simply said, “Remember Lot’s wife.”

THEY TESTED GOD

Psalm 106:14 also tells us that “they tempted God in the desert.” They expected Him to perform for them regardless of the rebellion in their hearts. There came a time in their wilderness walk when there was no water. Instead of crying out to “The Lord Your Provider,” instead of calling upon the name of “Yahweh,” the great “I AM,” they quarreled with Moses. In Exodus 17:3 we read, “The people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses.” Moses cried out to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?”

In their hearts they were saying, “perhaps God could save us from bondage and slavery, but surely He’s not able to give us water!” “God could provide the blood to save us from sin and death, but surely He’s not able to provide us with our daily bread.” “God could thwart the mighty attack of the enemy, but surely He’s not so personal or thoughtful as to be concerned with our physical sustenance.” “He may be mighty, but He’s not “ALL-MIGHTY!” In Psalm 78:18-19 we read, “And in their heart they put God to the test by asking for food according to THEIR OWN DESIRE. Then they spoke against God; they said, ‘Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?’”

In Matthew 6 we find the reality of a caring, loving, providing father who so cares for us that the very hairs of our head are numbered. His name reveals His character, “I AM.” “I AM whatever you have need of.” Do you need food? “Look at the birds of the air…Your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they?” Do you need clothing? “Observe how the lilies of the field grow…if God so arrays the grass of the field… will He not much more do so for you?” “I AM YOUR PROVIDER.” Do you understand that He is able to meet every need that we have according to His riches in glory? What does He ask of us? “Do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; or for your body, as to what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing?…For ALL THESE THINGS THE GENTILES EAGERLY SEEK; for your Heavenly Father KNOWS THAT YOU NEED ALL OF THESE THINGS. BUT SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THESE THINGS WILL BE ADDED TO YOU.”

THEY REBELLED AGAINST GOD’S AUTHORITY

In Psalm 106:16 we read that “they became envious of Moses in the camp, and of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord.” This tragic event is recorded for us in Numbers 16 and it is called “The Rebellion of Korah.” Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, along with two hundred and fifty leaders of the people, “men of renown,” rose up against Moses and Aaron. Verse 3 records their charge against Moses, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the people the assembly of the Lord?” This sin is prevalent in the church today as men and women begin to experience the presence of God and then the rebellion that is in their hearts begins to manifest against God’s appointed leadership.

Both the Old and New Testaments have much to say about false prophets who mislead the people by not turning them away from their sins, who for the sake of material gain begin to compromise the Word of God. Nowhere in this Word are we told to submit our li9vesw to the teachings and authority of false prophets. But the history of the church reveals that “The Rebellion of Korah” is a common occurrence among the people of God who become enlightened by His Word and become partakers of His Holy Spirit, and then rebel against godly authority. “We are ALL HOLY.” “We have no need that ANY MAN should teach us.” “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us.”

In the 1740’s during the “Great Awakening,” George Whitfield came to America from England preaching a fiery message of holiness and repentance. Sadly, he encountered great opposition from a very ritualistic religious establishment. He later recorded his observation of the state of the ministry in New England in his journals, saying, “Many, nay most that preach, I fear, do not experimentally [or experientially] know Christ.” What George Whitfield spoke was true! But the result of his authoritative blasting of the ministry among the thousands of new converts in the Great Awakening period produced a rebellion to ALL preachers and a spirit of anarchy that nearly destroyed any lasting fruit of that great revival. When Whitfield realized what was happening, he wrote with humility, “Alas, alas! How can I be too severe against myself, who, like Peter, have cut off so many ears, and my imprudencies mixed with my zeal, have dishonored the cause of Christ.”

There is the scriptural precedent for the role of overseer or elder as well as the reality that all who are born again by His Spirit are a part of the body, and each part is “being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part…” [Ephesians 4:16]. But that is not to the exclusion of God-ordained leadership. In Ephesians 4:11 Paul described the “gifts of men” from God to the church, “And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers, FOR the equipping of the saints FOR the work of service, TO the building up of the body of Christ…”

Paul told Titus, “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you might SET IN ORDER what remains, and APPOINT ELDERS IN EVERY CITY as I directed you…” Paul then gave very specific guidelines that these men were to meet. He told Timothy in I Timothy 3:1, “It is a trustworthy statement: if any man ASPIRES TO THE OFFICE OF OVERSEER, it is a fine work he desires to do.” Notice that Paul commends that desire, he did not condemn it. James warned us in James 3:1, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment.” We serve a holy, sovereign God who is the God of order and not the author of confusion. He has anointed men and placed them in the Body with the responsibility to watch over it, to feed it with the pure word, to protect it from savage wolves and to lead men and women into the measure of the stature that belongs to the fullness of Christ.

With the scriptural understanding of the role of overseers, Paul boldly proclaimed in Hebrews 13:17, “Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.” It is amazing how we as Christians like to “pick and choose” through the Word of God. The rebellion of Korah is a solemn warning for you and I today; God judged Korah, Datah, and Abiram as well as all who followed them. In Numbers 16:32, 33, we read, “the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah, with their possessions. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol.”

THEY DESPISED THE PROMISE

Psalm 106:24 says, “they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe in His word.” They left Egypt with their eyes fixed on the promise of a land flowing with milk and honey, but when it was time to take possession they refused. The spies who were sent in to the promised land returned with “a bad report,” saying, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us…it is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.” [Numbers 13:31-32].

In the same way, we have been delivered out of the world, ruled by a harsh taskmaster, even Satan himself; a land of sin and guilt, of bondage and slavery, of rebellion and disobedience, and have been given a promise – the promise of being changed, conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Peter tells us that through His precious and magnificent promises we may “become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” Imagine that! You and who “were dead in our trespasses and sins…and were by nature children of wrath,” (Ephesians 2:1-3), have the opportunity to be “made alive together with Christ…and seated with Him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

We must also encounter the trials of the wilderness so that we learn to trust Him in all things, but as we enter the times of testing we are to “greatly rejoice…that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” But sadly, today there are many voices crying out, “the bad report” that the promise of Jesus Christ is unobtainable, that it is vanity for a man to believe that he can be changed into the likeness of Jesus Christ in this life. Yet for those who have the spirit of Joshua and Caleb, who are willing to be the only ones to go in and possess the promise, Paul said in II Corinthians 4:11, “For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

Will you be like Paul who was able to say at the end of his life, “I have finished the course, I have kept the faith…” and like Joshua and Caleb of whom the Lord spoke in Numbers 14:24, “But My servant Caleb, BECAUSE HE HAD A DIFFERENT SPIRIT AND HAS FOLLOWED ME FULLY, I will bring into the land…”; or will you be like “the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land and who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report concerning the land, even those men who brought out the very bad report of the land died by a plague before the Lord?” Numbers 14:36. The reason they died? They did not believe His word!

THEY JOINED THEMSELVES TO IDOLS

There is no subject in the entire Word of God that is more directly spoken to by God. In Exodus 20:4,5, He told them, “You shall not make for yourself an idol…you shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.” The Lord instructed them to drive out all of the nations in the land they were going in to possess because He knew their hearts would be drawn away from Him. They were forbidden to mingle with the nations for this very reason, yet we read in Psalm 106:35, “They mingled with the nations, and learned their practices, and served their idols, which became a snare to them.”

God called this harlotry, spiritual adultery and prostitution. In Deuteronomy 31 the Lord revealed to Moses what would happen to the people as soon as he was gone, and Moses prophesied to the people in verses 16, 17, “this people will arise and PLAY THE HARLOT WITH STRANGE GODS OF THE LAND…and will forsake Me and BREAK MY COVENANT which I have made with them. Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I WILL FORSAKE THEM and hide My face from them, and they shall be consumed.” And just as the Lord said it would be, it was; in Psalm 106:28 we read, “They joined themselves to Baal-peor.”

The prophet Jeremiah saw what was happening in the land and it absolutely broke his heart. He is called “the weeping prophet” because with brokenness he prophesied to Israel about the impending judgment; he saw how Israel had turned away from the Lord and said in Jeremiah 3:9, “it came about because of the lightness of HER HARLOTRY, that SHE polluted the land and COMMITTED ADULTERY WITH STONES AND TREES.” Paul warned us in I Corinthians 10:7, “And do not be idolaters as some of them were,” and in verse 14 said, “Therefore, my beloved, FLEEE FROM IDOLATRY.” The very last words of John in the book of I John are, “Little children, GUARD YOURSELVES FROM IDOLS.”

“Oh, preacher, pastor, prophet – that would never happen to us!” Really? Listen carefully to Colossians 3:5! “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth; fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” And YOU ARE UNSURE AMERICA IS FAST BECOMING AN IDOLATROUS NATION? Oh, and by the way, Colossians 3:6 tells us: “Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.”

We are warned that in the same way the wrath of God came upon the children of Israel and they were destroyed in the wilderness, the same thing could happen to us if we turn away from following the Lord to worship other gods in this world! “Oh, God, HELP US!”

THEY RESISTED THE HOLY SPIRIT

I want you to look carefully at Psalm 106:32-33 because there is no doubt this is a problem in modern church life today! “They angered Him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses on account of them; Because they rebelled AGAINST HIS SPIRIT, so that he spoke rashly with his lips.”

It gets clearer when you read Acts 7:51, “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You ALWAYS resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.” And that is not good! What about you?

In Romans 8:13-14 Paul tells us: “For if you live according to the flesh [your old sin nature] you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

It is the Holy Spirit of God within a true disciple that honors, exalts, and glorifies Christ, not anything that has to do with one’s “old man or fallen flesh.” And when the Holy Spirit is received, acknowledged, and yielded to, a disciple, then, sees the Spirit at work in Him to lift HIGH Jesus Christ and empower one to live victoriously, not as a defeated disciple! Don’t RESIST the Holy Spirit!

What does John 16:14 tell us? “He, the Holy Spirit, shall glorify Me.” I pray that your very body has become a temple of Holy Presence and that you live a life led by the Spirit of God and not your flesh! And, I pray, you clearly understand Holy Spirit Presence and never yield to defile that temple! Amen?

CONCLUSION:

This has been an interesting, inspiring journey for me and I pray for you also. My heart attack on April 27, 2013, was an awareness of life’s uncertainty, but also a deep awareness of God’s holy presence in and through an available vessel – and that He is in charge!

I’m thankful He gave me extended time to write the book entitled “Resignation To Hopelessness” and this book “Questions That Crush Or Convert.”

And I’m thankful you persevered through 29 questions! And I pray your question or questions have been answered. I encourage you that “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Eat heartily!! Amen? Farrell Fisher

JUNE 2013

Job 17:14-15

“If I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘You are my mother and my sister,’ where then is my hope? As for my hope, who can see it?”

INTRODUCTION BY FARRELL FISHER

OUTLINE

CHAPTER ONE: RESIGNATION TO HOPELESSNESS?

CHAPTER TWO: RESTORED TO GOD’S WORD AND WILL?

CHAPTER THREE: A TEMPORARY HIATUS OR ETERNAL HELPS AND HEALTHINESS?

CHAPTER FOUR: NATURAL EFFORTS OR SUPERNATURALLY BLESSED?

CHAPTER FIVE: MIND OF THE FLESH OR MIND OF THE SPIRIT?

CHAPTER SIX: EARTHLY EDUCATIONS OR OMNIPOTENT EXPRESSIONS?

CHAPTER SEVEN: TRYING OR TRUSTING?

CHAPTER EIGHT: MARRED MARRIAGES OR MASTERED IN THE MASTER?

CHAPTER NINE: YOUR WEAKNESS OR GOD’S ABLENESS?

CHAPTER TEN: ACCEPTABLE BONDAGE OR ATONING LIBERTY?

CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE DEATH OF GRACE OR SOLD OUT TO GRACE?

CHAPTER TWELVE: PARTIAL OBEDIENCE OR FULL SURRENDER?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: LIMITED ATONEMENT OR A FINISHED WORK FOR ALL?

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: APOSTASY OR REPENTANT REST AND REACH?

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: GAME PLAYERS OR TRUE DISCIPLES?

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: DRAINED BY THE TROUBLE OR STRONGER BY THE STRUGGLES?

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: THE HOPELESSNESS OF GODLESS GOVERNMENTS OR THE HOPE OF GOVERNMENTS BEING IN GOD’S WAY?

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: AN ABANDONMENT OF HOPE OR A CONSTANT CONFESSION OF HOPE?

INTRODUCTION

It is so very, very interesting that I recently came across a brief prayer I had written to the Lord. It said: “Because Your love for me is discerned, discovered, and relied upon, I so desire to “love” as You love, Lord – no profession but possession and demonstration, no wordy declaration but a fully laid-down life, no premise but a promise, no lie but the Truth…I need Your help, Dear Lord, for that to be a real event in my life – without You words are lost in that reality of profession without possession – come in fully, Lord Jesus – take over – BE YOURSELF IN ME AND THROUGH ME!”

That’s ‘rest’ in Another apart from a ‘resignation to hopelessness.’ But in my life-long journey of 77 years I have witnessed those who began, but then never ‘pressed in’ but resigned to a hopeless journey. They neared, but fell short. They neared, but allowed deceit, diversion, and distresses in the journey to steal their devotion, discipline, and declaration of allegiance to the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Noah Webster’s 1826 Dictionary says of “resignation”: “The act of resigning or giving up, as a claim or possession; as the ‘resignation’ of a crown or commission…” Hopelessness? That’s forfeiting the crown, abandoning the faith-family heritage, walking away from the True Lover of one’s soul!

For many hope is not a treasure but a trifling blur in their imagination. In “The Ballad of Reading Gaol”, Oscar Wilde wrote: “We did not dare to breathe a prayer or to give our anguish scope! Something was dead in each of us, and what was dead was Hope!”

I assume Oscar Wilde placed no hope in the revelation of God’s Holy Word. But Paul the apostle was so on target when in Romans 15:13 he wrote: “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”

Hopelessness is deadly! What is a farmer without hope? What is a new investment businessman without hope? What is a surgeon without hope in his medical training? And what is a traveler in our world birthed by God Himself who tries to live apart from our Lord’s eternal hope?

Small souls block great hope signatured by God! Small souls breathe long gasps of expectations without the Author of eternal expectation! The void of hopelessness is nothing more than a silent soul who has no word for ‘God’ or ‘Savior’ or ‘Lord’ in their vocabulary.

I pray that is not YOUR testimony. I pray that even a small seed of ‘hope’ in you has germinated into the eternal fruit of faith and your life flourishes in the things of the Eternal Savior and Lord!

N.T.Wright in his book, “Surprised By Hope,” wrote in the preface: “Most people, in my experience – including many Christians – don’t know what the ultimate Christian hope really is. Most people – again, sadly, including many Christians – don’t expect Christians to have much to say about hope within the present world. Most people don’t imagine that these two could have anything to do with each other.”

But don’t we read, “Christ in you the hope of glory”, and that doesn’t relate to the here and now? God’s Kingdom is to come ‘on earth as it is in heaven,’ or was Jesus just ‘playing’ with us and ‘teasing’ us? I don’t think so!

I pray as you read “A Resignation To Hopelessness” that you are truly led away from hopelessness to our eternal hope in Christ Jesus.

CHAPTER ONE

A RESIGNATION TO HOPELESSNESS

It was recently, April, 2013, that my son, Scott, preached a message entitled “Gone Fishing” from John 21:3 when Simon Peter said to the other disciples, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, ‘We will also come with you.’ They went out and got nothing into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.”

And I couldn’t get away from “A Resignation To Hopelessness”! The disciples had been with Jesus for three years and witnessed the mighty manifestations of Holy God through “Emmanuel”, ‘God with us.’ According to John 20:30, “truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book…,” yet, in John 21:3 Peter said, “I am going fishing.”

If you’ve been a part of the Christian community as I have for the 77 years of my life, you have witnessed the faithful and the faithless, the devoted and the disenchanted, the “laid-down-life of loyalty” and the one who preserves and holds onto all that he is without Christ.

It’s like ‘discipleship’ is a double loyalty: flesh and Spirit; it’s like ‘discipleship’ is a take-it or leave-it proposition and whatever you ultimately choose, ‘God is OK with me;’ it’s like temporary devotion is as good or Godly as ‘all-out-sacrifice’ to His precious name.

A temporary ‘faint’ is not the same as abandonment of the true faith. Adversity in the journey is not a key that opens one’s mind and heart to, “I might as well abandon my faith,” but truly a stepping stone to submission and obedience because Jesus told us all, “In the world you will have tribulation.”

I don’t even know who wrote the following, but I came across it in one of my readings: “Come then, affliction, if my Father wills, and be my frowning friend. A friend that frowns is better than a smiling enemy.” You do understand that afflictions and fiery furnaces go hand in hand on the walk of true discipleship.

Wouldn’t you think ‘follow-ship’ and the Cross are necessary steps in a faithful journey? What is, “take up your Cross and follow Me,” if it weren’t so? It’s as if for some ‘professors’ of faith, “if trouble comes, if opposition arises, if doubts and fears emerge – this ‘trip’ must be the wrong path for me.”

It was Jonathan Edwards who grasped a true understanding of our journey: “There is no leveler like Christianity, but it levels by lifting all who receive it to the lofty table-land of a true character and of undying hope both for this world and the next.”

But if there’s been a battle, if there’s been a border-line before you of ‘hopelessness,’ if you’ve RESIGNED yourself to failure, falling short, and spiritual feebleness – what brings one to that stage in life?

THERE ARE THOSE WHO COME TO A PLACE LIKE SIMON PETER WHERE “I AM GOING FISHING” IS A RETURN TO ONE’S OLD LIFE-STYLE APART FROM CHRIST.

As Paul was maturing the young Ephesian ‘Christians’ as well as us, in Ephesians 2:1-3, he describes what some choose to go back to: “dead in trespasses and sins, walking according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.”

What a dark yet revealing style of life that some choose to go back to: “I am going back!! Back to trespass and sin, back to Satanic control, back to a rebellious, disobedient life-style, back to the unbridled ‘lusts of our flesh,’ choosing to be, once again, by my old nature, a child of wrath!!” How sad is that?

Are you at all familiar with John 6:66? “From that time many of His disciples went back (turned away) and walked no more with Jesus.”

In Oswald Chambers’ book, “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.270], Chambers wrote: “When God gives a vision by His Spirit through His Word of what He wants, and your mind and soul thrill to it, if you do not walk in the light of that vision, you will sink into servitude to a point of view which our Lord never had.”

Have you ever read a sadder verse than Acts 7:39? “whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt.” Egypt over the promised land! Egypt over a walk with God! Pyramids over the Prince of Peace! The Nile over rivers of living water! A pharaoh over the King of kings and Lord of lords! A sinking into servitude rather than servants of the Most High God!

What does Psalm 95:7b-11 tell us? “…Today, if you will hear His voice: ‘Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, When your fathers tested Me; they tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’”

If you have a problem with Old Testament verse like we just read, what about Luke 9:57-62?

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him [Jesus], “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to Him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

I BELIEVE ALSO THERE IS A RESIGNATION TO HOPELESSNESS IN SOME “PROFESSORS” BECAUSE OF THEIR DOUBTS JESUS CAN DO IN THEM WHAT HE DID IN THE EARLY DISCIPLES: A HOPELESSNESS OF RESPONSIBILITY!!

I personally am still astounded as I read John 14:12-14! “Most assuredly, I [Jesus] say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also, and greater works than these he will do because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”

Somehow we’ve been deceived in many church circles into believing that “greater works” than Jesus did were only for the early New Testament disciples that were used in establishing early church ministry but today we just discuss them apart from demonstration of their validity – truly a resignation to hopelessness of the miracle-working power of God for today!

Somehow some lose sight of ‘sons and daughters’ anointing and gifts and close the door on our Lord’s ministry through us! In Luke 10:17-20 Jesus still speaks: Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

And I want you to notice – it was not His initial twelve disciples, but Luke 10:1 says: “after these things the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place WHERE HE HIMSELF WAS ABOUT TO GO.”

“Working out your own salvation” is manifested by the Indwelling Christ working in us and through us to touch our world with His grace, mercy, and love. Manifesting the body of Christ ‘in me’ is allowing Jesus to be the same – yesterday, today, and forever – not in some mysterious fashion, but in reality, through you, touching others.

Have you considered 2 Corinthians 10:5 lately about “bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ”? Our touching our world is not to be impulses of self-will and self-motivation, but our availability to Him as a vessel through which He flows! Just as Jesus chose “to do nothing of Himself” but fully available to all God is and wants to do through Him, so true disciples daily take the sentence of death unto themselves that the resurrection LIFE OF CHRIST may flow through them to the needy!

RESIGNATION TO HOPELESSNESS OCCURS TOO OFTEN WHEN JESUS ASKS US: “Do you AGAPE ME”?, and we respond with a brotherly love (phileo)?

Look at John 21:15! Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love (agape) Me more than these?” Agape – God’s kind of love, God’s sacrificial love, God’s laid-down Life for others! But Peter responded: “Yes, Lord, You know that I love (phileo) You.”

Friendship love but void at this time of the eternal heart of God kind of love. Friendship love but vacant at this moment of the Calvary Cross kind of love. Chambers said: “The love of God means Calvary and nothing less; the love of God is spelled on the Cross and nowhere else; the only ground on which God can forgive me is through the Cross of My Lord. There, His conscience is satisfied.”

I often wonder, “Lord, is the church-at-large filled with ‘agape’ lovers or are they just ‘friendly’ to You? Lord, does the church-at-large today truly know and understand Your Blood Atonement?

Hebrews 2:9-10 is so important and so vital because of the challenge it gives to all ‘Christians’ today of being brought into glory! “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”

Then in Hebrews 3:1-6 we read: Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all his house. For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are IF we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of hope firm to the end.” OH, WHAT A REVELATION!!

True discipleship is not less than God’s love but His fullness in our laid-down lives for Him and for those He gave Himself for!

ALSO, RESIGNATION TO HOPELESSNESS RESULTS WHEN ONE WILLFULLY CHOOSES TO LIVE “THE FAITH” WITH AN ABSENCE OF THE WILLINGNESS TO DIE TO SELF, THE OLD MAN, THE FLESH – A “CONVERSION” WITHOUT IMMERSION INTO OUR LORD’S LIFE AND PURPOSE.

Follow carefully Jesus’ words to Peter in John 21:18-19! “Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish. This He spoke signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.”

Isn’t it amazing to you, surprising, that as Jesus was arrested and programmed for the Cross that His disciples ran away and hid?!! Contrast Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 4:7-11 with, not the words of Paul, but the attitudes and actions and avenues of many ‘professors’ WHO NEVER DIE DAILY!! “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed – always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live [in Christ] are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

It’s also amazing to me that as I look to God’s Word for guidance and help in restoring the ‘hopeless’ to a righteous walk that I see God holding “false shepherds” responsible for much of the faithless walk though in church every time the church door is open! Look at Ezekial 34:1-10!

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As I live, says the Lord God, surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock” – “therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God, BEHOLD, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them.”

THE RESIGNATION TO HOPELESSNESS CAN OCCUR WHEN SOME CHOOSE TO LIVE WITH A DISCIPLESHIP OF COMPARISON AND QUESTIONING OTHERS’ FAITH WHILE ONE WALKS FAITHLESS HIMSELF.

In John 21:20-22 I sense Jesus saying to Peter and to us, “Examine your own faith walk, look deep into your own soul and your own heart, don’t walk with faulty comparisons of yourselves and others.” Yet many use it to validate their complacent or indifferent journey of what they call ‘faith.’

Oswald Chambers so enriches our understanding of this passage when in his book “My Utmost For His Highest” he discusses the previous verses: [p.237], “One of our severest lessons comes from the stubborn refusal to see that we must not interfere in other people’s lives. It takes a long time to realize the danger of being an amateur providence, that is, interfering with God’s order for others. You see a certain person suffering, and you say – he shall not suffer, and I will see that he does not. You put your hand straight in front of God’s permissive will to prevent it, and God says – ‘What is that to you?’ If there is stagnation spiritually, never allow it to go on, but get into God’s presence and find out the reason for it. Possibly you will find it is because you have been interfering in the life of another; proposing things you had no right to propose; advising when you had no right to advise. When you do have to give advice to another, God will advise through you with the direct understanding of His Spirit; your part is to be so rightly related to God that His discernment comes through you all the time for the blessing of another soul.”

RESIGNATION TO HOPELESSNESS WILL OCCUR, YES, WILL HAPPEN WHEN ONE PERFORMS SPIRITUALLY APART FROM SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF GOD.

Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:21-23 are so shattering to one who “works” but has never WILLED to rest in Christ’s finished work at the Cross, then resting in His resurrection life in and through you. The Word says, Jesus’ words: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he WHO DOES the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

Are you aware that many ‘religious’ people are what they are because of self-will, self-performance, self-promotion, never recognizing the true foundation of saving faith is not self-willed determination but dependence upon the finished work of Christ at the Cross?

Relational salvation or relational Christianity is never dissected as separation to one’s best effort but according to Romans 1:1, “separated to the gospel of God.”

We’re not spiritual “conquerors” because “We did good” but because Christ died and rose again!

Spiritual performance by one’s best efforts always leads to a hopeless ending! It’s not ‘grit’ but divine grace. It’s not performance but our eternal position ‘in Christ.’ It’s not determination but dependence upon our Lord’s “free gift”!!

CHAPTER TWO

“RESIGNATION TO HOPELESSNESS?”

RESTORED TO GOD’S WORD AND WILL?

The Christian disciple, the Christian church, Christian families, are on a journey, a pilgrimage of faith, obedience, service and ministry. We haven’t arrived yet but we’re ON THE WAY, IN THE WAY, FOR GLORY TO HIM who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

In Romans 4:13-25 Paul, so anointed by the Spirit, unveils our journey in comparison to Abraham. He wrote: For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, because the law brings about wrath, for where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed – God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.”

Are you fully convinced these holy words are God’s Personal promises to you for the fulfillment of His desire for your walk of faith? In Romans 5:17 Paul added: “For if by 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.”

And reigning in life through Christ means that “we are more than conquerors,” we are winners not losers, being shaped and molded into the likeness of our Lord and Savior. Have we fully arrived, are we fully formed, are we finally a ‘finished product’? From God’s point of view: YES! From our point of view we’re babes, toddlers, children, teenagers, young adults, maturing adults, senior citizens someday – but we’re “in the game” of discipleship and our Lord is up to something good in each true believer.

Have you grasped it yet? ‘In Christ’ you are a significant part of our Lord’s transformational army. You are NOW a soldier of the Cross! NOW, you are, in Him, salt, light, witnesses, servants, ministers, proclaimers, evangelists, preachers, teachers, His disciples, His deliverers, His warriors, His statesmen of faith!

When the journey begins as ‘a babe in Christ,’ nurturing must occur! In Hebrews 5:12-14 the author so clearly opens our understanding of this walk and maturing of our faith: “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

Do you remember Gethsemane as Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 26:36, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And in verse 46 He so clearly and convinced says: “Rise, let us be going.” How many ‘sleeping disciples’ do you know who haven’t ARISEN? It’s time to ARISE! It’s time to step up to the plate because you are a batter on His team. It’s time to report in to our commanding officer. It’s time to know He’s overlooked your ‘sleep’ and forgiven it. Get up! Leave failure behind and step in to His Land of Blessed Fulfillment!

There are a number of things I want to call to your attention, I want to remind you, or if necessary, that your spiritual eyes are truly opened to this marvelous journey with Christ.

RESTORED TO GOD’S WORD AND WILL MEANS HE TAKES THE OLD MAN, AND HAVING CRUCIFIED IT IN HIS PASSION AT THE CROSS, OUR LORD AND SAVIOR BEGINS TO REWIRE US, RECALIBRATE US, RENEW US AS A NEW CREATION, AND RESTORE US TO THE PATH OF HIS WORD, HIS WILL, HIS WAYS, YES, TO HIS LIKENESS.

In Psalm 37:39 we read, “But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in time of trouble.” You do understand that apart from Christ our Lord we lived IN unrighteousness, but coming to Him in repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of Christ at the Cross we receive imputed, implanted righteousness!

I know this is why “the singers,” the sons of Korah, sand Psalm 84:5-7! “Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Lord, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, [“weeping”], they make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.”

Is your heart “set on pilgrimage”? Are you going from Christ’s strength to even more of Christ’s strength? Is it “Leaning On and In The Everlasting Arms of Christ” or are you determined to make it on your own?

I pray you’ll print out Philippians 3:7-10 and tape it to your bathroom mirror or pin it to your auto sun-visor! It says: “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”

I also pray you weep with Paul for Israel as we read in Romans 10:1-3, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.”

To Titus Paul wrote, inspired by the Holy Spirit, vital words for our understanding. Titus 3:5-7 says: “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

And this ‘washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit’? Titus 2:11-14 tells us: “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed, and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” But also…

RESTORED TO GOD’S WORD AND WILL MEANS THAT YOUR REJOICING IS NOT WHAT YOU PRESENTLY ARE BUT WHAT YOU’RE BECOMING!

In 2 Peter 3:17-18 Peter wrote: “You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.”

You’ll remember that in Ephesians Paul talked about ‘purpose’ in the lives of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor-teachers. He said in Ephesians 4:12-15, “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ –“

Do you sense a problem with some believers? What’s that, you ask? It’s “professors” of Christ who are more concerned about their own identity in religious circles, their own ‘self-realization,’ their ‘pat-on-the-back’ because of their ‘attainments,’ that their reflection of Christ Jesus has become a secondary issue, yet Paul said in Ephesians 4:13, “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

Fleshly promotion in religious circles about one’s spiritual identity has, is, or becomes a stumbling block in others to “saving grace.” We’re not called to be self-promoters, self-pumpers, self-realizers, but Christ promoters alone!

But, again, Oswald Chambers nailed it! He said: [“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.140], “The initiative of the saint is not towards self-realization, but towards knowing Jesus Christ. The spiritual saint never considers circumstances to be haphazard, or thinks of his life as secular and sacred; he sees everything he is dumped down in as the means of securing the knowledge of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is determined that we shall realize Jesus Christ in every domain of life, and He will bring us back to the same point again and again until we do. Self-realization leads to the enthronement of work; whereas the saint enthrones Jesus Christ in His work.” Amen?

RESTORED TO GOD’S WILL AND WORK IS ONE’S COMMITMENT TO THE GREATER RELEASE OF HIS LIGHT AND LIFE BEAMING BRIGHTER AND BRIGHTER TO HIS PERFECT LIKENESS.

In Proverbs 4:18 we read, “But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.” ‘The just,’ justified, ‘just as if I’d never sinned.’ What a path to walk on, travel on, settle in to! God shines on you, He beckons you, He purposefully directs the bright rays of His Son to shine on you! And day by day gracious God intensifies “The Light” – and what have you done with it? Hidden from it or reflecting it?

For you, is it dark clouds or the blazing Light of God’s glory? Have you weaned from your walk of faith those clouds of unbelief? Have you blocked His Light in you and upon you, defacing His glowing love by compromised submission? Is the Light of God’s glory crowded out by a ‘thankful spirit’ that’s been undermined by doubt, distrust, distraction, or disobedience? Has your walk of faith been sadly mingled with an indifferent attitude?

Faults before your conversion too often open the doors to the fruits of presumption, and our guard is down and His Light is blurred in us. But infinite mercy abounds and abounds and abounds. And from our darkness He compassionately reaches out to touch us with His grace and mercy, and rekindles within us the Holy Light of His manifested Presence!

Listen to Paul and reflect personally upon his words if you’ve carelessly tried to put out the Light of your Lord! I Timothy 1:15-17, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God alone Who is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”

George Gordon, Lord Byron, in “The Giaour,” wrote: “Devotion wafts the mind above, But Heaven itself descends in love; a feeling from the Godhead caught, To wean from self each sordid thought; A Ray of Him who formed the whole; A Glory circling round the soul!” Amen?

Don’t you thrill within when you read David’s declaration of faith? In Psalm 27:1 we read, “The Lord is my LIGHT and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

You’ll remember as Jesus began His public ministry of preaching Matthew 4:17 says, “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” It was a fulfillment of prophecy from Isaiah 9:2 when the prophet recorded, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwell or walk in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.”

At this given moment, where are you dwelling, where are you living, what are you experiencing? Fleshly, worldly, satanic darkness, or the forever Light of His Holy Presence in you and through you?

Listen to Jesus!! Luke 11:33-36, “No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part with darkness, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.”

I can’t help but close this portion of this chapter in Colossians 1:9-14! “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

Do you grasp what division can do to one who is to be walking in the Light? It produces darkness! Disintegration is like holding a baby lamb in one hand and a rattlesnake in the other – you’ve pushed Christ Jesus away and compromised. And the ‘snake-bites’ will come!

RESTORED TO GOD”S WILL AND WORD IS THE GREATER RELEASE OF HIS ETERNAL PROMISES OF POWER, STRENGTH, AND SOARING ABILITY INTO HIGH PLACES – NOT THE LOWLAND OF WEAKNESS, POWERLESSNESS, AND A WALK IN THE LOW PLACES.

Oh, take Isaiah 40:29-31 as your secured treasure of the day! “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

I have no doubt Isaiah’s words were great inspiration for Paul, so he built on it and wrote to us in 2 Corinthians 4:7-11, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed – always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

What did John write in John 1:16? “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” So Paul prayed for the Ephesian Christians and us in Ephesians 1:15-23! “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

You are not a ‘low-land’ follower – you are an upper-room disciple living in the high places!

RESTORED TO GOD’S WORD AND WILL BECAUSE OF HIS PROMISE THAT THE VEIL IS REMOVED, HIS VISION FOR US IS RECEIVED, AND HIS GLORY IS RELEASED TO LEAD AND INSPIRE US! WHY SETTLE FOR ANYTHING ELSE IN YOUR WALK AS A DISCIPLE?

2 Corinthians 3:12-18 tells us: “Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech – unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

“SUCH HOPE”? Is that true of you or have you settled in and resigned yourself as a ‘hopeless case’? A ‘hopeless case’ is evidence of one who looks to himself alone and has failed to “look unto Jesus, the author AND finisher of our faith.”

“SUCH HOPE”? That’s one who has learned to fix his face and faith on Jesus only “beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord.” Has the veil over your spiritual eyes been removed, has your vision of Jesus been sealed in your heart, and has His glory manifested upon you, in you, and through you?

“SUCH HOPE”? Encountering the Living Christ, Paul said, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.” The veil was removed, the vision appeared, and our Lord’s glory was upon his life! Yet, have you, encountering the vision, chosen to turn away because you think less of yourself than God does?

“SUCH HOPE”? To the church at Corinth Paul wrote, I Corinthians 2:1-5, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellency of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 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.”

RESTORED TO GOD’S WORD AND WILL IS ONE BEING TURNED FROM SELF-WILL TO DIVINE INTENT, TURNED FROM FLESHLY DETERMINATION TO ‘MADE ALIVE IN THE SPIRIT,’ AND CHOOSING TO LIVE AS A LITTLE EWE LAMB UNDER THE MASTERY OF THE GREAT SHEPHERD.

Examine I Peter 3:18! “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit.”

That eternal walk of faith is never to be attempted by “best effort” but a yieldedness to The Blessed Holy Spirit. It is not by one’s mastery of fallen flesh but mastered by the Indwelling Holy Spirit. This is why Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:15-21, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but wise, redeeming the times, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit. Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.”

In your ‘resignation to hopelessness’ have you ever truly looked to “The Great Shepherd”? In John 10:1-5 Jesus is speaking about this very thing. He said: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

Have you heard “The Shepherd’s” call? Are you truly being led and directed by The Shepherd of The Sheep? Have you heard Him call you by name?

RESTORED TO GOD’S WORD AND WILL IS BECAUSE I UNDERSTAND NO ONE CAN RESPOND FOR ME – I ACCEPT MY RESPONSIBILITY TO RESPOND IN OBEDIENCE TO THE LORD AND SAVIOR WHO HAS CALLED ME BY NAME, TAPPED ME ON THE SHOULDER, AND SHOWED ME MY PATH TO WALK ON.

In I Peter 3:15 Peter says: “Get up before Him, rise up, soar, and share what Amazing Grace has done for you!” “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.”

And in that journey of obedience we learn of God’s Sovereignty birthing artisans with LIFE PURPOSE, A LIFE PLAN, and DIVINE LIFE WITH POWER IN THE SPIRIT TO OVERCOME WHATEVER WE FACE! Exodus 36:1 says: “And Bezalel and Aholiab, AND EVERY GIFTED ARTISAN in whom the Lord has put wisdom and understanding, to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary [holy place], shall do according to all that the Lord has commanded.”

Tell me about your ‘gifting’ – or have you misused it for selfish purposes and find yourself at the door of resignation?

CHAPTER THREE

A TEMPORARY HIATUS OR ETERNAL HELPS AND HEALTHINESS?

Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary says a ‘hiatus’ is: “an opening…a gap, a chasm…a defect…”; and of ‘temporary’ he says: “For a time only…not perpetually.” Are you aware of ‘temporary hiatuses’ because of “the resignation to hopelessness”?

In Romans 15:13 Paul wrote: “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

The author of Hebrews gives us a thrilling perspective. He wrote: Hebrews 6:17-19, For He testifies: ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’ For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.”

An anonymous writer wrote: “Life with Christ is an endless hope, without Him a hopeless end.” It is so very, very true!

It was D.R. Davies who once wrote these words: “If the Cross is the measure of God’s respect for man’s freedom, then we can take new hope that freedom will survive all man’s attempts to destroy it.”

And, sadly, there are enemies to our eternal hope. There truly are those who laugh at hope, deny hope, refuse hope, because they relish themselves wallowing in self-pity or self-pride, wallowing in despair not dependence upon Another, wallowing in self-trust with no looking beyond their own noses and minds!

Let me give you up front in this chapter an overview of the temporary and a revelation of the eternal. Follow carefully and thoughtfully 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17!! Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. Now may the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.”

Do you understand “Born Free”? Have you come to an understanding that you or anyone around you is free to trust God or free to deny Him? Isaiah the prophet was given a picture not only of the freedom of choice but the awareness of an eternal enemy out to capture, allure, deceive, and cripple anyone who looks toward God. He wrote in Isaiah 14:12-14, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.”

Don’t you find it interesting that in Luke 22:31 that the Lord said: “Simon! Simon! INDEED Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.”

Temporary hiatuses are multiple in our fallen natures, but INDEED Satan has you in his target range and fires shots at you on a constant basis! In fact, he is regularly planting seeds that germinate into ‘the deceivableness of unrighteousness.’

But, how many do you know who have been blinded to the subtleties of Satanic activity and deny he even exists or have deluded themselves into thinking ‘abuse by Satan’ is not in their vocabulary or mental thoughts? “NOT ME!”

It was after Jesus’ baptism when the Voice came from heaven: “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Mark 1:12-13 then reads: “Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.”

Do you remember “seed by the wayside”, and when one hears it, “Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.” Wayside living is not living ‘in the Way’!! But even ‘in the way’ disciples can be and are, at times, troubled by the enemy of Christ! It’s why Paul said in I Thessalonians 2:18, “Therefore we wanted to come to you – even I, Paul, time and again – but Satan HINDERED US.”

Peter knew and experienced what Paul did in relation to the power and powers of darkness. He said in I Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour.”

It was Cotton Mather in his “A Discourse on the Wonders of the Invisible World” who wrote: “That there is a Devil is a thing doubted by none but such as are under the influences of the Devil. For any to deny the being of a devil must be from ignorance or profaneness worse than diabolical.” How true! But isn’t it sad that Christ-less professors and teachers target children and youth to ignore teachings about “a devil” and say to them, “Do whatever comes naturally that YOU want to do” – and they fall into the Devil’s trap!

In I Timothy 5:14-15 Paul wrote young Timothy and us: “Therefore I desire that younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary (the devil, the enemy, Satan) to speak reproachfully. For some have already turned aside after Satan.”

I was shocked again recently as I was reading in Revelation 2 about Smyrna, the persecuted church, when the angelic messenger came and said in verses 8-9, “These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life: ‘I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue (a congregation) of Satan.” Oh, Oh, my God! Awaken, shake, arise, save, birth synagogues of Satan into true temples, buildings, lives of redeemed, regenerated faith!!

It was Caedmon in “Creation. The Fall of Rebel Angels,” who wrote: “And them all the Lord transformed to devils, because they His deed and word would not revere.”

I’ve known women who were so much like depraved witches! I know there are mean men, but a Satanic woman is a tough, tough foe! In “Monsieur Thomas” John Fletcher wrote: “O woman, perfect woman! What distraction was meant to mankind when you were made a devil!” [Act111, sc 1].

If there is no resistance to Satanic activity, then capture, chains, spiritual cell-bars, bring the ‘lock-up’ and ‘breakdowns’ – morally, physically, mentally, practically – basket-cases though outwardly they appear just like the rest of our fallen world of unbelieving mankind! They just adjust, programmed by demon forces!

There is no doubt that we all face a powerful enemy who is intent on the demise of saving faith in any of us. His description is witnessed in the Word as powerful in great evil and diabolical intent. In Revelation 12:10 we’re assured that he (Satan) is the “accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night,” but he’s been cast down! If so, then why do some allow him to constantly cast them down?

Satan tempts, he entices, he lures, he entraps, he deludes, he deceives, he strikes like a coiled rattler attacking, he lies, he puffs up the fallen, he infects with deadly, godless poisons, he implants in the minds of men deadly errors, trash thoughts, promising strength he gives weakness, promising health he ‘blesses’ with spiritual sicknesses and diseases, promising victory he can’t tell you he’s already a defeated enemy of God!

When it comes to Satan and us, we are not “resigned to hopelessness” – WE ARE OVERCOMERS IN CHRIST JESUS! Revelation 12:11 says, “And they overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death!”

It was Spurgeon who preached: “Satan makes sin seem pleasurable, but the cross reveals its bitterness.” Resignation to hopelessness concerning the devil or Satan and your entrapment may blind you temporarily, but Calvary reveals the sweetness of deliverance and healing. We will not be false or foreign to the shed blood of the Lamb of God at Calvary!

Temporary hiatuses? It’s not only Satanic influences and impulses, but I believe also it’s when one has been allured, deceived, captured by a devotion to, yes, a worldly spirit foreign to the nature and character of God Himself.

The question? Are you seated at the table of worldliness?

When you consider worldly men, what do you see and sense? How do you compare or contrast them with men of true redemptive faith? When Jesus shared the Beatitudes He said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Not the proud in spirit but the poor in spirit, not the haughty but the humble, not the polished but the positioned ‘in Christ,’ not the degreed void of the divine, not the superior but the servant heart, not mean-spirited, arrogant, independent, better than everybody around kind of men but those men who’ve rested themselves before the world as an extension of Christ’s Life, as an expression of His love, and the very proof of Christ’s power dwelling within them!

Oh, I tell you, it’s not the man consumed by and indulging in a wild stallion kind of lifestyle, dancing with anything that crosses his bred-of-life debauchery, determined to drink with that which intoxicates him and satisfies every lust, one who is like a wild Texas stallion who roams with no harnesses, no guidance of God, no Spirit restraint- -and the world around him calls him free and happy and independent when in reality he’s bound, sad, alone, and apart from “saving grace and mercy” literally has no hope in himself.

But, Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” How blinded are the impure in heart! How disabled are godless men though they believe they are “on top of the world”! How empty the man who has chosen to do what he wishes rather than what God wills for that man’s life! How sightless for eternity’s sake and for present blessing are those who choose the world now over God forever!

In Luke 12:13-21 it so clearly defines the man of the world AND the man rich toward God: Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” And He said to him, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consists in the abundance of the things he possesses.” Then He spoke a parable to them, saying, “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought to himself, “What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?” So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.’” But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.’”

What did Jesus say in verse 15? “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for ONE’S LIFE DOES NOT CONSIST IN THE ABUNDANCE OF THE THINGS HE POSSESSES.” And the worldly says, “Oh, yes it is,” and brazenly they go after earthly treasures rather than heavenly wealth.

Where does YOUR ‘hope’ lie or rest? And you know it – there are those who say, ‘my hope lies in this world and all I can squeeze out of it;” “if I could be acknowledged by the President in the White House, I would be truly a blessed man;” “ah, just let me sit every day at my favorite bar and I’ll be happy”; “yes, sexy music, a lewd and licentious book, lots of money, riches, or wealth, and I’ll be a happy camper.” NO, YOU WON’T!! Look around you – you’re not blessed by the vile of a sinful society – sickness comes, body, soul, mind, and spirit – and you’re not blessed but cursed, not honored but honed in on by Satan himself, your ‘friends’ are the cursers, the liars, the pretentious, the Pharisees, a company of the vilest of this modern, maddened, missed-God society!

In speaking to the religious Pharisees in John 8, verses 21-24, Jesus said: Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.” So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you cannot come?’ And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

Do you remember Demas? I Timothy 4:9-10 says, “Be diligent to come to me quickly; for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world.” Why is that?

I John 2:15-17 explains: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the [boastful] pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who DOES the will of God abides forever.”

There is the Devil opposing redemptive faith, the world opposed to saving faith – but most ‘temporary hiatuses’ are because of ‘fallen flesh’ or one’s old, Adamic sin nature! What did I John 2:16 tell us? THERE IS “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life.” And that lust so consumes, so debilitates – it is destructive and deadly!

In “Spurgeon’s Sermons,” [Vol. 18, p.371], he wrote after quoting Isaiah 2:22, “Cease you from man (fallen man), whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?” Then Spurgeon preached: “Man, especially since the fall, is a very unscriptural creature. His animus is animal. He is made up, as the old writers used to say, of soul and soil. Alas, the soil terribly soils the soul! “My soul cleaves to the dust” might be the confession of every man in one sense or another. We bear the image of the first Adam, who was of the earth earthy; earthy enough are we… [Spurgeon continued],

One consequence of the prevailing materialism of our corrupt nature is our craving for something tangible, audible, visible, as the object of our confidence. We want something which can be touched, heard, seen, or felt; we cannot be content with that which appeals only to the soul or the spirit. It seems as if man is so unspiritual that he cannot believe in a spiritual God; and yet any other than a spiritual God is an absurdity. Man cannot see God; therefore he will not trust in Him. He cannot hear His voice; therefore he will not attend to the movement of the Holy Spirit upon his soul. Humanity is carnal, sold under sin, infected with idolatry; and this fact remains true in a measure even of the regenerate.”

Infected with idolatry? Are you ready for truth? Colossians 3:5 says, “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” GOD, HELP US ALL TO BE FREE OF THAT WHICH WOULD BIND US, ENSLAVE US, KILL US!!

How many do you know who are ‘chained’ rather than free in the Spirit of Christ? Do you witness the enslaved to their old sin natures rather than men and women whose chains have been broken by Christ Jesus? John 8:34-36 says, Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

Enough of the Devil, the world, and the flesh – what about our “Eternal Helps and Healthiness”?

Here’s an overview of the Divine strategy in the Word against the world, the flesh, and the devil. John was inspired to write in Revelation 12:9-12 the following: So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ has come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”

The world, the flesh, the Devil – they are not ‘sovereign’ over Holy God, but Holy God is Sovereign over your world, your flesh, and, yes, even your devotion to the Devil and the powers of darkness at times!

I have no hesitation in saying that every living being troubled by his enemies MUST CLAIM “Eternal Helps and Eternal Healthiness” – yes, it belongs to one who repents to God and puts his faith in the finished work of Christ at the Cross!

Do you remember the “Lord’s Prayer”? You’ll find it in Matthew 6:9-13, “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil [or the evil one]. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

Who is without need of Holy Help? Who is it who faces the enemy in his own strength and stands victorious? Who is it that is accused by the Enemy who stands against him conquering except that man who knows he’s “HEDGED”? We read in Job 1:6-12, Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, “Form where do you come?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.”

And, not only Job, but every God-fearing man, woman, youth, or child, who puts his/her faith in a trustworthy Savior and Lord, faces the Enemy hedged about by the glory of God! His glory, His eternal Help, His eternal healthiness in any man who “rests” himself in our Lord!

It’s “the blood of the Lamb of God”!! Always has been, always will be! It’s not religion! It’s not religious practices – it’s the blood of the Lamb of God!

The Lamb of God is the Son of God. The Lamb of God is Emmanuel! The Lamb of God is the crucified King of kings and Lord of lords! The Lamb of God is the Suffering Servant! The Lamb of God IS THE SUBSTITUTIONARY SACRIFICE AT THE CROSS! And men are reconciled to God, not by religious devotion to an institution, but “repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of Christ at the Cross.”

What does the great old hymn say? “My hope is built on NOTHING LESS THAN JESUS’ BLOOD AND RIGHTEOUSNESS; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.”

But you’ve been taught self-effort rather than Divine Intervention? You’ve been programmed with religion rather than Relationship? It was John Bunyan who wrote simply in “A Book For Boys and Girls”: “The egg’s no chick by falling from the hen, Nor man a Christian till he’s born again.” Were you truly ‘born again’ or have you just ‘joined’ a ‘church’?

Jesus died that you might LIVE in Him. Jesus shed His blood as the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world. You do know that Isaiah 53 was written 700 years before the death of Jesus! Verses 4-6 astounds us all!! “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

True people of faith LEAN upon Jesus’ shed blood and overcome through Him alone! Didn’t we read in Revelation 12:11, “overcame…by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death”?

Oh, listen with a thankful heart for a way of deliverance from self and religious slavery! Elisha Hoffman and Anthony Schowalter wrote it over a hundred years ago:

“What a fellowship, what a joy divine, Leaning on the everlasting arms; What a blessedness, what a peace is mine, Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way, Leaning on the everlasting arms. Oh how bright the path grows from day to day, Leaning on the everlasting arms.

What have I to dread, what have I to fear, Leaning on the everlasting arms, I have blessed peace with my Lord so near, Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Leaning, leaning, Safe and secure from all alarms; Leaning, leaning, Leaning on the everlasting arms.”

I’m saddened by a hollow, faithless world, when men turn a deaf ear to “the blood of the Lamb of God,” but I rejoice, exult, celebrate, when a small child (yes, physically and spiritually) begins to rejoice in Jesus! Will you be one?

Spurgeon wrote: “Spiritual power of a holy kind rests upon us to overcome the spiritual power of an evil kind which is exerted by Satan, the world, and the flesh. [But] the Lord scatters the power of the enemy, and breaks the spell which holds men captive.” [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Vol.19, p.316]. AMEN?

What does 2 Corinthians 5:17 tell us? “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Do you receive 1) A new person 2) A new presence 3) a new participation with our Lord in world redemption 4) A new people 5) A new purpose and plan 6) A new power 7) A new non-perishing promise 8) A new path and pilgrimage of pressing in to Him?

2 Timothy 1:12 says, “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.” Amen?

CHAPTER FOUR

NATURAL EFFORTS OR SUPERNATURALLY BLESSED?

In I Corinthians 3:1-3 Paul wrote: And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal [‘fleshly’]. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?”

Again I read to you from Isaiah 2 where in verses 19-22 we find the prophet challenging the ‘natural ‘ world as it faces the Supernatural glory of God. It says: They shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily. In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made, each for himself to worship, to the moles and bats, To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the crags of the rugged rocks, from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily. Sever yourselves from such a man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he?”

The prophet mentioned idolatry which we saw in Colossians 3:5, “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth (those natural affections that are deadly!!); fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desires, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” And, as a result of failure in living by natural efforts rather than Supernaturally Blessed, “the terror of the Lord…arises to shake the earth mightily;” and to you, you don’t care, you don’t fear, you don’t re-evaluate who you are before Him and where you stand? You don’t even ask, “Is there any hope for me or am I just totally hopeless?”

Man in the first century, man in the mid-centuries, and man in these last days, has been and is by his own fallen sin nature an idolater! Read human history if you dare, and nothing has changed. Fallen man became “god” unto himself, and bowed to worship! Still does.

The natural possesses ‘religious possibilities’ producing the curse while the Spiritual is Divine in presence bestowing blessing after blessing. The natural has temporary healing qualities while the Spiritual is Eternal Health. The natural has “pride” while the Spiritual possesses Holy humility. The natural has fleshly, temporal potential while the Spiritual is “Christ in you the hope of glory.”

The natural has historic crowds while the Spiritual is “few there be that find it.” The natural is limited ability while the Spiritual is “God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that I ask or think.” The natural trusts big armies while the Spiritual thanks God for Jesus and His angels.

Jeremiah 17:5-6 says, Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength who departs from the Lord. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. [BUT] Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord.”

Where have you rested your life, right now? Natural efforts or Supernaturally blessed? Do you understand shadows or substance, or have you blinded yourself to indifference? Is your life-walk faith in your feebleness or have you chosen faith in the faithfulness of God Himself? Is your ‘existence’ the best of human frailty or is your devotedness in the fullness of the Godhead bodily? Is your life stopped on human potential or is your life resting on Divine promises?

Have you encountered, yes, fleshly uncertainties or do you rest in Divine assurances? Is it really soulish confidence of what you believe you can do or the spiritual reality of saving, sovereign grace and what God Himself can do through you as you make yourself available to Him alone?

I was amused yet awakened anew when I read Spurgeon saying that man apart from God is nothing more than “worm’s meat.” How is it that when you’ve prided yourself in independence from God, you determine to be master of your own destiny? Then, all of a sudden, fleshly fear floods your soul? God said through Isaiah, [Isaiah 51:12], “I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who will die, and of the son of man who will be made like grass?”

Oh, how sad, how troubling! Have you forgotten your Maker, the Lord your God and Savior? I’m awed every time I read Hebrews 12:3-8!! For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: ‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.’ If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.”

Flesh exaggerates – Faith chastens. Natural men will pump your flesh – the Supernatural Blessing will ‘break’ you in holy moments of rescue and reward and rebuilding your identity in Him. Flesh is fully self-centered – Spirit is selfless, as Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:15, “And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.”

The world so promotes in its people likeness to the fallen flesh that is all around – look alike, talk alike, act alike, sin alike, rebel alike, destroy alike, adulterate alike, curse God alike, deny Him alike – yes, “join the crowd of the Christ-less and discover what you really are!” Oh, really? But in the Spirit-realm, Romans 8:29-30 tells us: For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”

Fleshly will is wanton – lewd, lascivious, a rover, a reveler, a rebel. Spiritual will is submission to God, a passion for honoring Him, a consuming desire to be more like the Master!

Natural efforts are primed to promote the ‘flesh’ – Supernaturally Blessed is a heart overflowing with desire to honor Christ in all things. Natural efforts emerge as contradictory – bless, then curse; love, then hate; establish your promises, then forget every promise you ever made! Natural efforts come from arms of flesh, and when we exert confidence in that, we usually end up confused. But Supernaturally led, we unveil the Godhead.

Natural efforts birth hindrances to one gaining a true view of God, but Supernaturally Blessed reveals His character in us. And all disciples are on a journey! Hebrews 12:1 says, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Natural efforts are so like an undisciplined athlete who can’t play four quarters! But the Supernaturally Blessed live in Eternity and are prepared by God Himself for the “forever”! Hebrews 12:2 says, “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.” Where are you seated?

Natural efforts? “No one tells me what to do or how to do it – I’m master of my own destiny.” The true disciple says, “Lord, what would you have me to do?” Jesus said in John 15:14, “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.”

Natural efforts? No painful trials, no hardship undertaking, no pain, no loss, no suffering, no rejection – but the Supernaturally Blessed? John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Natural? A loser! Spiritual? A victor! Natural? Death! Spiritual? Everlasting life!

Natural efforts? Grief is the end result because the created are there to honor God – without faith, sorrow and pain is the end result of a Christless life. Supernaturally Blessed? One with God!

In the natural vein earthly men are ‘guided’ by the so-called ‘wisdom’ of men that leads to sinking sands, bottomless pits, broken hearts, endless questioning with no answers, while the Supernaturally Blessed are led by “Your word [God] is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”

Men in their fallen sin natures, even the ‘leaders of the bands,’ the presiding officers over nations, the bank presidents overseeing vast wealth, have no real answers as to “Who am I? Why am I here? Where did I come from? Where am I going? What is the purpose of my existence?” But a Job, in the midst of Spiritual Blessing as well as testing can say (Job 23:12), “I have treasured the words of God’s mouth more than my necessary, daily bread.”

How many do you know in this vast world population of ours who are so bound in the natural effort to the point when crisis comes they don’t know where to turn or who to turn to or if there is even a sand-grain of hope for their dilemma? But the blessed disciple, John, wrote: I John 5:14, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” Natural effort? Answer-less surroundings! But the Spiritual, Supernatural Blessing? (Psalm 55:22), “Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.”

Natural effort? Humanity on its own is a “trip” one really has to travel alone when surrounded by millions of like-minded people with no answers to your dilemma. But to the Spiritually Blessed, Matthew 18:20 says, “For where two or three are gathered TOGETHER IN MY NAME, I am there in the midst of them.” I am a man so blessed by ‘the family of God.’ I’ve traveled this world – and whether Brazil, Haiti, the Philippines, Africa, Asia, or India, I’ve never been a ‘lone wolf’ or a ‘lone ranger.’ God’s people have surrounded me, upheld me, blessed me, encouraged me, and enlightened me. Then I see the ‘lonesome traveler’ who walks alone. It’s why Proverbs 27:17 tells us: “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. “ Do you at all understand mutual encouragement in the fear of God?

It was George Eliot who said: “It is vain thought to flee from the work God appoints us, for the sake of finding a greater blessing, instead of seeking it where alone it is to be found – in loving obedience.” No doubt because we’re told in the Holy Word (Hebrews 10:25), “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Natural efforts or Supernaturally Blessed? Human effort, human initiative, human determination, can make a name for one’s self! Only the Holy Spirit superintending a man’s life honors God!

Billy Graham, in his book “The Journey,” (pps. 136-137), told the story of a clergyman in a very poor part of London who became so burdened for the dockworkers in his parish. He wrote:

“Their work was hard, thankless, and poorly paid, and he decided that if ever he was to reach them with the Gospel of Christ he must become one of them. Day after day he dressed like them and stood in line waiting for a job, never telling who he really was. Finally one winter’s day he was hired to help unload a freighter, moving goods in a wheelbarrow from boat to dock along a narrow plank. On one trip he felt the plank rock violently, and he lost his footing and fell into the cold river. Laughter rang out, and he realized one of the men had deliberately jiggled the plank to make him fall…His first impulse was to react in anger (for he had often struggled with his temper) – but almost instantly he sensed the power of the Holy Spirit overcoming his anger and giving him peace. He grinned and joined the laughter, and to his surprise the culprit dropped his load and helped him out of the muck. His tormentor-turned-rescuer, taken aback by his calm reaction, began talking with him. Later the man shamefully revealed that he had once been a highly respected physician, but alcohol had robbed him of both his profession and his family. The clergyman led him to Christ, and in time the man was reunited with his family and restored to his position (physician). But here is the point: It would never have happened if the Spirit of God hadn’t conquered the clergyman’s temper and replaced it with the gentleness and love of Christ. The Holy Spirit made the difference.”

How clear the difference between natural efforts or one Supernaturally Blessed when in Ephesians 4:22-24 Paul tells us: “that you put off, concerning your former conduct [natural effort, flesh, fallen sin nature], the old man which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”

Oh, my!! “Natural efforts”? “Former conduct [apart from God’s nature],” “old man which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts, a worldly mind influencing still,” but rejoicing in the Supernaturally Blessed ‘new-man’ created (Birthed) according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” No longer what you were, but who you are now “in Christ”! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

There certainly are pitfalls, problems, spiritual pimples that pop out on the “new man’s” young face, but grace, mercy, and love abound to the one who rests in Jesus. It’s why David the King cried out, Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” AND HE WILL!

Natural effort, undiagnosed and recognized as dangerous, can bring one to a place where refusing God, one begins to blame Him: a failure – ‘God’s fault’; loss of a child – ‘where was God?’ A repeated riot in the mind – ‘I blame God!’; A disappointment by a friend or business partner – ‘God is to blame.’ Natural effort with bad seed planted, and the harvest disappoints.

Natural effort or fruit? Unforgiveness, anger, bitterness, grudges, get-even-intent, broken relationships – what will this day bring forth in you? And the Supernaturally Blessed in bad moments? Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never let the righteous be moved [or shaken].” Amen?

Natural efforts? But natural hindrances also. Natural efforts? But hard falls, perilous rivers to cross, unexpected feuds, fires, and fights – “And I’m mad!” But the Supernaturally Blessed? Hebrews 12:1, 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.”

Without God, to whom do natural-effort men turn to? Even if they have godless friends, they’re still void of divine grace and mercy, but Supernaturally Blessed? Isaiah 46:4 says: “Even to your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry you, and deliver you.”

And the Supernaturally Blessed are not exempt from times of trouble, heart-aches, pain and suffering. But there is a promise in God’s Word – Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Charles A. Tindley wrote the hymn “Nothing Between.” It says:

“Nothing between my soul and the Savior, Naught of this world’s delusive dream’ I have renounced all sinful pleasure, Jesus is mine; there’s nothing between…

Nothing between like worldly pleasure; Habits of life, though harmless they seem, Must not my heart from Him ever sever, He is my all, there’s nothing between…

Nothing between, like pride and station; self or friend shall not intervene; Tho’ it may cost me much tribulation, I am resolved, there’s nothing between…

Nothing between, even many hard trials, Tho’ the whole world against me convene; Watching with prayer and much self-denial, I’ll triumph at last, with nothing between…

Nothing between my soul and the Savior, So that His blessed face may be seen, Nothing preventing the least of His favor, Keep the way clear! Let nothing between.” Amen?

CHAPTER FIVE

MIND OF THE FLESH OR MIND OF THE SPIRIT?

The mind? A mental capacity of understanding with wisdom or without it? The mind? That which breeds spiritual indifference or that blessed of God with eternal concerns about one’s well-being? The mind? Callousness about life as it is or care about what God wants it to be? The mind? Is it ‘bare-headed’ in spiritual sensitivity or ‘blessed-headed’ with Spirit illumination? The mind? Is it “what I want” or is it, “I receive in my mind what God knows I need – it’s open to His revealing graces”? What is it that is ‘on my mind’ or is it truly, ‘my mind God’s alone”?

Oswald Chambers wrote in “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.56], “Is the mind of my spirit in perfect agreement with the life of the Son of God in me, or am I insubordinate in intellect? Am I forming the mind of Christ, Who never spoke from His right to Himself, but maintained an inner watchfulness whereby He continually submitted His spirit to His Father?” Was Jesus’ mind a mind of the flesh or the mind of the Spirit?

Can you imagine a ‘new life in Christ’ with an old mind controlled by ‘flesh’ and not the Holy Spirit? You are aware of a world that thinks and acts on its own thoughts and ignores the mind of God in Christ!

In Numbers 23 and 24 Balaam met Balak who encouraged Balaam to curse the Israelites but Balaam responded that “All that the Lord speaks, that I must do.” In Numbers 24:2, “and the Spirit of God came upon Balaam.” He said to Balak in verse 13, “If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word [or mind of the Spirit of God!] of the Lord, to do good or bad of my own will. What the Lord says, that I must speak.” Verse 25 says, “So Balaam rose and departed and returned to his place; Balak also went his way.”

What a distinction, yes, and an unveiling of a mind of flesh and the mind of the Spirit! In Psalm 31:12 David said, “I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind…” Out of the mind of God’s enemies but not out of the mind of God!

In fact Isaiah 26:3 tells us, “You [God] will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” For you, is it a stayed mind or a starved mind? Do you think on the basis of fleshly impulses or on the basis of a divine revelation? In Jeremiah 3:19-21 God speaks: But I said, “How can I put you among the children and give you a pleasant land, a beautiful heritage of the hosts of nations?’ And I said: ‘You shall call Me, “My Father,” and not turn away from me.’ Surely, as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so have you dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel,” says the Lord. A voice was heard on the desolate heights, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel. For they have perverted their way; they have forgotten the Lord their God.”

Was Israel’s mind in rebellion to God a mind of the flesh or the mind of the Spirit? In Lamentations Jeremiah wrote of his “laments” over Israel and how the roads to Zion mourn. Then he wrote words of great hope: Lamentations 3:19-26, as if he alone was Israel! He said:

“Remember my affliction and roaming, the wormwood and the gall. My soul still remembers and sinks within me. This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, Therefore I hope in Him! The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

Oh, how I want you to receive the words of Jesus right now as in Matthew 22:37, responding to the Pharisees’ question in verse 36, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”, and Jesus responded: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with ALL YOUR MIND.”

How have you personally responded to Acts 17:11? “These were more fair-minded (noble-minded) than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”

How important is the word of God in a mind of flesh if it has any hope at all in being a mind of the Spirit? I Thessalonians 2:13 says: “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.”

Of course, because of a mind of the flesh, many respond to the ‘unimportance’ of the Word of God in their lives even when in Matthew 4:4 Jesus said, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

Paul told the church at Colossae, [Colossians 1:19-23], “For it pleased the Father that in Him [Christ] all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight – if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

The mind of the flesh? “You, who once were alienated and enemies IN YOUR MIND by wicked works, yet now has He [God] reconciled.” The mind of the flesh is alienated from God, is an enemy of God IN THE MIND, and is evidenced by wicked works! It might be good to evaluate what God calls “wicked works”!

Who did God give up and why? Romans 1:24-32 says: “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 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 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.”

I know that every word you’ve just read from Romans are passionately opposed by the godless and even some who ‘profess’ allegiance to Him, but they believe they can walk with God and oppose His truth. I DON’T THINK SO!

In Romans 7 Paul has been sharing his life apart from Christ. He said in verses 21-25, “I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.”

Paul, convicted by the Holy Spirit of his fleshly religious mind, had unveiled, not only in his mind but his heart also, the ‘truth’ – Verse 23, “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, AND BRINGING ME INTO CAPTIVITY to the law of sin which is in my members.” SHAZAM! This religious rabbi was nailed by the Spirit of God and sees himself as he truly is apart from Christ! He wrote in Romans 7:13, “Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, WAS PRODUCING DEATH IN ME THROUGH WHAT IS GOOD, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.”

Oh, how difficult it is for fallen men to see their sinfulness! One of the major roadblocks is the blindness because of a man’s “self-esteem,” his programmed conscience that’s been so dulled he can’t recognize sin as sin, his “perverseness of misconception,” [Spurgeon], his attitude that black is white and there is no ‘blackness’ in him, his spiritual nakedness denied, his mind programmed as to absence [in him] of any exceeding blindness to sin, to the blackness of an alienated, separated heart from God, not knowing his heart is deceitful AND his mind desperately wicked! “No God” – wicked mind! “No need of God” – deceived mind! “No want of God” – a defiled, sick heart and mind!

Through the prophet Jeremiah, God spoke: Jeremiah 6:10, “To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them; they have no delight in it.” And, yes, even phony preachers and false prophets poison their minds! Jeremiah 6:13-15 says: “Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely. They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not ashamed at all; Nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time I punish them, they shall be cast down,” says the Lord.

Do you grasp at all “the peril of deception” concerning the mind? To the church at Colossae Paul wrote: [Colossians 2:8], “Beware lest anyone cheat (plunder, or take captive) you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.”

I’m telling you with all the passion I can muster on paper – it’s not just the “godless” that concern me but the “professors” without evidence of the Indwelling Christ and Holy Spirit at all! It’s why in James 1:4-8 the brother of Jesus wrote: “But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; for he is a DOUBLE-MINDED MAN, unstable in all his ways.” [Later, in James 4:8, James said: “…and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”]

You do know that there are those who have been blinded to the truth of God’s Word! In 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 Paul said, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, WHOSE MINDS the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” Divided minds, veiled minds, delusional minds, diseased minds, blinded minds, evil minds, proud minds, self-righteous minds! And apart from the manifestation of the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ shining on them and in them, they are hopeless!

Spurgeon said, [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Vol. 10, p. 135], “Human nature has become so perverted that if men know that they have broken human laws they are ashamed, but the breach of command which affects only the Lord Himself causes them very small concern. If we were to steal, or lie, or knock another down, we should be ashamed of ourselves, and so we ought to be; but, for all that, such shame would be no work of grace. Sin must appear to be “sin” against God – that is the point; we must say with David, “Against You, Lord, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight.”

With the prodigal we must cry, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before You, and am no more worthy to be called Your son.” That is the true view…the Lord brings us to confess our transgressions after that sort.”

Mind of the ‘flesh’? Religious mind of the ‘flesh’? Devoted mind of the ‘flesh’? In Acts 9:1-7 we read of the religious Saul, mind of the flesh, who became converted Saul to Paul, and received the mind of the Spirit! It says: Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what would you have me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.

Also, in Acts 9, we read about Ananias, instructed by the Lord Himself to seek out Saul of Tarsus. God told him, “Behold, he is praying.” Ananias went to find Saul and Acts 9:17 says, “And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying hands on him he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Then verse 18 says: “Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.”

You do understand that baptism in water is the picture of death, burial, and resurrection to the new life in Christ. But baptism in the Spirit is every born-again believer’s blessing as he comes with repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of Christ at the Cross. In fact, in Romans 8, three times in the first five verses Paul says, “according to the Spirit,” and then in verse 9 adds: “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”

Look at Romans 8:11! “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead DWELLS IN YOU, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” And what is the Holy Spirit up to in a new believer’s life?

Romans 8:13-14 tells us!! “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

Mind of the flesh or mind of the Spirit? Vital, victorious, overcoming, God-honoring living is in and of the Holy Spirit! Jesus said in John 16:7-14, “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. 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 take of what is Mine and declare it to you.”

THE HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTS OF SIN.

THE HOLY SPIRIT CONVINCES OF NEW LIFE, ETERNAL LIFE, IN CHRIST.

THE HOLY SPIRIT GUIDES US INTO ALL TRUTH.

THE HOLY SPIRIT GLORIFIES CHRIST IN YOU.

THE HOLY SPIRIT TESTIFIES IN YOU OF JESUS. (JOHN 15:26)

THE HOLY SPIRIT BEARS THE FRUIT OF THE DIVINE. NATURE IN US.(Galatians 5:22-25).

THE HOLY SPIRIT EMPOWERS, ANOINTS, FILLS, BAPTIZES US. Acts 1:8

THE HOLY SPIRIT BREATHES JOY IN US. Romans 14:17.

THE HOLY SPIRIT SEALS US IN CHRIST. Ephesians 1:13.

THE HOLY SPIRIT MOVES UPON US TO SPEAK. 2 Peter 1:21.

Oh, please look at Romans 8:16 prayerfully!! “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,” and then adds appropriately in verse 17, “and if children [of faith], then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, IF indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” Me, God’s Family of the Faith, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit “GLORIFIED TOGETHER”!

Did we read that the Holy Spirit breathes “JOY” into the Lord’s children of faith? As long as ‘professing Christians’ are in control of their own spiritual destiny, ‘joy’ is not only forgotten, it is totally absent from the ‘professor of faith.’ Does it ever occur to us that ‘our choices’ cripple our joy in Jesus? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Happiness is an emotion of feelings that has nothing to do with saving faith, but joy is the very fruit of the Holy Spirit filling, directing, empowering, and blessing your life!

Oswald Chambers, in “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.255], wrote the following, and is so appropriate here: “The entrance into the Kingdom is through the panging pains of repentance crashing into a man’s respectable goodness; then the Holy Spirit, Who produces these agonies begins the formation of the Son of God in the life. The new life will manifest itself in conscious repentance and unconscious holiness, never the other way about. The bedrock of Christianity is repentance. Strictly speaking, a man cannot repent when he chooses; repentance is a gift of God. The old Puritans used to pray for “the gift of tears.” If ever you cease to know the virtue of repentance, you are in darkness. Examine yourself and see if you have forgotten how to be sorry.”

It was Marcus M. Wells who, in the 1800’s, wrote the following hymn: “Holy Spirit, Faithful Guide.”

“Holy Spirit, faithful Guide, Ever near the Christian’s side, Gently lead us by the hand, Pilgrims in a desert land;

Weary souls for-e’er rejoice, While they hear that sweetest voice Whispering softly, ‘Wanderer come! Follow Me, I’ll guide you home.”

Ever-present, truest Friend, Ever near His aid to lend, Leave us not to doubt and fear, Groping in darkness drear;

When the storms are raging sore, Hearts grow faint, and hopes give o’er, Whisper softly, ‘Wanderer come! Follow Me, I’ll guide you home.’”

When our days of toil shall cease, Waiting still for sweet release, Nothing left but heaven and prayer, Knowing that our names are there,

Wading deep the dismal flood, Pleading naught but Jesus’ blood, Whisper softly, ‘Wanderer come! Follow Me, I’ll guide you home.”

CHAPTER SIX

EARTHLY EDUCATIONS OR OMNIPOTENT EXPRESSIONS?

After the flood in Genesis, God gave a promise: [Genesis 8:22], “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.” So…does that mean, with the earth remaining for a time, that we all can do as we please without any desire concerning God’s eternal purposes being fulfilled in our lives?

Oh, there are multitudes, millions, billions, who do as they please without any consideration of the divine or eternal plan of God Almighty. Who knows how many drowned in “The Great Flood,” and who knows the billions who died in their sin as they lived to satisfy their own expectations and educations without any consideration or commitment to Holy God and His omnipotent expressions?

But God is so merciful! He spares and He spares and He spares – hopeful for that change of heart that because they become so aware of the futility of earthly education if there is no ‘omnipotent expression’ through that available life to Him – and some turn.

In Jeremiah 3, at least four times, God said: “Return to Me, O backsliding children!” And I don’t believe God’s merciful heart has died out or grown silent, choosing to disengage Himself from fallen humanity’s dilemma – NO! There is the Cross of Christ ever waving through all ages! The earth remains – for now! The ages seem so endless – yet we know there is coming the close of the temporary, regardless of its endurance so far, and a day when the Eternal One says to earth, “Gentlemen, it’s closing time!” And the door to the Eternal is shut!

2 Peter 3:9-13 tells us: The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

Disciples of Jesus are not the ‘hopeless’ but the “hope-filled” to eternal capacity! The ‘least’ of the saints, if there is such a one as that, far exceeds the world’s premier intellect who probably voided God out of his life, immersing that life into a treacherous sea of impersonalisation, false hope, paper degrees, windless, empty rhetoric with no healing graces, believing himself smarter than God and comes up empty and void of any saving grace or mercy.

Most modern-day educational institutions are built dumbing down the public to their need of God. What a heartless institution!

C.S. Lewis once said: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen; not only because I see it, but because of it I see everything else.” And modern education, earthly education, IS A DISTRESSING DISGUISE, A POOR SUBSTITUTE, for omnipotent expression and experience.

When God spoke through Moses to Pharoah, Pharoah said, [Exodus 5:2], “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.” Oh, but he has a ‘pyramid’, he had great wealth, he had multiple wives, beautiful horses and chariots, and slaves to serve his every whim, to serve him and fight his wars!! Really, really a big man – but he was swept away by one wave of God’s little finger!

The pharaohs, the worldly professional, the highly educated (most, not all!), rule to rout out any spiritual truth or devotion or God-likeness. They cast doubt on the Word of God, they’re a stickler for their ‘thinking’, and an agitator against Christian spirituality in any form!

I Peter 1:2 says, “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus…” Elect? Sanctified by the Spirit? Walking in obedience having been washed in the blood of the Lamb of God? And the worldly class, the devil’s crowd, the white-washed rather than the blood-bought, cry out, deny, oppose, feeding lies and half-truths and untruths to their impressionable students or, yes, even their children and yours!

It’s amazing to me, astounding to me, that high-ranking national government leaders can blatantly lie, spew terrible falsehoods, use unscrupulous rhetoric – then, get re-elected! There are earthly educators who, yes, twist truth and misuse Scripture. The earthly educator fights for his turf – your young children and youth. It will be interesting in eternity with God to find out how godless ‘educators’ induced bitter, young souls to end their sadness before they found true joy!

It’s not ‘your college degree is your merit’ – no, your merit is leaning on God’s mercy! It’s not ‘your accomplishments are your merit’ – no, your merit is leaning on Jesus only! Don’t you know it? Most highly educated men major on the thorns, the briars, the unplowed, unseeded fields, without any eternal harvest at all – and usually their unplowed, unseeded fields in the lives of their students become “dust bowls”!!

Harold R. Eberle wrote the book, “Christianity Unshackled,” sub-titled, “ARE YOU A TRUTH SEEKER?” And in it he highlighted how most modern seminary or university PH D’s have rationalized ‘faith’ rather than received it as it truly is: “REVELATION”! He said: [p.105}, “In modern universities that have classes focusing on, “The historical Jesus,” students are taught that the man Jesus who lived in the first century was a mythological figure. He truly lived, but He was just a man. When students enroll in a class entitled “Bible as Literature,” They may expect to get an opportunity to read the Bible, but if the course is taught by a liberal professor, they will not even need a Bible. Instead, they will learn and then be tested on their ability to understand the Bible as literature – in the same sense as Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odyssey” are literature, filled with mythology. When students sit in a religion class taught by a liberal professor, their minds are being formed to see Jesus and the Bible through the lens of rationalism. The supernatural is explained away, and the spiritual side of reality is denied… Thousands of adults have entered liberal seminaries (not all seminaries are liberal) with hopes of serving God in ministerial positions, only to come out of those seminaries doubting even the existence of God…A seminary I attended over 30 years ago was especially hard on me, and it took me several years to rebuild a solid biblical worldview.”

Oh, please listen, lean, and rest on the truth of Acts 17:29-31! “Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

That’s the true governance and grace of God! Revelation 5:11-12 tells us: Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

In 2 Kings 6 we learn of Syria coming against Samaria and how, as the Samaritans were besieged, a great famine occurred. [Are there spiritual famines because of ungodly men, leaders, kings, or armies?]

The king of Israel was passing by on the wall, and a woman asked him, “Help, my lord, O king!” And in verse 27 the king said, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?” He was saying: ‘No grain, no wine – how can I help you?” And, man can’t remedy spiritual malnutrition!

Then there’s a messenger from God Himself! Oh, I pray you have spiritual eyes to see God’s faithfulness in the midst of humanity’s spiritual starvation! In 2 Kings 7:1 Elisha said, “Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: ‘Tomorrow about this time gallons of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and barley, at the gate of Samaria.” Can you even imagine or comprehend that word to hungry multitudes? “Yes, yes, yes – our needs are met by God Himself! It’s SUPERNATURAL!!” But there are the doubters, the unbelievers, the spiritually blind, who want no help from God! 2 Kings 7:2 says, “Look, if God would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” Elisha said, because of the spirit of unbelief, (Verse 2b), “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” Question! Is there ever that serious moment of eternal consequence when God closes the door on unbelief? “The king” and his unbelief? 2 Kings 7:20, “And so it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.”

Earthly education is so far too often fraught (loaded, filled, overflowing) with unbelief! But omnipotent expression is “Christ in me the hope of glory.” Earthly education is sadly far too often based on fleshly ideals acting on impulses – self-esteem, self-determination, without any trust or dependence upon the God who made us all, lost us through our sin and unbelief, and then bought us with a price – the shed blood of the Lamb of God, and that alone!

What does I Corinthians 2:14 tell us? “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are [only] spiritually discerned,[And that’s by “the New Birth”!!]

Earthly education is far too often “pumping flesh” to achieve when omnipotent expression is God’s arms of grace, mercy, and love, opened to receive and to give!

Earthly education is far too often that which trains or train-wrecks people to determine morality or character on their own terms with no sense of the Eternal! Earthly education is far too often training the masses to turn deaf ears to God and His Word. Earthly education magnifies loyalty to what one sees as his true self – not views from a ‘narrow-minded’ God as to ‘my potential’! How false and foreign to the Lamb of God and the Cross!

Oswald Chambers wrote: [“My Utmost For His Highest”, p. 263], “Never be sympathetic with the soul whose case makes you come to the conclusion that God is hard. God is more tender than we can conceive, and every now and again He gives us the chance of being the rugged one that He may be the tender One. If a man cannot get through to God it is because there is a secret thing he does not intend on giving up – I will admit I have done wrong, but I no more intend to give up that thing than fly. It is impossible to deal sympathetically with a case like that; we have to get right deep down to the root until there is antagonism and resentment against the message. People want the blessing of God, but they will not stand the thing that goes straight to the quick.”

Earthly education? “Your sense of need is met because you become better qualified – not ‘God meeting your need.’” “Your natural virtues are such you have no need of a higher spiritual power.” When there is no conviction of your false values about yourself, it’s evident thick walls to protect your ‘old man’ have been erected, but I tell you, day by day, loving God will take down one stone at a time until you’re void of a virtuous life fully exposed, and you cry out to Him for “mercy,” having determined according to Psalm 87”7, “All my fresh springs are in You.”

Earthly education? That is so often natural devotion to the highest level of fallen man’s expectations for themselves absent of divine truth. But when we hear Jesus say, John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the ‘flesh’ profits NOTHING. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life,” then, confronted by the compassionate Christ, one makes an eternal decision for either the blessing or the curse.

Earthly education? It is criminal when creative genius is called capitalistic greed; it is blindness when “social justice” becomes the substitute for “saving, redemptive Jesus;” it is, yes, intellectual stupidity when men’s words and opinions are placed above the Word of God.

Earthly education? I remind you that Paul reminded them in Colossians 3:5, “Therefore put to death your MEMBERS WHICH ARE ON THE EARTH (earth-bound): fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desires, and covetousness, WHICH IS IDOLATRY.” FLESH-BOUND MEN ARE IDOLATERS! Haven’t you ever come across those who are “idol worshippers” because the most important thing in their lives is their ‘work’? They truly are consumed by it 24 hours a day, even 7 days a week – NO ROOM FOR GOD!

When one is ‘consumed’ by his work, there is no time at all for concentration on or the centering of life on God alone…no freedom in the Spirit but bondage and chains or cells with heavy bars shutting them in only to their pathetic, godless selves.

Earthly education or omnipotent expression? In Jeremiah 45:5 God spoke, “And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I will bring adversity on all FLESH,” says the Lord. “But I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go.” Do you believe John really meant it when in John 3:30 he said, “He [Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease?”

You are aware that “the world,” “fallen men,” the aliens to God and the covenant of promise are involved in the soulish increase of their own fleshly lives – they’re not on the path after God Himself – they’re feasting on a fleshly diet that starves their souls, not feed them God’s spiritual menu. Amateurish paths of ‘flesh’ always lead to amateurish outcomes, spiritual bankruptcy, and decisive alienation from Holy God. It’s not a pretty picture of a ‘blessed outcome’ but ‘THE CURSE’!!

Paul wrote in Galatians 3:10-14, and verses 19-24, then Galatians 4:1-7,

Galatians 3:10-14, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’ But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, ‘for the just shall live by faith.’ Yet the law is not of faith, but ‘the man who does them shall live by them.’ Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

Galatians 3:19-24, “What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture has confined ALL UNDER SIN that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”

Galatians 4:1-7, “Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

Earthly education opposing God and His Word IS A CURSE! Omnipotent expression through an available life to God is a BLESSING! Fanny Crosby, in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s, wrote the following hymn entitled “Blessed Assurance.” It says:

“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

Perfect submission, perfect delight, Visions of rapture now burst on my sight; Angels descending, bring from above, Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest, I in my Savior am happy and blest; Watching and waiting, looking above, Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long; This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long.”

“Blessed” is not a word for earthly educators or earthly education if God is omitted and His Word is denied, and Thomas Carlyle nailed it when in “Cromwell’s Letters and Speeches,” (Vol V, Pt.10), he said:

“Blessed are the valiant that have lived in the Lord.” WOW! How true is that!!

Don’t ever forget Psalm 103:1, “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name.”Earthly education apart from omnipotent expression? Spurgeon said it: “Once make a giant unbelieving, and he becomes a dwarf.” This came from Spurgeon’s message on ‘unbelief’ found in Spurgeon’s Sermons, Volume 2. But later, [p.63], he was closing his sermon with the following words about the unconverted. He said: “They often see great works of God done with their eyes, but they do not eat thereof. A crowd of people have come here this morning to see with their eyes, but I doubt whether all of them eat. Men cannot eat with their eyes, for if they could, most would be well fed. And, spiritually, persons cannot feed simply with their ears, nor simply with looking at the preacher; and so we find the majority of our congregations come just to see: ‘Ah, let us hear what this babbler would say, this reed shaken in the wind.’ But they have no faith; they come, and they see, and see, and see, and never eat. There is someone in the font there, who gets converted; and someone down below, who is called by sovereign grace; some poor sinner is weeping under a sense of his blood-guiltiness; another is crying for mercy to God; and another is saying, ‘Have mercy upon me, a sinner.’ A great work is going on in this chapel, but some of you do not know anything about it; you have no work going on in your hearts, and why? Because you think it is impossible; you think God is not at work. He has not promised to work for you who do not honor Him. Unbelief makes you sit here in times of revival, and of the outpouring of God’s grace, unmoved, uncalled, unsaved.”

I just want to remind you who are so wrapped up in this robe of earthly education – “Hallelujah, the Lord God Almighty still reigns!”

CHAPTER SEVEN

TRYING OR TRUSTING?

“A RESIGNATION TO HOPELESSNESS”?

In John 2:23-25 we read: “Now when He [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.”

Would you yourself discern ‘what was in man’ – trying or trusting? The word ‘trying’ in Webster’s 1828 Dictionary is defined as “exerting strength, attempting…” It, at least, is making an effort – but where does one find that in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ? “I tried…!” Give me a break! “Straining”? “Attempting”? “Flirting with, apart from surrender and yieldedness”?

I’m not even sure that “the fallen, the alienated, the separated from God” know anything about “trusting” much less ‘trying.’ In Luke 9:57-62 we read of several “attempts” that fell so far short of Indwelling Life! It says: Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has not where to lay His head.” Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” And another said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

It was Oswald Chambers who said: “We act like pagans in a crisis, only one out of a crowd is daring enough to bank his faith in the character of God.” In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus said: “Enter by the narrow gate;’ for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it, because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, AND THERE ARE FEW WHO FIND IT.”

‘Trying’ is that broad way while ‘trusting’ is that narrow way! ‘Trying’ is self-centered obedience because most want to improve their own life standards, but ‘trusting’ is submitting and fully surrendered to God only because of one’s desire to bless and honor Him alone.

‘Trying’ is that natural life turned inward to make a better name for one’s self, while ‘trusting’ is the manifestation of ultimate purpose in me and through me for the Glory of God.

‘Trying’ or ‘trusting’? Listen to Oswald Chambers, [“My Utmost For His Highest,” pps. 164-165), “There are stages in life when there is no storm, no crisis, when we do our human best; it is when a crisis arises that we instantly reveal upon whom we rely. If we have been learning to worship God and to trust Him, the crisis will reveal that we will go to the breaking point and not break our confidence in Him.” You’re trying? I ask, “Where is your trust and confidence in God and His Word?”

What did Paul say in Philippians 1:6? “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;” how awesome is that when one has no confidence in himself but fully trusts in and hopes in Jesus Only? Paul said in Philippians 3:3, “For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have NO CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH…” Amen? Is that true of you?

‘Trying or trusting?’ The prophet Jeremiah was so heart-broken who looked upon his own people to witness ‘self-effort’ among the chosen people of God. He said in Jeremiah 2:12-13, quoting God Himself, “Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid; be very desolate,’ says the Lord. For My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns – broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

‘Trying’ or ‘trusting’? That’s hewing for one’s self ‘cisterns’ that are broken and can hold ‘no water’! Would that be ‘no water of the Word’? It’s not simply that some in the so-called faith have only ‘broken buckets’ – most have no bucket at all in their mind-set for any ‘water of the Word’; at all!

‘Trying’ or ‘trusting?’ In Jeremiah 14:10 the Lord said to this people: “Thus they have loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet. Therefore the Lord does not accept them; He will remember their iniquity now, and punish their sins.” There’s an old hymn that says, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love…” And I say to you that that is a strong pull from;’trying’, not ‘trusting’! That’s what some have called ‘the tyranny of individuality’ apart from fully trusting in the finished work of Christ Jesus at the Cross!

‘Trying’ is not ‘I am crucified with Christ’ – that’s an attempt at being ‘religious’ without being RE-BORN! ‘Trying’? It is an attempt of overcoming our old sins and sin natures apart, yes, from Christ and Calvary, and ignoring the miracle of redemptive grace, mercy, and love. We ‘try’ the religious angle apart from repentance!

‘Trying’? Dare I say ‘sinful pride’ in one’s self? Have you never read how “Lucifer” fell from heaven? Isaiah 14:12-15 says: “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’”

And you must not overlook Luke 18:9-14 where Jesus so eloquently and in convincing passion exposed “trying” rather than “trusting”! It says: Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves, that they were righteous, and despised others; “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men – extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

‘Trying?’ “I believe!” But the question is, “What do you really believe and how does that affect your relationship to Holy God?” In his book, “Beyond Belief To Convictions,” Josh MacDowell spoke of youth today and their religious faith, quoting George Barna from his “Third Millenium Teens,” that teens, 80% believe in God, but 63% also believe that Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, and Jews, and all other people pray to the same God, even though they use different names for god! “Lord, help us! Where’s the trust in Your abiding Word? Where is the trust in the One who says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me,” (John 14:6). Is Jesus a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord God? And do you ‘trust’ Him alone for your salvation and return to Holy God?

What, under heaven, is it that captures a people’s loyalty and allegiance? Is it that sense, “I’ll try,” or, “I trust in the grace of God”? Someone “trying” usually produces a little ‘happiness,’ but “trusting” results in abiding joy that is “the joy of the Lord.” It’s why David erupted in “restore unto me the joy of Your salvation.”

“Trying” is evidence of spiritual bankruptcy, but “trusting” is evidence as Lloyd Ogilvie wrote: [“A Life Full of Surprises,” p.15], “We experience true mourning when we allow our hearts to be broken by the things which break the heart of God.” WOW!! Ogilvie said later in the same book, [p.23], “The traditional church is filled with retired Christians and dropout disciples.”

“Trying” in the religious world is the absence of eternal meaning in an earthly life when “trusting” is the earth life with eternal expectation and eternal hope in our Lord and Savior only. In Proverbs 3:5-6 we read, “TRUST in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

“Trying” is the author of despair and discouragement while “trusting” breeds hope, enlightment, inheritance, freedom, fulfillment, rest, the fruit of the Spirit, the joy of the Lord, and all-out acceptance of caring God! You really want to know “trusting”? Look at Romans 4:19-25!! “And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.”

“Trying or trusting”? Dr. James Dobson, in his book, “When God Doesn’t Make Sense,” he wrote about disillusionment and mentioned W. Somerset Maughn’s classic, “Of Human Bondage.” He said: “the principal character was a young man with a club foot who had hated his deformity from earliest childhood. When he discovered Christianity, he thought he had found a quick way to get rid of it. He began praying that God would heal his foot and make him normal. As it became apparent that his repeated requests would not be granted, he felt his faith had been invalidated, and he lost interest in God. I wonder how many times that unfortunate drama has been reenacted through the centuries.” [Check out Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo in Daniel!!]

Was his commitment based on the temporal or the eternal, upon ‘trying’ or ‘trusting’, upon fleshly benefit or eternal blessing, upon bodily, earthly – me, my, mine benefit or celebration of new life in Christ to the forever blessing of God through him?

“Trying” or “trusting”? In Luke 18:18-23 we read: Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.”

Have you ever been around “a sanctimonius gaze of hypocrisy”? Pharisees pump flesh – the broken die to it. The personally proud dwell in their normal darkness and are comfortable with it, but the humble “stand afar off”. An awareness of one’s sinfulness is the only open door to the mercy and grace of the Cross!

I’m telling you, the mercy of Calvary’s Cross was never poured out on a proud and bitter soul, but only upon that one whose very countenance has been arrayed on the head with a crown of thorns!

“Trying” is the pronouncement to God of all one’s personal attributes and strong points while “trusting is a shattered heart of a David who has seen the TRUTH about his fallen nature – Psalm 51:1-5, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight – that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.”

The proud Pharisee felt so at ease in his worldly mind as he reviewed his life: Luke 18:9-12, “Jesus spoke this parable to SOME WHO TRUSTED IN THEMSELVES THAT THEY WERE RIGHTEOUS, and despised others: Verse 11, The Pharisee stood and prayed THUS WITH HIMSELF, “God, I thank You that I am not like other men…,” and YOU KNOW JESUS’ RESPONSE!

IS “God, be merciful to me the sinner” in your modern vocabulary?

Have you contemplated the end result of “trying”? In John 8:34 Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. Verse 35, And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Verse 36, Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” “Trying”? That’s bondage. “Trusting”? That’s freedom. “Trying”? Slavery to sin and Satan, but “trusting” Jesus breaks the power of canceled sin. Romans 8:21 says, “the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” “If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

“Trying” is an insincere attempt at being reconciled to God while “trusting” is resting in our Lord’s finished work. 2 Corinthians 5:14-17, “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

“Trying” sadly is self-trust with the door closed to divine help. But in Isaiah 46:3-10 there are words of hope for the “trusting”: “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been upheld by Me from birth, who have been carried from the womb; even to old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and I will deliver you. To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal, and compare Me, that we should be alike? They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver on the scales; they hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god; they prostrate themselves, yes, they worship. They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it and set it in its place, and it stands; from its place it shall not move. Though one cries out to it, yet it cannot answer nor save him out of trouble. Remember this, and show yourselves men; recall to mind, O you transgressors. Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.

I recently experienced a ‘hair-raising’ event in my life when on a Saturday evening, April 27, 2013, I suffered a heart-attack. Scott and I and his two church staff members had been at a conference in Houston, Texas, Thursday through Saturday.

On our return Saturday afternoon late, within five minutes of Scott’s church, I knew I had a serious heart problem. Scott let out David and Adam – as soon as they were gone I told Scott I had chest pain and he said, “We’re only minutes away from Harris Methodist in Bedford – I’m taking you there.”

We went straight to the Emergency Room. In two minutes they did an EKG and within another two minutes the Emergency Room doctor was reading it. He said, “Get him out of here and to surgery – he’s got less than an hour to live!” Seven or eight attendants were working on me as they ran me down the hall, up the elevator – to the surgical wing. In less than twenty minutes I was in surgery with my own heart surgeon in the hospital at 8:30pm on a Saturday night!

My major artery was 100% blocked and I had a huge blood clot but it was stopped by the artery blockage from rushing to my heart!! I went home Tuesday afternoon!

As I was on the table, all I did or wanted to do was to say, and I did, “Lord Jesus, I’m yours. Your will be done,” and I rested in Him with no worry, no fear, no anxiety. I “trusted” Him, the One who is MY GREAT PHYSICIAN.

Have you forgotten or misplaced Psalm 23 from your walk of discipleship? I challenge you – take out your Bible and read Psalm 23 and meditate on it!

The old hymn “Trust and Obey” says it so much better than me: “When we walk with the Lord in the Light of His Word What a glory He sheds on our way! While we do His good will, He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey.

Not a shadow can rise, Not a cloud in the skies, But His smile quickly drives it away! Not a doubt or a fear, Not a sigh nor a tear, can abide while we trust and obey.

Not a burden we bear, Not a sorrow we share, But our toil He does richly repay! Not a grief nor a loss, Not a frown nor a cross, But is blest if we trust and obey.” That’s just 3 of 5 verses, but it reveals the blessedness of trusting and obeying!

CHAPTER EIGHT

MARRED MARRIAGES OR MASTERED IN THE MASTER?

“A RESIGNATION TO HOPELESSNESS?”

You know that in the infancy of God’s Creation Adam, first Adam, was placed in the Garden, and in Genesis 2:18 the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helper comparable (suitable, adapted, completing) to him.”

In Genesis 2:23 Adam said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called WOMAN because she was taken out of Man.”

I have no doubt that Adam rejoiced, celebrated, and thanked God continually for his “Bride.” They were JOINED in a holy bond, God laying the foundation for future generations to know the heavenly blessing and rich reward and beautiful benefit of ‘husband and wife and family’ to come.

The Holy Word says in Genesis 2:24-25, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”

I love Spurgeon’s words [Vol. 10, Spurgeon’s Sermons, p.17-18], “We cannot but bless God every time we repeat the dear names of those who are now parts of ourselves. Marriage creates a relationship which ends only when death shall part us. It may be dissolved. Sin enters even here! A dark crime may be committed, but, with the exception of that, it is for life – for better, for worse; only the mortal stroke can part.”

“Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh!” And Paul says in Ephesians 5:29, “For no one ever hated his own life, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.” If marriage seems to be failing for some, it’s certainly because some are warped, not by love, but hate for themselves which they should be cherishing!

It’s so interesting, at least to me, that in 2009, John and Stasi Eldredge published a book entitled “Love and War.” The sub-title is “Finding The Marriage You’ve Dreamed Of.” In the introduction Megan quoted John’s words: “Daniel and Megan, you are about to abandon yourselves to each other, throw caution to the wind, forsake independence, isolation, and all others. You will vow to each other your undying love. Before you do, we must call this what it is – this is perfect madness.” And Stasi wrote, “That got the crowd’s attention.”

She then wrote the following words from John’s ceremony intro: “You don’t believe me. But that’s because we don’t understand fairy tales and we don’t understand the Gospel which they are trying to remind us of. They are stories of danger; they are stories where evil is very, very real. They are stories which require immense courage and sacrifice. A boy and a girl thrown together in some desperate journey. If we believed it, if we actually saw what was taking place right here, right now, we would cross ourselves. We would say desperate, earnest prayers. We would salute them both and we would hold our breath for what happens next. Daniel and Megan, it is time to make your vows. After this, there is no turning back.”

I say to you that I understand Eldredge’s comment about “perfect madness” at times in the journey of “love and war,” but at the same time I am awed by Jesus’ words in John 17:22 which I believe relate to not only our relationship to Him but the relationship of husband and wife! “And the glory which You gave Me, Father, I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one.” There is an eternal blessing on “holy matrimony.”

Dare we apply Isaiah 4:4-6 to ‘marriage’ today? I think so: When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering. And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain.”

And I believe the holy word about holy matrimony also includes providing, yes, God’s protective covering if the married folks receive it and claim it and rest themselves under it. I love what Jack Hayford wrote in his book, “Glory On Your House,” [p.32}, “that spiritual life power may be transmitted through your family as surely as hair color.” Visible, recognizable, explainable: “that marriage is blessed of the Lord. It has His mark!” But because of no mark of God too many marriages today end up marred.

Marred marriages, I believe, are the very undermining of the true foundation of healthy nations, healthy societies, and even healthy children. June 12, 2013, I will celebrate my 77^th birthday, and I have been a witness to a marring of modern marriage, marring of lonely children from broken homes, and a marring of school and community participants.

I have no hesitation in saying that I believe marred marriages are clearly an open door to promiscuity, sexual immorality, out-of- wedlock births, and the disintegration of family structure and blessing.

Recently, in the Augusta Chronicle, May 14, 2013, U.S. Judge J. Randal Hall wrote: “In America today, 53 per cent of all children born to women under 30 are being born outside of what has been historically considered the most stable family structure. We are deep into a crisis that is critically burdening our schools, neighborhoods, law enforcement agencies, economy and, if not abated, will produce dire consequences for our society.” The Judge stated later in his article, “Over 90% of the defendants that I have sentenced over the last five years have been reared outside of a normal two-part family…I have also noticed that practically all of the defendants that appeared before me that were part of a street gang prior to their arrest were products of single-parent households or households where they were abandoned by both parents to be cared for by other family members, many of which are ill equipped to assume this responsibility.”

There was another article I read stating that marriage peaked in the 1940’s and has been on a serious decline ever since. My parents were divorced in the mid-to-late 1930’s. For nine years after their divorce I was cared for by my mother’s parents. Only the grace and mercy of God stabilized my life through Christ Jesus and His gracious church body and spiritual family.

It’s as if in our day a new disease has emerged called marriage infidelity. It’s like a ‘leprous’ disease attacking marriages and families leaving so many, many scarred, damaged, and sick. ‘Leprosy’? “A foul cutaneous disease…covering the whole body…with violent itches.” Have you seen marriages ‘scratching’ lately?

“Marred marriages”? There is no doubt spiritual diseases affect and effect a work in too many homes. I know that in 2 Corinthians 6:11-16 Paul stressed that the Body of Christ IS the house of faith – and believers are not to be yoked to unbelievers in our Lord’s spiritual home! Verse 14 says, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.”

Without a doubt unequal ‘yoking’ opens the door to a spiritual strangulation! Oh, I know, some have survived – and some see their mates ‘saved’, but not that often.

Joshua said confidently in Joshua 25:15, “…as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” But if it’s a ‘divided’ house, how is it dedicated to the Lord? In I Peter 3:7 Peter shared, “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, GIVING HONOR TO THE WIFE, as to the weaker vessel, and AS BEING HEIRS TOGETHER OF THE GRACE OF LIFE, that your prayers may not be hindered.”

How many marred marriages have you witnessed that existed for the purpose of honoring God and interpreting saving grace to the world around them? How many marred marriages were created by ‘fleshly’ determinations absent of divine intent?

Marriage, family, church – God’s possession for God’s eternal purposes. And unless God girds, guides, graces, and governs, it’s all on a faulty foundation. Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”

“Marred marriages”? Usually there is a void, an absence, in one or even both partners, of unconditional love and acceptance. Marriage becomes a ‘proving ground’ where one or the other has to ‘measure up’ to the partner’s estimation – and how many marriage partners are there who never fell short?

In Billy Graham’s book, “The Journey,” [p.259], Dr. Graham wrote: “Divorce has become so common today that we often lose sight of its painful consequences. Some of you know what I’m talking about, because your own life has been scarred by divorce, either that of your parents or your own. Even now you may be struggling with feelings of rejection, bitterness, anger, or failure – all of which often follow in the wake of a divorce. Let me assure you that God understands what you are going through, and He still loves you and wants to comfort and guide you. May you find new hope in Christ as you turn to Him, and may God also bring across your path people who can help and encourage you.”

“Marred marriages”? Hebrews 13:4 says, “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” Jesus spoke in Mark 8:38 about an “adulterous and sinful generation…” Most Americans have had their spiritual senses dulled to the sin of sexual immorality to the degree that most have lost the ability to blush! It was shocking to me as I recently read 2 Peter again and again and came to 2 Peter 2:13-14 again and again where Peter wrote: “…They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.”

“Marred marriages”? If the present marriage rate is about a 50/50 ration, would unforgiveness dare to be the darkness for at least a portion of shattered marriages? Again, the Eldridges wrote: [“Love and War,” p.196], “To be unloving (unforgiving) is to fail at the very thing we were created for. It is a rejection of the essence of our existence, a rejection of the Love that made us. As George MacDonald confessed, ‘I am a beast until I love as God doth love.’”

What does Ephesians 4:32 tell us? “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, FORGIVING ONE ANOTHER EVEN AS GOD IN CHRIST FORGAVE YOU.” In our marriage world of today have we erased even more of God’s Holy Word? Ephesians 5:1-2 says, “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”

But “marred marriages” are not ‘sweet-smelling aromas,’ but far too often emitting the “stench” of devotion to ‘flesh’ – not the Spirit. It was William Wordsworth in his “Excursion” writing, [Bk. VI], that wrote:

“Why do not words, and kiss, and solemn pledge, And nature that is kind in woman’s breast, And reason that in man is wise and good, And fear of Him who is a righteous Judge –

Why do not these prevail for human life, To keep two hearts together, that begun Their spring-time with one love.”

‘Why’ is a huge, huge word when applied to either marriage or divorce! “…words, and kiss, and solemn pledge…!” I would surmise that a ‘solemn pledge’ takes a back-seat to fleshly desires. Donald T. Kauffman, in “Gist of the Lesson” wrote: “A good marriage is not a contract between two persons but a sacred covenant between three. Too often Christ is never invited to the wedding and finds no room in the home. Why? Is it because we have misrepresented Him and forgotten His joyful outlook on life?” Is it?

Let me shift gears from “Marred Marriages” to marriage that is “The Master’s Mastery”! I love what Geoffrey Francis Fisher, at the time Archbishop of Canterbury, at the wedding of Princess Elizabeth, had to say: “The ever-living Christ is here to bless you. The nearer you keep to Him, the nearer you will be to one another.”

Youth, young adults, ‘mature’ adults: Make sure your marriage to be is on the sure foundation of the Resurrected Christ! Matthew 19:6 is so very, very clear: “…Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Did I share, “A good marriage is not a contract between two persons but a sacred covenant between three”? You, your mate, and Christ Jesus! I love Ecclesiastes 4:9-12!! “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

And I know you didn’t miss it: “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken!” Oh, please, read carefully Ephesians 5:22-31! “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of the water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’”

Yet, sadly, marriage in America has fallen, almost, into a cannibalistic state of mind and heart! And probably because Christ is omitted by one or both parties.

I pray, if only…if only, marriage partners stood and kept standing on the Rock of faith and obedience in Christ Jesus! Didn’t He say, “Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?”

Again, John and Stasi Eldridge wrote in “Love and War,” [p.32], ‘If two lie down together, they will keep warm’ – the picture is one of soldiers, who from time immemorial have lain down back-to-back at night in order to keep warm in the field. God gave us to each other because we need someone to watch our back. We need someone to pick us up when we fall. How different would it be if we went to bed each night with the vision of two comrades lying down together in the midst of a glorious campaign? This is the reality, whether we see it or not.” And then there’s Jesus, our sure foundation in marriage!

Often I’ve talked to struggling, young marriage partners, and asked them, “Tell me about your mutual conversations with Jesus about your marriage problems.” And the answer? Usually ‘zip’ or ‘zero’ conversations with the King of kings and Lord of lords!

“Mastered marriages” are the Master’s realm and domain of heavenly blessing on earth for the world around to take note of. Marriage is to be a Holy Place where God Himself feels so at home as He reigns with joy!

At the same time the Master’s mastery includes “iron sharpens iron” – and somehow too many of us fell into the deep hole of, ‘who needs sharpening – not me!” True togetherness in marriage is so often genuine ‘plank removal’ when love is real! Not bitterness, not anger, not resentment, but true spiritual surgical care! That’s because “the two become one”!

Matthew 7:3-5 tells us: “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Sue and I have a plaque in our bedroom on a chest that says: “A happy marriage is the union of two great forgivers,” a statement by Ruth Bell Graham before her death.

Marriage counseling from a Christian perspective will always come usually to the place where you ask one or both counselees, “Have you forgiven him/her?”

I’ll never forget an event in the Philippines where, in an open-air crusade, the invitation had been extended. Many flooded the aisles with seven or eight of the pastors including my son, Scott, and myself, ministering. A young mother came to me – bitterness, hardness, coldness, was all over her. There was a frowning scowl covering her face. She said, “Would you pray for me – I’m sick?” And instantly our Lord spoke to me, “Ask her about her husband.” I did – and this mother of three children exploded! “My husband left me for another woman and left his children. I hate him!” I then said to her, “Mam, you are sick with unforgiveness – and I can’t pray for you until you are willing to go and forgive him.” Her countenance changed, she began to weep, and then said, “I will go and forgive my husband.” I saw her healed instantly!!

“Mastered marriages”? Yes, WHEN THERE’S PRAYER FOR ONE ANOTHER. If Jesus says in Luke 18:1 that, “Men ought always to pray, and not faint,” do you believe that includes your wife and children or your husband and children?

It was G. Ashton Oldham who wrote the following: “Prayer is the chief agency and activity whereby men align themselves with God’s purposes. Prayer does not consist in battering the walls of heaven for personal benefits or the success of our plans. Rather it is the committing of ourselves for the carrying out of His purposes. It is a telephone call to headquarters for orders. It is not bending God’s will to ours, but our will to God’s. In prayer, we tap vast reservoirs of spiritual power whereby God can find fuller entrance into the hearts of men.” Are you praying for one another in your marriage? Daily?

“Mastered marriages”? That’s the Spirit of care and caring for one another, body, soul, and spirit! One of those sad verses in God’s Word is Psalm 142:4 where David said: “…No one cares for my soul.” How heart-breaking and earth-shattering when there is, sadly, no one in the marriage-partnership caring for one another! Chambers spoke of “careless carefulness” – and for non-Christians I’m sure that’s true in far too many marriages, but in ‘union’ with Christ one walks in marriage with ‘careless carefulness’? Give me a break!

My wife, Sue, and I have been married 57 years as of June 10, 2013! We are blessed with four children, 3 sons and a daughter, and they all walk with the Lord. Sue and I are supernaturally blessed, but that does not omit care and caring for one another. My wife has been a spiritual giant in child-nurturing, husband-caring, and family health physically and spiritually!

In my case alone, I’ve had lower back surgery, eight left shoulder replacements, one right shoulder rotator-cuff surgery, double-knee replacements, double-hip replacements, and those within three months of each other, and in late April, 2013, I suffered a major heart attack, major artery 100% blocked with a blood clot ready to kill me, told I had 45 minutes to live; I was in surgery within 22 minutes of my diagnosis, and on a Saturday night at 8:30, my heart surgeon was in the hospital! Besides my Lord and my doctor, who has cared for me? My wife and 3 sons and my daughter!

And Sue had to delay her right shoulder surgery after a fall because of my heart attack, but just two weeks after, she had her badly damaged right shoulder operated on. And guess who cares for her and ministers to her? You guessed it right – her husband and children!

Some people fail to see, understand, or comprehend that ‘saving faith’ is practically lived out in caring for one another! [I challenge you to take out your concordance and do a study on caring for “one another”!]. There is absolutely the solid truth that God-honoring marriages are authored in heaven itself but are lived out on earth between caring partners touched by Christ’s sacrificial love.

William Shakespeare wrote in “Henry V” the following: “God, the best maker of all marriages, Combine your hearts in one.” Isn’t that Ephesians 5:31? “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” And you ‘hate’ yourself and refuse to care for yourself?

Care and caring lead us to, I firmly believe, what the Bible has to say about ‘husbands’ who are the heads of households and wives who ‘submit’. And how tragically many have so misinterpreted or twisted headship in marriage. “The husband is the head of his wife.” That means he is ‘lord over,’ that means ‘he’s the boss,’ that means he is commander in chief? Where does that come from? And I say to you, not from God’s Holy Word at all! When, in Ephesians 5:22-23 Paul said: “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, [doesn’t stop there, but goes on to say:], as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.” Verse 25 explains: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.”

Christ’s true Lordship is “servant-hood”! He said: “I didn’t come to be served but to serve and give My life as a ransom for many.”

Marriage? Mutual servant-hood to the glory, honor, and love of Christ! Marriage? Voluntarily laying lives down for one another! Marriage? A journey of blessing and honoring and pouring out on one another unconditional love!!

There’s a hymn entitled “A Christian Home” written and scored by Jean Sibelius and Barbara B. Hart. The words are so challenging, no doubt by two wives and mothers. It says:

“O give us homes built upon the Savior, Where Christ is Head and Counselor and Guide; Where every child is taught His love and favor And gives his heart to Christ, the crucified; How sweet to know that though his footsteps waver His faithful Lord is walking by His side!

O give us homes with godly fathers, mothers, Who always place their hope and trust in Him; Whose tender patience turmoil never bothers, Whose calm and courage trouble cannot dim; A home where each finds joy in serving others, And love still shines, though days be dark and grim.

O give us homes where Christ is Lord and Master, The Bible read, the precious hymns still sung; Where prayer comes first in peace or in disaster, And praise is natural speech to every tongue; Where mountains move before a faith that’s vaster, And Christ sufficient is for old and young.

O Lord, our God, our homes are Yours and forever! We trust to You their problems, toil and care; Their bonds of love no enemy can ever sever If You are always Lord and Master there; Be You the center of our least endeavor Be You our Guest, our hearts and homes to share.” AMEN?

CHAPTER NINE

YOUR WEAKNESS OR GOD’S ABLENESS?

You’ll remember and remind yourself that our motivation for this book has been the sad reality that many across our world have stepped in to the stifling spiritual atmosphere of “A Resignation To Hopelessness” without examining at all the eternal hope our gracious and merciful Lord offers to each of us. Many choose ‘blindness’ rather than spiritual sight and seeing. In creation God established all men, all women, with the will to choose evil or rest themselves in the provisions and care of God Almighty. And the Bible clearly says: Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The very next verse, Romans 3:24, says: “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

Spurgeon wrote: [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Vol.16, p.64], “The best of that which looks like goodness must be used as the raw material with which to make a traitor who will sell his Master.” Human ‘flesh’ in fallen men is not only that producing ‘acknowledged sinners,’ but the potential of creating “fig-leaf religions” like the two in the Garden. Yes, religions manufactured by fallen men are just that – religions of man’s creations, “not what has been done by God Himself,” but what one believes he must do to find acceptance with God. Men do invent and determine for themselves what they believe should be accepted by God – that’s like the young terrorists who kill themselves and others believing they have 70 virgins awaiting them in God’s presence. Sorry, that’s ‘phony baloney’!!

In Romans 7:14 Paul gives all a ‘wake-up call’: “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.” All fallen men and women are “slaves to their old sin natures.” Conviction comes through the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit convicts – not because I’ve determined my desire to keep God’s Law declares me acceptable! No! My attempt to “be saved” by ‘law-keeping’ clearly reveals I’m a law-breaker because in James 2:10 the brother of Jesus, anointed by the Spirit, tells us: “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” Why? Because law-keeping is not God’s declaration of the way a man is saved – it’s ‘saved by grace through faith in and through the finished work of Christ at the Cross’!

“Enticing words of men’s wisdom” is declared by many to be what God should accept, and even if He doesn’t, they judge themselves [in weakness] to be stronger than what God says!

“RESIGNATION TO HOPELESSNESS”? That’s a man’s mental declaration or determination that he doesn’t need God through believing because he’s ‘hope-filled’ in himself. That’s a man’s spiritual evaluation that he has and never will have ‘guilt of sin’ because there is no such thing in his fleshly journey.

That’s a defiant man’s opposition to God and Truth in which a man’s guilty conscience is never admitted to Holy God. That’s a rebellious man’s open declaration of no need of God’s saving grace because he has no sorrow over sin – he just made a fleshly mistake, and he’s more mad at himself than even God!

A hopeless man in his natural state has determined that there is no help for his spiritual dilemma. Though Paul tells us in Galatians 5:24 that, “they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts,” hopeless men have determined their quirks or quaintness of behavior has nothing to do with a church’s or Christians’ determination of a way of salvation and deliverance and healing – they just “try harder” in their weaknesses to be strong!

Can’t you hear them? “Deny myself”? “Why, I am my greatest hope!” “I have a right to myself. I determine what is best for me!” “I’m able!”

Oswald Chambers wrote in “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.256], “It is the things that are right and noble and good from the natural standpoint that keeps us back from God’s best. To discern that natural virtues antagonize surrender to God, is to bring our soul into the center of its greatest battle.” So very, very true!!

If you’re not aware of Old Testament truths about Sodom and Gomorrah, I would challenge you to research what brought about destruction of two cities – and you’ll find the bitter seeds of Sodom and the poisonous grapes of Gomorrah!

If you’re not aware of the destiny of “tares” and “fruitless trees,” how will you ever find ‘hope’ outside yourself? If you’re not aware of the difference between ‘judgment fires’ and ‘purifying fires’, how will you ever know about calling on Christ to ‘save you’?

“Garden presence”, because of ‘sin’, is now “Garden absence.” In Genesis 3:24, after the fall of Adam and Eve, God’s Holy Word says: “So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubims at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.”

Can you even begin to imagine why “your weakness” is blocked to God’s “Garden” presence? Well, Satan cast doubt on the Word of God. Satan twisted eternal Truth and still distorts it. Satan confuses those who try to enter. Satan lies – “you can sin and not die.” And he promotes unbelief and entices to live independent of God. As a result of listening to the distaste of Satan for God men take the “fig-leaf” approach to God covering themselves as they see fit and hiding from His presence in many ways!

Don’t forget the “flaming sword” at the entrance to the Garden of Holy Presence! Isaiah 34:5-6 says, God speaking, “For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; indeed it shall come down on Edom, and on the people of My curse, for judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood…” Do you see, do you sense, the blood of Jesus at the door of your salvation?

I pray TRUTH grips and grabs your hearts as you read this chapter! In Isaiah 66:15-16 we read: “For behold, the Lord will come with fire and with His chariots, like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword the Lord will judge all flesh; and the slain of the Lord shall be many.”

“Your weakness”? “Your resignation to hopelessness”? In Jeremiah 2:25 we read, “Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst. But you said, ‘There is no hope. No! I have loved aliens [to God] and after them I will go.”

In Jeremiah 18 our Lord revealed the Potter and the clay. The Holy Word tells us of marred vessels, but the potter “made it again into another vessel.” My God can make any man into a “new vessel,” but in Isaiah 18:12 they said, “That is hopeless! So we will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one obey the dictates of his [own] evil heart.” Oh, how sad, how heart-breaking is that!?!

When it comes to wrestling with “Your weakness or God’s Ableness,” how could one overlook, shun, try to deny or refute, God’s own words in Jeremiah 23:16-22? Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; they speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord. They continually say to those who despise Me, ‘The Lord has said, ‘You shall have peace’; And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say, ‘No evil shall come upon you.’ For who has stood in the counsel of the Lord, and has perceived and heard His word? Who has marked His word and heard it? Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury – a violent whirlwind! It will fall violently on the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not turn back until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart. In the latter days you will understand it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in My counsel, and had caused My people to hear My words, then they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings.”

I will not hesitate, procrastinate, seek to refute or deny, the truth of God’s Holy Word! I stand on it: “GOD IS ABLE”! But as someone wrote: “Two men sat in prison bars – one saw mud; the other saw stars.”

I wonder what goes on in some lives in their self-imposed prison of hopelessness or for some even in their ‘prison of hope.’ In Truth, we are to confess and forsake our sin and sins – not just confess and keep on sinning! In Truth, we are to be conformed to His image. Really? In Truth, we are to be renewed to a true knowledge of the One who created us, made us, lost us, then bought us with a price. In Truth, we are to be being transformed into the same image from glory to glory. In Truth I John 2:6 tells us, “He who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk just as He walked.”

In Zechariah 9:11-12 we read, “As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you, I have set your prisoners free from the waterless pit…Return to the stronghold, O prisoners who have the hope.”

I Corinthians 9:10 tells us, “Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be a partaker of his hope.”

And we in Christ DO HAVE HOPE! It’s God’s ABLENESS! In Hebrews 6:13-20 we learn of laying hold of the hope set before us: “For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.’ And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

Does it say our hope is an anchor of the soul? Is it sure, steadfast, and one which enters the veil of His glorious presence? Then, why, in the midst of multitudinous truth do some prisoners of hope see only “mud”? Do you know what I’m talking about? You may have heard it or you may have said it yourself:

“There’s no hope for me, I’ve tried. Be like Jesus? No one could be further from that truth than me. I look to my spirit, to His nature and character, my walk, my attitudes at times – at the goal set before us, “the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,” – and the high calling seems so out of my reach…I’ve forsaken the world – I have no hope for the ‘flesh’, I know it profits me nothing – gold and silver is no god for me. And I’ve loved His Word, loved the fellowship and communion of the saints, loved the ministry to the crippled, lame, blind, and deaf…but when I look to myself, all I see is “mud”. I’ve strived to enter, sought to lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset me, been diligent to make my calling and election sure, sought to do all things for the sake of the gospel so that I may be a fellow partaker of it – buffeted my body and sought to make it my slave so I wouldn’t be disqualified…I’ve sought to continually fight the good fight of faith, keeping faith and a good conscience, disciplining myself for the purpose of godliness. But I feel as if I’ve been losing the battle, falling short of the grace and glory of God. It seems to have been in vain for me. It’s mud, miry clay, the depths of despair and disappointment and discouragement for me.”

NOW…I hope you’ve caught the “drift” of these statements because something is radically omitted by the very words and spirit of it! And that’s the LIVING GOD, the power of HIS GOSPEL UNTO SALVATION, the promises of HIS LIVING WORD, and the NATURE AND CHARACTER OF GOD WHO DOES JUST HAPPEN TO HAVE AN AWFULLY SIGNIFICANT PART IN OUR WALK OF FAITH AND HOPE!

Did you hear it with your spiritual ears? “I’ve tried, I’ve looked, I’ve forsaken, I’ve strived, I’ve sought, I’ve disciplined, but I’ve been losing out, falling short, climbing less, and…” So I ask you, “WHERE IS GOD IN ALL THAT?”

Here’s how Paul put it in I Timothy 4:10, “For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.” That is the message of illumination and realization, the message of affirmation, the message of transformation, and the message of celebration.

Without God as the author of hope, it’s always mud, always a blind alley, always short-changing in life’s best efforts at the window of exchange. And I don’t want you to be surprised by this, but…GOD DOES HAVE A PART!

And in ‘remnant preaching and teaching’ of true biblical repentance, of self-examination, of the gospel of purifying the heart and persevering to the end, which is absolutely necessary, some have so looked within they’ve forgotten to look up – so examined themselves that the gaze has been exchanged for self-effort rather than fixed on the Author and perfecter of our faith.

In Psalm 34:4-18 we find end results of one who fixes their eyes on the Right One: “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who desires life, and loves many days that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The righteous eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.”

Let your “eyes see the King in His beauty,” [Isaiah 33:17]; let your gaze be upon “the angel of His presence who saves…who lifts out of despair…who carries us as those in days of old,” [Isaiah 63:9], let your feet today settle in “at the table…where the Bread of His Presence…continually abides (Exodus 25:30) at all times;” turn your heart [right now] to “My Angel who will go before you and bring you in…” [Exodus 23:23].

Think of Him “Who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us…so there will be glory in the Church again and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.”

Let the fire of HOLY CONFIDENCE burn in your heart “that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6).”

Rejoice again that “it is God who is at work in you to will and to work for His good pleasure.” [Philippians 2:13].

Do you see it? You may be alive today in the midst of your mud, still alive by the grace and mercy of God, so you could come to the very place where you are in order to see that HE IS –I AM, and I AM ALL YOU NEED!

David said in Psalm 40:10, 16, “I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation…Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; let those who love Your salvation say continually, the Lord be magnified.”

How did Isaiah magnify God’s “able-ness”? In Isaiah 38:19 he said: “It is the living who gives thanks to You, as I do today; and a father tells his son about God’s faithfulness.” Godly fathers amplify for earthly sons God’s “able-ness”!

Do you know how Paul sought to remedy the ill of the problem Church called Corinth? How he sought to raise them out of the ‘pablum’ messy diaper stage? How he called the church to accountability concerning their corruption, division, and state of confusion? I Corinthians 1:9 says, “God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

It doesn’t have to be “mud” but walking under the Light of God’s “Bright and Morning Star” if you can grasp in your heart and mind, not your weakness, but God’s faithfulness and His “able-ness”! OUR GOD IS FAITHFUL AND ABLE AS OUR PRIEST IN THE SATISFACTION OF OUR SINS!

In Hebrews 2:17 we read, “Therefore, in all things He [Jesus] had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” What an awesome revelation and unveiling of the very heart of God for you and me!

Oh, listen, lean on, love Hebrews 7:24-28! “But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.”

We’ve just read about God’s “better covenant”! An unchangeable priesthood, able to save to the uttermost, always making intercession for you, a High Priest fitting for us, once for all offered Himself, the Son and Savior, as the perfect sacrifice of God forever!! And you have a better plan?

Who is it that would overlook or seek to blot out I John 1:7? “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” I John 2:2 builds reinforcement to God’s ability and able-ness to save, bless, fulfill, and complete: “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”

To the Ephesians Paul said, Ephesians 1:7, “…we have redemption through His blood…”

If you’ve been reading with your heart and head, you know our beginning with Holy God is only on the basis of the blood of Christ and its able-ness. You also know that our continuation of that walk in victory and in power is not because of our exceptional abilities but the power of the blood of Christ to make new and renew continually. Our continuation of that walk is not because of our dazzling faith but the blood of Jesus. We’re not overcomers and super-achievers because of our efforts but the blood of the Lamb of God alone empowering us. Our nearness to God is only through His blood – look at Ephesians 2:13! “But now in Christ Jesus you who were formally far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ!!”

And you know when it’s all over, last of all, final statement of our faith as we enter the presence of Holy God – it’s the FAITHFULNESS OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS!! I Peter 1:17-21 says: “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manife4st in these last times for you, who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”

OUR GOD IS FAITHFUL AND ABLE IN HIS GOVERNMENTAL RULE AND REIGN!! Oh, please examine carefully Hebrews 3:1-6! “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.”

Do you see it? Faithful to the God who appointed Him! Faithful to the calling, purpose, blueprint drawn before the foundation of the world! Faithful in His words – “I never say anything I don’t hear the Father say!” Faithful in His deeds – “I never do anything I don’t see the Father doing!” Faithful in the Spirit of His life – it was the prophetic fulfillment of every word said about Him in Isaiah 9:6-7, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”

Jesus has REIGNED IN OTHERS – AND HE CAN REIGN IN YOUR HEART AND LIFE AND BRING IT TO COMPLETION! Psalm 89:36-37 tells us: “His seed shall endure forever, and His throne as the sun before Me; It shall be established forever like the moon, even like the faithful witness in the sky.”

This is why Paul said in I Corinthians 15:25, “For He MUST REIGN until He has put down all His enemies under His feet.” HE, THE LORD JESUS, MUST REIGN! Absolute necessity, divine imperative, a Sovereign Word from God!! JESUS MUST REIGN, RULE OVER US. Why? BECAUSE HE IS ABLE!!

How many have you known who have refused to bow down before “golden images” of this world, man’s own makings, and instead face fiery furnaces – because they refuse to bow and are willing for the fires. Why? Daniel 3:16-18 says: Shadrach, Meshach, and AbedNego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

How many have you known who looked within and saw only stony, hardened hearts, but heard the truth? Luke 3:8 says, “…for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham…,” and they became living stones!

How many have you known who faced the “contrary winds,” “demon powers,” forces of Hell itself to turn them aside, who felt the mighty torrent and surges of the floods of enemy oppression, but stayed the course. Why? Romans 8:38-39 tells us: “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

How many have you known or seen who came within a hair’s breadth of standing or falling, but they chose to stand firm? Why? Romans 14:4 says, “…to his own master he stands or falls; and stand he will, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”

Romans 16:25-26 says: “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith -.”

Have you witnessed them? It’s not for them to receive the grace of God in vain and go on making today the Day of Salvation. Why? 2 Corinthians 9:8, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”

“ALL GRACE…IN ALL THINGS…AT ALL TIMES…FOR ALL RECIPIENTS OF GRACE!”

Paul is still stretching us to the breadth, length, height, and depth of the love of Christ so that we can be filled with all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:20 says, “God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think, ACCORDING to the power that works within us.” Paul wants us all as believers being convinced, (2 Timothy 1:12), that “He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day…”

Hebrews 2:18 says, “He’s able to come to our aid…” Hebrews 7:25 says, “able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for us.”

The look at Jude 24-25! “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.”

OUR GOD IS FAITHFUL IN HIS FAITHFUL WORD TO EACH AND EVERY BELIEVER. In Titus 1:9 Paul wrote: “holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.”

What about your personal walk? Is it one contradicting God’s Word for yourself or resting in its converting, cleansing truths? I don’t know of anything more vital than this very word today to translate you out of “mud” into the heavenly places than this: THE FAITHFUL WORD OF ALMIGHTY GOD!

When in John 17:4 Jesus said to the Father, “I have finished the work which You gave Me to do,” the angels rejoiced and Father-God smiled! The heart and mind of God had been fully blessed as the Son finished God’s work at the Cross.

Read carefully what Oswald Chambers wrote about God’s faithful Word concerning man’s redemption. [“My Utmost For His Highest, “ p. 242]: “Never build your preaching of forgiveness on the fact that God is our Father and He will forgive us because He loves us. It is untrue to Jesus Christ’s revelation of God; it makes the Cross unnecessary, and the Redemption “much ado about nothing.” If God does forgive sin, it is because of the DEATH of Christ. God could forgive men in no other way than the death of His Son, and Jesus is exalted to be Savior because of His death.” We see Jesus…because of suffering and death, crowned with glory and honor.” The greatest note of triumph that ever sounded in the ears of a startled universe was that sounded on the Cross of Christ – “It is finished.” That is the last word in the Redemption of man.” AMEN?

CHAPTER TEN

ACCEPTABLE BONDAGE OR ATONING LIBERTY?

“A RESIGNATION TO HOPELESSNESS?”

There is a powerful, convicting, awakening passage of Scripture in Jeremiah 17:5-10 which lays the foundation for “acceptable bondage or atoning liberty.” It says: Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”

The paralysis of response to a closed or open door leaves one where he’s always been – in bondage, a slave to his flesh and old sin nature, unresponsive to the love and grace of God. In fact, after hearing God’s message about the Potter and the clay in Jeremiah 18, their response (fallen man), then and now, is found in verse 12, and they said, “That is hopeless! So we will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one obey the dictates (or stubbornness) of his evil heart.” At least they knew they WERE EVIL!

Acceptable bondage is in a man who has no “trust” at all in God. “Fallen men” bound by their old sin natures do not have even the slightest confidence at all in God or His Word. The god they bow to is the ‘god of self’ – and in that they have great confidence!

Paul gives us all an informative view of ‘acceptable bondage’ for the majority of our world population even now, but also an inspirational view of “atoning liberty.” He wrote in Ephesians 2:1-3, and, verses 11-13, the following: “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” Verses 11-13, Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh – who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands – that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

The psalmist had spiritual understanding and awareness of what was going on in the minds and hearts of his day when he wrote in Psalm 2:1-3, “Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS ANOINTED, saying, ‘Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.”

And they don’t even know about worldly, fleshly, demonic or Satanic bonds and cords binding their hands, heads, hopes, and dashing into pieces words of hope, words of liberty, and freedom, or words that say, “There IS atoning liberty”! They’ll stuff your ears and minds both to shut out God’s message.

Oh, there are those who “flourish” for a season – but then they must stand before Holy God! Some of the hardest hearts in this world today are men who are billionaires and don’t know where the gifts to accumulate it came from. Just because God seeks to exalt certain men who are not men of faith doesn’t mean that it has become a ‘blessing’ to them – they don’t know it, but it has become their worst ‘curse’! They may feel they ‘live’ without a rebuke from God, but Revelation 3:19 says, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.”

In God’s creation of man He created us all as unbridled men and women, free to choose for ourselves, even as His dove of peace called us all to Himself. We’re not horses that He puts reins on like a Kentucky Derby winner! God isn’t interested in the men He created being ‘robots’ that allows Him to punch any button He wants to get His way – we’re free to fall but also free to repent and rest ourselves in His eternal care.

This is why Paul wrote to Timothy, I Timothy 5:6, “But she who lives in pleasure [indulgence] is dead while she lives.” I love what Oswald Chambers wrote in “My Utmost For His Highest,” as he quoted I John 1:7, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Chambers then wrote: “To make conscious freedom from sin for deliverance from sin by the Atonement is a great error. No man knows what sin is until he is born again. Sin is what Jesus Christ faced on Calvary. The evidence that I am delivered from sin is that I know the real nature of sin in me…This does not refer to conscious sin only, but to the tremendously profound understanding of sin which only the Holy Ghost in me realizes.”

In Romans 2:4-11 Paul enlightens us more about “acceptable bondage,” “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds’; eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness – indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.”

And you do understand, you grasp, with the reality that there are those who “despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance.” And repentance THERE MUST BE!

But, for those who accept “acceptable bondage,” Paul says, that, “in accordance with your hardness and impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds.’”

“Acceptable bondage”! I Timothy 1:8-11 says, “But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.”

So God who is a Holy, Righteous, Pure God, if He is that at all, must obliterate what He sees as Holy, Righteous, and Pure, in order to accept the unacceptable? Is that how YOU see it? God must change, alter His Word, re-define His terms, broaden His own understanding of holiness, righteousness, and purity as fallen sinners see it? Right? Wrong! And nothing could be further from Holy Truth!!

Hebrews 13:4 says, “Marriage is honorable [that which is between a man and a woman] among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers GOD WILL JUDGE!!”

In Revelation 21:6-8 we read, 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. He who overcomes shall inherit all things 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.” [And if you don’t know, it is a fire that is never extinguished, and one “burns” throughout eternity!!]. As they face the “second death,” it never dies, the fire is never quenched from burning on them with horrible pain and suffering; it’s forever and ever because of their choice!

I can only explain it as hardness of heart, a stubborn, sin-bound mind, an unholy flesh nature that binds one ever so strongly, every day, and building up huge, thick walls to the grace and mercy of God! Spurgeon called it “Inordinate affection.” Fisher calls it incomprehensible stupidity even with their PHD’s!!

James 5:1-6 so clearly speaks about “acceptable bondage”! “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.”

“Acceptable bondage”? I don’t know of a more moth-eaten, ravaged style of life, that those who have been so prime-pumped and live so proud of themselves and what they’ve accomplished for themselves.

Do you remember Belshazzar in Daniel 5? Verse 20 says, “But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him.” How sad is that? But you don’t deal with your own pride and arrogance?

Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” In fact, the wise man of Proverbs had said earlier in Proverbs 13:10, “By pride comes nothing, but strife, [“My way or the highway”?], but with the well-advised is wisdom.”

Listen to Oswald Chambers! [“My Utmost For His Highest”, Vol.4,p.340], “There never yet was an angel that had pride in his heart, but he lost his wings, and fell into Gehenna, as Satan and those fallen angels did; and there shall never be a saint who indulges in self-conceit, and pride, and self-confidence, but the Lord will spoil his glories, and trample his honors in the mire, and make him cry out again, ‘Lord, have mercy on my, less than the least of all saints, and the ‘very chief of sinners.’”

“Acceptable bondage”? For some, it is the reality of being a ‘law-breaker’, but since God is the God of grace and mercy, one feels he can ‘profess’ and continue on as a law-breaker. But I read in Galatians 3:10, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.”

It may be a shock even to some ‘Christians,’ but I John 3:4 tells us, “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.”

James 2:10 says, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” Why? Because Godly righteousness doesn’t come because one attempts to keep the law as his own saving grace – Galatians 2:21 says, “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

This is why in I Corinthians 15:34 Paul said, “Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God; I speak this to your shame.”

Oh, my! Far too many willfully put themselves into acceptable bondage because they possess delusional thinking that if they ‘try’, then acceptance by God will come. But I read in Hebrews 2:14-15, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”

Did you see it? Do you receive it? It’s the death of Jesus on the Cross that has the blood-saving power to release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime SUBJECT TO BONDAGE!

With all my heart, I pray you receive, not acceptable bondage, but “ATONING LIBERTY!” In Galatians 5:1 Paul said, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” He told the Galatians and us in verse 13, “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh [your old sin nature], but through love serve one another.”

This is why the author of Hebrews wrote Hebrews 10:25, “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

It may be that you’ve found yourself hidden away in a ‘cave’ like David from the opposition to the saving grace and faith you stand on. He wrote Psalm 142, “I cry out to the Lord with my voice; with my voice to the Lord I make supplication. I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare before Him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, Then You knew my path. In the way in which I walk they have secretly set a snare for me. Look on my right hand and see, for there is no one who acknowledges me; refuge has failed me; no one cares for my soul. I cried out to You, O Lord; I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low; deliver me from my persecutors, for they are stronger than I. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise Your name; the righteous shall surround me, for You shall deal bountifully with me.”

I so encourage you to see, not only Christ Jesus, in Isaiah 42, but yourself as an extension of God’s Life, as an expression of His love, and the very proof of His power, THROUGH YOU! Isaiah 42:1-10 says:

“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged, till He has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands shall wait for His law.” Thus says God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it; I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. I am the Lord, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them. Sing to the Lord a new song…!”

Doctor Luke, in Luke 4:18-19, has the prescription of Atoning Liberty! He wrote: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, TO SET AT LIBERTY THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” And elsewhere He says: “Today is the day of your salvation!”

What you’re getting ready to read is still on God’s agenda, on His time-table, and completely in His plans – Romans 8:18-19, 27-30! “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God…Verses 27-30, Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined [pre-determined] to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”

You do understand that apart from Christ’s work providing atoning liberty we all possess darkened minds that by His grace can become enlightened minds, and blinded minds that can become unveiled minds, and the minds of fallen men becoming the mind of Christ. In 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 Paul tells us: “Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech – unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

ATONING LIBERTY! ATONING FREEDOM! ATONING BROKEN BONDS AND CHAINS! In Proverbs 16:7 we read, “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He [God Himself] makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” Is there peace surrounding your life?

Atoning Liberty? In James 5:7-8 we read: “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”

Atoning Liberty? The evidence of eternal glory resting on the redeemed because of our Redeemer? Revelation 21:22-27 tells us who they are and who Jesus really is! “But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor to it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”

Atoning Liberty? It’s freedom! The slavish chains and bondages have been broken because you’ve been washed in the blood of the Lamb! John 8:36 says, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” Do you grasp ‘freedom’ from sin’s penalty and freedom from sin’s power and even the promise of freedom from sin’s presence?

Atoning Liberty? Have you grasped “freedom to reign in this life”? Don’t miss this! It’s for this present hour in YOUR life! Romans 5:15-17! “But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more, the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came for one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by 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.”

Will reign when? IN THIS LIFE, IN THE HERE AND NOW, IN THIS PRESENT MOMENT EVEN AMIDST TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS!

Atoning Liberty? Romans 6:17-18, 22, gloriously tells us: “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. Verse 22, But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.”

Atoning Liberty? Have you died? Galatians 2:20 says: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

And, as a result of Christ’s crucifixion and our death with Him, Romans 6:5-7 tells us: “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.”

Atoning Liberty? Praise God! We have the Indwelling Presence of God’s Holy Spirit, and I Corinthians 2:12 tells us: “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” THE HOLY SPIRIT TELLS US AND SHOWS US AND VALIDATES GOD’S WORD IN US!

I pray you’re not still partially bound because you’re scared of the Holy Spirit! Oh, No! He‘s your Friend, your Guide, your Teacher, the One who empowers you to live the victorious, overcoming Life in Christ daily in the present here and now! “Receive the Holy Spirit! Yield to the Holy Spirit! Accept the leadership of the “dominant dancer” of Heaven in your heart and mind! Even skip on your feet like a champion dancer! With Joy in the Spirit!”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE DEATH OF GRACE OR SOLD OUT TO GRACE?

“A RESIGNATION TO HOPELESSNESS?”

Shakespeare, in “Richard III,” made a very sobering statement when he wrote: “O momentary grace of mortal men, Which we more hunt for than the grace of God.” Are you even aware of the momentary grace of mortal men? And if you’ve been on a pilgrimage to discover ‘true grace,’ where has your journey brought you?

Have you personally discovered “the God of all grace”? And, if you have, you know within you, by His grace, that you have a deep awareness of sin’s guilt, and also you have an amazing awareness of Holy God, plus you know He wants your freedom from sin, not your awareness only of bondage to sin!

Have you personally overlooked John’s anointed words in John 3:17? “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” But then John added that “men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil,” strangling and putting to death “Amazing Grace”!

It’s not only that ignoring God’s grace puts grace to death in one’s own life, but Jude 4 speaks of a war to produce its death, yes, grace’s death. It says, “For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness [or license] and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Yes, there are men, pastors, who are in our modern world and even modern churches who are out to “change the grace of our God into a license for immorality.”

In late April, 2013, with my son, Scott, and his church staff, I attended a conference in Houston, Texas, for portions of 3 days listening some of the time to a well-known “Christian” teacher who basically massacred ‘grace’ every time he spoke. To say the least, I was shocked, horrified, that this man finds platforms in churches to belittle “the grace of God.” And, I now assume it goes on in many pulpits across America. I was reminded by this experience of Bonhoeffer’s terming some preachers’ definition of grace as nothing more than “cheap grace”!

Philip Yancey has written a book entitled “What’s So Amazing About Grace?” [Zondervan Publ., 1997, p.185]. He was commenting on Paul in Romans 6:1-14. “He [Paul] poses the question, If grace increases as sin increases, then why not sin as much as possible in order to give God more opportunity to extend grace? Although such reasoning may sound perverse, at various times Christians have followed exactly that loopy logic. A third-century bishop was shocked to see devout martyrs of the Christian faith devote their last nights in prison to drunkenness, revelry, and promiscuity. Since martyrs’ death would make them perfect, they reasoned, what would matter if they spent their last hours sinning?”

Francois Mauriac has written: “The Man you submit yourself to DOES NOT WANT YOU TO BE FREE TO BE A SLAVE [of sin]; HE BREAKS THE CIRCLE OF YOUR FETTERS, AND, AGAINST YOUR HALF-EXTINGUISHED AND STILL-SMOLDERING DESIRES, HE KINDLES AND RE-KINDLES THE FIRE OF GRACE.”

But some have been spiritually programmed that ‘grace’ really doesn’t change you into Christ’s likeness – it just builds in you a toleration and acceptance of your depravity that ‘grace’ only covers! In “Of Continence” St. Augustine so nailed it: “The law detects, grace alone conquers sin.” Modern-day false prophets proclaim sin is not conquered in a believer, only covered over!

It was Thomas Benton Brooks who long ago wrote: “As heat is opposed to cold, and light to darkness, so grace is opposed to sin. – Fire and water may as well agree in the same vessel, as grace and sin in the same heart.”

The absence of grace, God’s grace, in a human life, means one is void of divine forgiveness, void of divine presence and purpose, and void of the ‘grace-power’ to be all He intends for me to be, fully available to His Indwelling Presence. Rather than “wrong chords”, grace produces inner harmony. Rather than a fleshly desire to be something I know I’m not, the graced believer is empowered by God’s Spirit to fulfill the Redeemer’s sovereignty over and in and through my life, with His strength made perfect in my weakness. [2 Corinthians 12:9].

But you do know that many preachers and followers have changed “Amazing Grace” into “amazing grit” which promotes the flesh! You’ve seen it and heard it: “amazing grit”! how sour the notes, that promotes a man such as me; I was never lost – only newly discovered – they were blind about me, but now they see!!…It was ‘grit’ that graced my determined will to do as I well pleased, and ‘grit’ my fleshly fears relieved. It’s been many dangers, toils and snares, but I BY MY STRENGTH HAVE OVERCOME. It’s grit that brought me safe this far, and grit will make me acceptable in God’s home.”

Really? Again, Shakespeare, in “Richard II”, wrote: “That word ‘grace’ in an ungracious mouth is but profane.” How true! But then in 2 Peter 3:18 Peter tells us: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.” The grace of our Lord and Savior or the ‘grit’ of the worldly wise? You do remember that in that 2 Peter 3 passage, verse 17, “You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, BEWARE lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked.”

The error of the wicked? “My ‘grit’ is preferable over “God’s grace” – “and don’t ever forget it. I’m my own man!” Oh, really?

Do you understand “oneness in Christ”? Once I’ve become a partaker of the Lamb of God sacrifice, I become One with Him in His fullness – apart from Him the unbeliever is empty! But I do grow in the understanding of my inherited blessings and mature from a new-born spiritual baby to ‘kid-stuff,’ adolescence spiritually, young adulthood, mature adult, to an aged saint of grace!

The ‘death of grace’ is so cleverly dealt with by many of the ‘fallen’ because they wear masks to hide their true identity even finding acceptance among the “found”, but hidden away in the inner man of an unbeliever, in the man’s fleshly mind of death to grace, there are those ‘black holes’ to nothingness, the “scars” of guilt and shame, and usually a better determination to present a more acceptable bondage. And, of course, they would deny that the Ten Commandments hasn’t exposed their hearts and the need of forgiveness, restoration, and the New Birth but only affirmed they tried to do better and not be a law-breaker. Law-breaking, even one broken law, reveals the cancer, but God’s “Amazing Grace” releases the healing cure of a sinful heart.

Karl Barth, former German theologian, wrote: “The beginning of good is perceived in the midst of the bad…The simplicity and comprehensiveness of grace – who can measure it?” I say to you as best I know how in this given moment: “Grace is the greatness and gift of God for our lives to forgive sinners and establish saints to touch His world with released grace through us.”

In Psalm 32”1-2 we read: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”

It’s a brave man who acknowledges God’s Law and that he is a breaker of that Law, but it’s a blessed man, convicted of the Holy Spirit who cries out to God, “God, be merciful to me THE SINNER.”

The ‘death of grace’? In Isaiah 8:13-15 the prophet wrote: The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow; let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble; they shall fall and be broken, be snared and taken.”

The ‘death of grace’? Sir Francis Bacon, in “Essays: Of Atheism” wrote: ‘They that deny a God destroy man’s nobility; for certainly man is of kin to the beasts by his body; and if he be not of kin to God by his spirit, he is a base and ignoble creature.”

You do understand! A man wills himself as an unbeliever and bathes himself regularly in dirty water. But not all men are unbelievers – there are those the grace of God has turned around through the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the exaltation of Christ in their lives – they’re “new creations,” while old men of unbelief remain old men of unbelief!!

The ‘death of grace’? Fredrich Wilhelm Krummacher wrote: “Unbelief does nothing but darken and destroy. It makes the world a moral desert, where no divine footsteps are heard, where no angels ascend or descend, where no living hand adorns the fields, feeds the birds of heaven, or regulates events.” That is so true – so the question now is, “Is God being allowed to ‘regulate the events’ in your life for His glory, honor, and praise? Or, do you still call the shots? Did you miss it earlier? Psalm 32:2, “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” That’s a man sold out to the grace of God!

“Death of grace or Sold Out To Grace”? Slain by God or safety in Him? Separated from God or the Surety of His Presence in you? Sunken in the miry clay of your sin nature or standing on the Rock of His Salvation? The “death of grace”? NO ETERNAL PEACE! Sold out to grace? Perfect peace that passes all understanding! “The death of grace” IN Your Life? Guilty before Holy God! “Sold out to grace”? Abundantly pardoned, transgressions forgiven, sin is covered, blotted out, by the Lamb’s blood!

“The death of grace”? Where is that man’s name written? In the ledger of Satan himself! “Sold out to grace”? Where is his name written? In the Lamb’s Book of Life! Heaven? Revelation 21:27 says, “But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination, or a lie, BUT ONLY THOSE WHO ARE WRITTEN IN THE LAMB’S BOOK of LIFE.”

“The death of grace”? ‘Jesus is not my Lord nor my Savior’! Therefore they’ll always ‘want’ and never have eternal needs met! Do you see it? When a man assumes he can manage his own life and interests without God’s help, he cancels an eternal relationship and wallows in his guilt of a Godless life voiding grace in himself!

“The death of grace”? In 2 Corinthians 7:10 Paul wrote: “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” Worldly sorrow is only disappointment in one’s self and has nothing to do with the broken heart of God over man’s rebellion. Man controls his conscience and resists the Holy Spirit who “convicts of sin” – and he stays in his deathly state before Holy God when God would give him “the blood of the Lamb”!!

Listen to Oswald Chambers, [“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.254], “The marvels of conviction of sin, forgiveness, and holiness are so interwoven that it is only the forgiven man who is the holy man, he proves he is forgiven by being the opposite to what he was, by God’s grace. Repentance always brings a man to this point: I have sinned. The surest sign that God is at work is when a man says it and means it.”

I haven’t given the following poem a name, but it might be “Sold Out To Grace”! It says:

“Through the price of suffering and death, Through the love and blood of the Lamb,

I have come to the Light of the Life of God’s Way, I’ve come to God’s Eternal Day.

For the Dayspring on high has come to me; And the Dayspring on high has died for me;

Through the Dayspring’s death I am set free; God’s Eternal Light shines in me.

Through the cost of the Cross and the pain of His death, Through the sacrifice made for my sins,

I have been redeemed, washed clean of my sin, I’ve come to God’s Eternal Day.

Through the richness of Calvary’s love, Through the nails in the prints of His hands,

I have been forgiven, made one with Christ, I’ve come to God’s Eternal Day.”

It’s why God spoke through Isaiah in Isaiah 43:21! “This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise.” Does that sound like the “death of grace” or one who is “Sold Out To Grace?”

Resignation To Hopelessness? I don’t think so – at least for the “few” who find eternal hope in Christ alone!

The “death of grace”? Isaiah 40:29-31 says: “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

“Death”? When God gives LIFE and that EVERLASTING? In Isaiah 41:17-20 we read: “The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues fail for thirst. I, the Lord, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers in desolate heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry lands springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, the myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine and the box tree together. That they may see and know, and consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it.”

Have you ever seen “royalty” dressed in dirty street clothes of the poverty stricken variety? And “death to grace” is not the attire of the true repentant people of God!

I don’t know who wrote the following words, but I believe them to be truly anointed of God:

“You trembling souls! Dismiss your fears; Be mercy all your theme; Mercy, which, like a river, flows in one continued stream.

Fear not the powers of earth and hell; God will these powers restrain; His mighty arm their rage repel and make their efforts vain.

Fear not the want of outward good; He will for His provide, Grant them supplies of daily food, and all they need beside.

Fear not that He will e’er forsake, Or leave His work undone; He’s faithful to His promises – and faithful to His Son.

Fear not the terrors of the grave, or death’s tremendous sting; He will from endless wrath preserve – To endless glory bring.” AMEN?

Are you familiar with the hymn, “Grace Greater Than Our Sin”? Daniel B. Towner and Julia Johnston wrote it sometime in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. It says:

“Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt, Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured, There where the blood the Lamb was spilt.

Sin and despair like the sea-waves cold, Threaten the soul with infinite loss; Grace that is greater, yes, grace untold, Points to the Refuge, the Mighty Cross.

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide, What can avail to wash it away? Look, there is flowing a crimson tide; Whiter than snow you may be today.

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, Freely bestowed on all who believe; You that are longing to see His face, Will you this moment His grace receive?”

CHAPTER TWELVE

PARTIAL OBEDIENCE OR FULL SURRENDER?

“A RESIGNATION TO HOPELESSNESS?”

Why is it that some begin a ‘journey of faith’ and then ‘fall away’? Why do well-grounded young people, taught faithfully by God-fearing parents, arrive at a university and are swept away from devotion and surrender by some of the godless professors or ‘strong-willed, independent, unbelieving classmates’? How is it that some so easily, who’ve walked devotedly, begin a pilgrimage, at least on the surface, of ‘full surrender,’ then fall away to ‘partial obedience,’ and then, as some disciples of Jesus did, walk no more with Him?

Some, like the astronomer, Carl Sagan, have been warped and deceived into thinking, “The cosmos is all there is or ever was or ever will be.” But then the Apostle Paul, in Romans 1:20, wrote: “For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

Oswald Chambers wrote, [“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.270], “When God gives a vision by His Spirit through His word of what He wants, and your mind and soul thrill to it, if you do not walk in the light of that vision, you will sink into servitude to a point of view our Lord never had. Disobedience in mind to the heavenly vision will make you a slave to points of view that are alien to Jesus Christ.” So true!

Partial obedience or full surrender? In Exodus 16 we find why some are so consumed by partial obedience. Oh, they’re following Moses, but verses 2-3 tells us: Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

They were on the journey of promise to the “promised land,” to see the manifestation of the glory of the Lord, to the reality, not of slavery, but total freedom – and verse 4 of Exodus 16 says, God speaking, “that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law [God’s Word] or not.” Are you being tested?

Partial obedience or full surrender? In I Timothy 6:10 Paul warned his young spiritual son, “for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which SOME HAVE STRAYED FROM THE FAITH IN THEIR GREEDINESS, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” Matthew 6:24 says, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

I don’t know the hidden hearts of many who profess faith then end up walking faithlessly but 2 Timothy 4:10 speaks of Demas who forsook Paul on his missionary journeys “having loved this present world.” How heart-breaking is that for modern-day Pauls who see spiritual sons captured by the winds of worldliness and blown away?

Paul gave to Timothy a much broader explanation when in 2 Timothy 3:1-7 which I truly believe are descriptions of people in the church during the last days – LIKE NOW! “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captive of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Partial obedience? You’ll remember Jesus saying in Matthew 7:13-14 that we “enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it, because narrow is the gate and difficult [word meaning ‘pressed’ or ‘crushing’] is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Jesus said in the same chapter of Matthew 7, verses 21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who DOES the will of My Father. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

Have you read recently Genesis 11:31 where the Word says: “And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; [that’s God’s “Promised Land”!!]; and they came to Haran and dwelt there.” And verse 32 says, “and Terah died in Haran.” That was a place meaning “parched, burned up, or dried up”!

On the spiritual journey have you witnessed, some at least, with partial obedience starting their trip to the “Promise Land of God,” but settle into a dry, parched, burned-up place and life?

Abram was there – and could have ‘settled’ for less than God’s best, but Genesis 12:1-5 says: Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family, and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.”

Whenever you find a person or people who start a journey with God and then pause in “strange places and falling-away behavior,” you’ll find an abandonment of the one True and Living God, and people, then, bowing to the ‘gods’ of their own making including the idol worship of ‘self’!

In Isaiah 1:2-4 we see an ancient people so descriptive of modern-day America! It says: “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: ‘I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me; the ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, My people do not consider.’ Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward.”

But in spite of a rebellious people, God raised up others who bowed before Him, broken before Him, and built by Him into even a nation of faith and obedience! Terah “served other gods,” but Abram became a true follower and God blessed him – he became “the father of many nations” of faith. He became a man and a witness of full surrender!

And what does Almighty God do today? As He said to Abram, He will say to us: “I’m calling YOU out of your strange lifestyle to one of divine intent – Follow Me, and I’ll make you fishers of men!”

“Partial obedience or Full Surrender?” In Revelation 17 we read about the ‘woman’ and the ‘beast’ who John says, Verse 6, “I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with amazement.” Verse 14 then says: “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are CALLED, CHOSEN, AND FAITHFUL.”

Jesus says: “You are leaving ‘the old’ and traveling in ‘the new and the eternal;’ your life will never be the same! Don’t settle for Haran, don’t dwell where pagan influences corrupt you, don’t stop short of the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Come out so you can go in where God wants you.”

There is such a powerful word in John 6:44 when Jesus said: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” Jesus ‘draws us,’ He ‘calls us,’ yes, He spiritually, magnetically, pulls us! Didn’t “the God of glory appear to our father Abraham”? Of course He did – and our loving God is ‘no respecter of persons’ – what He did for Abram, He does for you!

I have known numerous men and women across my 25 years of ministry in India who’ve said: “Jesus Christ came to me. Who is He and what is He about?” Repent! And believe! Repent! And trust His beckoning call! Repent! And surrender your will for His good, acceptable, and personal, perfect will! “Your will be done [in me] on earth as Your will is being done in Heaven!”

What He did for Abram He’ll do for me? Again and again and again, remember Abram! And put your name there! “Now the Lord said to Farrell Fisher…” “Now the Lord said to [put YOUR name there!!]…”

Oh, but please, please notice here: God’s Blessing To Abram Came After Terah Had Died In Haran – Haran: ‘the place of the dead” – and ABRAM, yes, had to get out of there! Spurgeon said about Abram in Haran: “He was conquered, not only by foes, but by compromising friends.” I pray you know nothing about that! I pray you walk and talk with those friends who walk and talk with God!

Hear me, I pray! “Partial obedience is to compromise the Lord’s command and to acknowledge my disobedience and, as a result, to stand under God’s judgment.” Why? Because partial obedience is making one’s self lord unto one’s self thus closing the door to the divine obedience He requires! Didn’t Jesus say, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ but you don’t do what I say.”

In James 1:22 we read: “But be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Again, Oswald Chambers in “My Utmost For His Highest,” pps. 270-271], has written so wisely confirming the previous verse I’ve just listed when he said: “We are apt to lie back and bask in the memory of the wonderful experience we have had. If there is one standard in the New Testament revealed by the light of God and you do not come up to it, and do not feel inclined to come up to it, that is the beginning of backsliding, because it means your conscience does not answer to the truth. You can never be the same after the unveiling of truth. That moment marks you for going on as a more true disciple of Jesus Christ or for going back as a deserter.”

And I’m sad to say that most churches have an awful lot of “deserters” who don’t even know it! “Partial obedience”? “Partial obedience is to compromise our partial understanding and to increase our responsibility!” Yes, part-time disciples (?) face a stricter judgment than those who’ve never heard the Truth!

Was there divine intent in Abram, at least, getting to Haran? But was Haran his final destination? Had Almighty God told Abram, “Haran” or “Canaan”? “Well, Lord, at least I’ve followed You part of that way? Isn’t that enough? Have you really directed me to go all the Way with You?

“Partial Obedience”? “To compromise is to decay obedience and to bring on a deterioration of morals.” You’ll remember Genesis 11 and ‘the beginning of confusion.’ God never told His people to build the tower of Babel! Genesis 11:4 says, “Come, LET US build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us MAKE A NAME FOR OURSELVES…”

Confusion came, a scattering came, and all their efforts for themselves, did nothing but deteriorate their holy calling!

“Partial obedience”? “To compromise is to invite the absence of anointing and blessing.” The Holy Spirit of God does not pour out His anointing on idolaters and their idols. And I challenge you, again, to carefully read Colossians 3:5! “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which IS IDOLATRY.”

The Holy Spirit will not anoint and bless one who has decided for himself that the “Harans” are a pleasurable place to be at least for a time when God never said, “Reside in Haran and I’ll anoint you and bless you!” No! A thousand times, No!

Acts 2:1,4 tells us: “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. Verse 4, And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

And, I say to you, that far too often heavenly sons know no anointing because they so reside under an earthly father’s domination that they can’t hear God the Father! If you’re not where God wants you spiritually in your life, there will be absences of God’s grace and mercy. A divided allegiance shuts the door and builds a high dam holding back the Sea and flow of God’s Spirit and anointing!

“Partial obedience”? One does not ‘reside’ where he feels comfortable if God has assigned him a personal ministry zone. One does not ‘settle’ in a place which is not God’s “promised land.” Comfortable maybe, but not consecrated! Away from Ur, but not in God’s promised land! Religious mediocrity but not the Master’s residence for a true man of faith and obedience. It’s the pall of spiritual lifelessness when there should be the power of resurrection life in its fullness. It’s that acceptance in the mind of Jesus’ death on the Cross, but in the Spirit-realm they’re void of resurrection hope instilled within them.

“Partial obedience”? There is no doubt we are called to be “in the world” but not of it! Didn’t I mention Demas who was consumed by a “love for the world”? This is why Paul wrote 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.”

Has your ‘world’ been crucified to you and you to the world? Your ‘world’ apart from Him is nothing more than mortal flesh, fleshly designs, personal interests excluding God and His will and purpose for your life, and fleshly energizing that does nothing but short-circuit divine power and supernatural blessing. And that’s because it’s so uncomfortable to ‘die daily’ that the resurrection life of Christ can be manifested in your mortal flesh. Some find that ‘freakish’!!

But what does James 4:4 tell us? “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

It was Herrick Johnson who wrote: “Buying, possessing, accumulating, this is not worldliness. – But doing this in the love of it, with no love to God paramount – doing it so that thoughts of God and eternity are an intrusion – doing it so that one’s spirit is secularized in doing it – this is worldliness.”

And, I would add, ‘worldliness of the flesh blessing quickly becomes the curse, becoming a trap, a snare to your soul and spirit!’ Theodore Munger really nailed it when he wrote: “The unrest of this weary world is its unvoiced cry after God.”

Oh, I’m telling you, look at the Tower of Babel and you will be greatly distressed by men constantly figuring out a way to substitute God and the Savior for something ‘man-made.’ It doesn’t work! What is this present evil world all about? It’s ‘at it’ to disclaim God and one’s need of Him! It’s ‘at it’ to substitute religion for relationship. It’s ‘at it’ to substitute man’s perverse philosophies for the Prince of Peace. It’s ‘at it’ to hide its sinful self from Holy God. It’s ‘at it’ to suppress Christ’s reproach at the Cross to celebrate self-will, self-pleasure, and self-perverseness!

“Towers” of self-expression are still being built while “Holy Spirit” experience and expression are fully denied. “Towers”? “Obedience to God is an option, yes, even salvation by works;” “Towers”? Obliteration of the need of a Savior! “Towers”? Religious doctors of theology spouting their interpretations of the Word of God rather than submission and obedience to ‘Thus says the Lord;’ “Towers? Where true religious extremists reside without any message of repentance toward God and faith alone in the finished work of Christ at the Cross! “Towers”? ‘No trouble for Christians in this world – we’ve been saved from that,’ even when Jesus says: “In the world you will have tribulation!”

Our holy world? It’s not ‘towers’ we build but standing on the Way, the Truth, and the Life! Our holy world? Called to be His witnesses to the uttermost parts of the earth! Our holy world? Bathed in Eternal Light that exposes the darkness, not embrace it! Our holy world? Kept by the mighty power of God, not killed by the powers of darkness!

“Partial obedience or full surrender”? When a true believer is “justified”, he/she knows the reality of sanctification or “set apart to the glory of God alone,” and he/she knows final glorification is coming soon. Full surrender? “Get out of your country, and from your kin, and your father’s house, unto a land that I will show you.” That’s the “land of promises,” that’s the land “flowing with milk and honey,” that’s the land of blessed fulfillment, that’s our Lord’s heavenly city, that’s Immanuel’s abiding place and forever abode.

“Partial obedience or full surrender”? You see the blood of Jesus shed on the Cross but you know a better way? You’re told of the imputed, implanted righteousness and nature of God’s Messiah but you know your way speaks better to you? You’re told: ‘sincere religious effort should satisfy God,’ while Jesus says, “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.” [Matthew 11:28-30].

“Full surrender”? In Joel 2:28-29 God tells us: “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams; your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”

In John 17:4 Jesus said: “I have glorified You on earth, Father. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.” Tell me: how is your divine, eternal, Christ-honoring work going? Didn’t Jesus say, “If you love Me, you’ll keep My commandments?” Faulty preaching and faulty teaching calls that ‘foreign’ to saving grace! Really?

Without hesitation, I say to you, partial obedience is pious fraud, imitation living, and so foreign to “I have been crucified with Christ” – and in His resurrection life, hope, and power, I now abide and rest in His fullness!! Again, Oswald Chambers said: [“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.229], “The passion of Christianity is that I deliberately sign away my own rights and become the bond-slave of Jesus Christ. Until I do that, I do not begin to be a saint.” A saint? One truly set apart for the full purpose of honoring Christ through my daily walk!

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

LIMITED ATONEMENT OR A FINISHED WORK FOR ALL?

“A RESIGNATION TO HOPELESSNESS?”

There is such an awe-inspiring verse in Romans 5:6 where Paul wrote: “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” Do you see that? “Christ died for the ungodly.” Has that ever born even one person who was Godly from inception, birth, life, and then death? I don’t think so – I know so because God’s Word declares in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

How, under God’s Heaven, do the “limited atoners” read John 3:16-17 and determine in their lame brains, “Jesus died for the few – not the whole sinful world. He died for the few, not a world filled with unbelievers.”

That to me is the most heart-wrenching, mind-boggling attempt in diluting the very heart of God saying Jesus died only for the redeemed. Why aren’t ALL SAVED if He died for all? Because John 3:19 says, “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.” Did Jesus DIE for “the evil”?

Limited atonement? Christ died for the man who hates Him most. Christ died for the most ungodly sinner who has ever lived. Christ died for the adulterous woman whose whole life had been and still was a total disaster of bondage to immorality. Christ died for the strongest, most well-known agnostic or atheist. Christ died for the intellectual who has determined he is smarter than God. Christ died for the pimp and his army of immoral men and women. Christ died for the homosexual and the lesbian. Christ died for the crooked banker and immoral lawyer. Christ died for the cheaters in marriage, in classes, in business deals so phony they make the Devil blush. Christ died for that one who is the furthest away from Him!

Christ died for the philosophers who deny God’s absolutes and settle in to their relativism, and as James Montgomery Boice wrote: [“Gospel of Grace?” p.29], modern philosophy majoring on “the substitution of pragmatism for truth.” That’s human reasoning substituted for divine revelation. Boice spoke about our world today that has rejected ‘what do you think’ for ‘how do you feel about this.’ That is that philosophy that rejects divine truth for a human person’s reasoning power.

A ‘limited atoner’ has so limited the heart of God, denied the Word of God, and basically rejected those for whom Christ died – and they unite to pump each other’s ‘flesh’ because ‘we are THE CHOSEN OF GOD.’

And if Romans 12:2 says: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world,” I believe we must never conform to the pattern of limited atoners, patting ourselves on the back, and them, because we’re so much wiser than those who miss out on God’s grace!

Limited atoners and their worldview of redemptive grace, mercy, and love, seeks to bind and limit the very heart of God Himself. Do you realize the limitations “limited atoners” have put upon themselves? “Limited atoners” limit their decisions, their lives, their actions, their deeds, their ministries, because “we’re not responsible for all the world. All the world is not who Jesus died for. He died just for us.” That is sickening and heart-breaking!

“Limited atoners” who teach and preach ‘limited atonement’ by Jesus, are so in the same vein of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who according to Daniel 4:30 saw everything around him strictly for himself – “of me,” “by me,” and “for me.” God looked upon that king as mentally and morally deranged!

“Limited atoners”? It’s that which exalts ‘me, my, mine’ and builds a disregard for the ‘world’ for which Christ died!

“Limited atoners”? Do they really believe the anointed word of Romans 12:2 where Paul said,”Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world [the world you live in, the world of limited atonement], but be being transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Michael Horton, in his book, “Made In America,” [p.61], has written, “we have made our sovereign Lord about as cheap as the hairbrush that has his name stamped on it.” That’s what limited atonement does – it cheapens the gospel and tells many that the gospel “is not for you.”

“Limited atonement”? It’s a limitation on the powerful Word of God! In I Peter 1:23 we read, “you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and abiding Word of God.” Which is why Paul told Timothy to “preach the Word” – not to the few but to the many!

In Mark 1:35-39 we find our Lord’s strategy because He came to reach the multitudes! Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him. When they found Him, they said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” But He said to them, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach to them also, BECAUSE FOR THIS PURPOSE I HAVE COME FORTH” And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons.”

In “Whatever Happened To The Gospel of Christ?” [p.77] Boice wrote: “Isn’t that striking? Jesus was refusing to carry on a healing ministry. Why? Had He lost His power? Didn’t He care anymore? Of course not. Besides, He does other healings later on in the Gospel. Why did He refuse the disciple’s challenge then? It is because He knew that if He allowed the miracles to eclipse the teaching, the countryside might soon be filled with thousands of fit and healthy people, but in spite of their good health they would all die eventually and perish in hell. If, on the other hand, He focused on teaching them the Bible, though many would have less than perfect health and there would still be many physical diseases, many of these people would also believe and those who did believe would go to heaven. Jesus saw things God’s way, and He would not allow anything to deter Him from His Father’s business.”

I am convinced beyond any doubt that the “limited atonement” teaching has suffocated Christ’s cause dramatically. It’s why “The Cambridge Declaration” declared, “Christ and His Cross have moved from the center of our vision.” For whom did Christ die? The few or all the world?

If I were you as a ‘limited atoner,’ I would examine carefully Romans 3:21-26! But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Christ Jesus, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and THE JUSTIFIER OF THE ONE WHO HAS FAITH IN JESUS.” Did the Word say: “to all and on all who believe”?

Oh, yes! There are those who deny Jesus’ work at the Cross to clear them, pardon them, free them, from the stranglehold of the Devil and themselves – but His shed blood was by God’s grace to “justify freely”, passing over the sins previously committed, and that “He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. But the redemption in Christ Jesus, intended for ALL, can and is refused by many!

In Romans 10:1-3 Paul shared his unceasing prayer for the Jews, and I believe, for all unbelievers. He said: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.”

Then, Romans 10:12-13 says clearly: “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same LORD OVER ALL is rich TO ALL WHO CALL UPON HIM. For ‘WHOEVER CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED.” Amen? But, the stark reality? There are those who are a ‘disobedient and contrary people’ for whom Christ died! And some willfully reject Him – not Him rejecting them!

Dr. Boice’s research on John Newton [1725-1807] who wrote “Amazing Grace” is such a powerful story. I want to share every word from Boice’s book. [Copyright c) 2001 by Linda McNamara Boice, Crossway Books, Wheaton, Ill. 60187]. Dr. Boice wrote:

“Newton was raised in a Christian home in which he was taught verses of the Bible, but his mother died when he was only six years old and he was sent to live with a relative who hated the Bible and mocked Christianity. Newton ran away to sea. He was wild in those years and was known for being able to swear for two hours without repeating himself. He was forced to enlist in the British navy, but he deserted, was captured, and was beaten publicly as a punishment. Eventually Newton got into the merchant marines and went to Africa. In his memoirs he wrote that he went to Africa for one reason only, ‘that I might sin to the fill…’

Newton fell in with a Portuguese slave trader, in whose home he was cruelly treated. This man often went away on slaving expeditions, and when he was gone his power passed to his African wife, the chief woman of his harem. She hated all white men and vented her hatred on Newton. He says that for months he was forced to grovel in the dirt, eating his food from the ground like a dog. He was beaten mercilessly if he touched it. In time, thin and emaciated, Newton made his way to sea, where he was picked up by a British ship making its way up the coast to England…

When the captain of the ship learned that the young man knew something about navigation as a result of being in the British navy, he made him a ship’s mate. But even then Newton fell into trouble. One day, when the captain was ashore, Newton broke out the ship’s supply of rum and got the crew drunk. He was so drunk himself that when the captain returned and struck him on the head, Newton fell overboard and would have drowned if one of the sailors had not quickly hauled him back on board…

Near the end of one voyage, as they were approaching Scotland, the ship ran into bad weather and was blown off course. Water poured in, and the ship began to sink. The young profligate was sent down into the hold to pump water. The storm lasted for days. Newton was terrified. He was sure the ship would sink and he would drown. But in the hold of the ship, as he desperately pumped water, the God of all grace, whom he had tried to forget but who had never forgotten him, brought to his mind Bible verses he had learned in his home as a child. The way of salvation opened up to him. He was born again and deeply transformed. Much later, when he was again in England, Newton began to study theology and eventually became a preacher, first in a little town called Olney and later in London…”

Dr. Boice closed this story by writing: “Newton was a preacher of grace, for he had learned that where sin increased, grace abounded all the more (Romans 5:20). He is proof that the grace of God is sufficient to save anybody, and that He saves by grace alone.” WOW!

“Amazing Grace” is for all – not a ‘limited atonement’! Are there those who miss out on God’s amazing grace? OF COURSE! And why? In Romans 8:5-9 Paul wrote: “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”

When in Romans 12:1 Paul spoke of “the mercies of God,” I don’t believe, will never believe, have no evidence scripturally that God’s mercy is for a select few! In fact, in Ephesians 2:11-13, Paul tells us WHO CAN BE BROUGHT NEAR! “Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh – who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands – that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

The beloved John so amplifies our opportunity, our open door, and our explanation of eternal change from lost to found, dead but made alive, hopeless but find hope, separated but are reconciled, of the worldly class but made Heaven’s family on earth! I John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another; and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

What does “limited atonement” say? ‘Jesus didn’t die on the Cross and shed His own blood for the many – He died for the few!’ “IF” is one of the biggest words in God’s revelation – and the “IF” relates to anyone. IF ANYONE, LOST, ALIENATED, SEPARATED FROM GOD, CALLS OUT FOR MERCY, HE/SHE CAN’T BE SAVED? And that’s because of “LIMITED ATONEMENT”? I pray you’ll personally search and read every recorded verse to follow!!

Matthew 10:32-33, Matthew 12:52, Matthew 16:25

Mark 3:35, Mark 8:34-39

Luke 12:8-9

John 3:36, John 4:13-14, John 11:25-27

Acts 2:21, Acts 10:43

Romans 10:9-10

I John 4:15-16, I John 5:4-5, I John 5:11-13

Revelation 20:15, Revelation 22:16-17

And you, as a limited atoner, have a problem with “whosoever will may come”?

Woodrow A. Geier, in “Religion In Life,” wrote: “In the Cross God descends to bear in His own heart the sins of the world. In Jesus, He atones at unimaginable cost to Himself.”

It was Charles Wesley, in his “Free Grace,” who wrote: “He left His Father’s throne above, (So free, so infinite in His grace!), Emptied Himself of all but love, And bled for Adam’s helpless race.”

And “all are helpless” but Jesus died for the few only?

Here’s Oswald Chambers’ statement that I want to close with. It’s in “My Utmost…”, p.255! He said: “God is justified in saving bad men only as He makes them good. Our Lord does not pretend we are all right when we are all wrong. The Atonement is a propitiation whereby God through the death of Jesus makes an unholy man holy.” “Whosoever will may come,” Signed: Jesus Christ!

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

APOSTASY OR REPENTANT REST AND REACH?

“A RESIGNATION TO HOPELESSNESS?”

Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary says of ‘apostasy’: “An abandonment of what one has professed; a total desertion, or departure from one’s faith or religion…an abscess.” An ‘’apostate’? One who is “false; traitorous.” Those are some strong, stinging, ‘take-your-breath-away’ definitions! And the question is, “Are they applicable in our modern day?” I think so!

When I came to Jeremiah 8, I found prophetic challenges for a people in a perilous condition. Verses 4-6 says: “Moreover you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: Will they fall and not rise? Will one turn away and not return? Why has this people slidden back, Jerusalem, in a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit, they refuse to return. I listened and heard, but they do not speak aright. No man repented of his wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone turned to his own course, as the horse rushes into battle.” Then in verse 12 we read: ‘Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed, nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; in the time of their punishment they shall be cast down,’ says the Lord.

But there IS ‘hope,’ not resigned to hopelessness, because in Hosea 14:4 God says, “I will heal their backsliding [or apostasy]. I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away.” There is also a very sad verse in Jeremiah 5:3 which says, “O Lord, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, but they have not grieved; You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return.” The end of verse 6 says, “Their backslidings have increased.” And this word ‘backslidings’ is the word meaning also ‘apostasies.’ And God’s Holy Word says, “their apostasies have increased.” Is that true of today?

Biblical TRUTH either challenges one or condemns one, bringing one to the light of our Lord’s freedom, or bringing one to the darkness of our Lord’s judgment.

Oswald Chambers wrote: [“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.270], “Disobedience in mind to the heavenly vision will make you a slave to points of view that are alien to Jesus Christ.” And, as a result of that, there is usually a ‘falling away’ – and some never return to intimacy with Christ.

It was Alexander MacLaren who said: “All along the Christian course, there must be set up altars to God on which you sacrifice yourself, or you will never advance a step.” But, rather than altars erected to the glory of God, the apostates erect “tombstones”!

In Romans 12:1 Paul challenges everyone professing faith in Christ: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service [of worship].” In fact, in I Corinthians 15:31 Paul said, “…I die daily.”

And there is a revelational reason! No choice of ‘daily death’ and the door is open to that spirit of apostasy! In 2 Corinthians 4:10-11 he said: “always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live [in Christ] are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

No daily death and the life of Jesus in you faces a closed door that can manifest eternal consequences rather than heavenly blessing! I don’t know how you keep yourself spiritually fit to honor Christ through your walk if you don’t “die” so He can have full release through you. Apostasy results because there are ‘professing’ Christians who become lovers of themselves rather than true lovers of Him. Jesus is not a “second-chair fiddler player”! Look at Romans 5:15! “For the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.”

Apostasy results in some because “partakers of the divine nature” scares them, and, all of a sudden, self-examination takes the place of “as He is so am I.” Falling away is one identifying himself by his flesh and refusing to claim one’s new eternal identity in Christ Jesus! We’re called to be those “mortals swallowed up by Resurrection Life and Resurrection Hope” – not ‘hopelessness’! Don’t you know what God says about you ‘in Christ’? Hear me, please! All that the Almighty God of the Cross IS, IS YOUR INHERITANCE AND ETERNAL IDENTITY!

Look at 2 Peter 1:2-4! “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

Apostates apostatize because something or someone has crept in diluting salvation truths in their minds, hearts, and bodies. In Galatians 6:14 Paul said, “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.” Then in verse 17 he wrote: “From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” Have you been crucified to the world around you in its perverse passions and aims? Do you bear in your body the brand-marks of Christ? Rather than “marked,” an apostate is “marred” in miry clay and sinking fast!

Apostates don’t ‘squander’ themselves for the higher, holier, heavenly purpose – they ‘live’ to satisfy ‘fallen flesh’ still bound by the old sin nature chains. If you’ve truly walked with Christ Jesus, guided by His words, led by the Holy Spirit, isn’t it easy for you to pick up on that ‘professing person’ and his self-interest, his self-complacency, his self-righteousness, his self-love, or his arrogant self-sufficiency? But Jesus came to “rescue the perishing” – even the apostate!

Apostate? Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote: “We sell the thrones of angels for a short and turbulent pleasure.” Have you witnessed it or experienced it? The one who is ‘wealthy’ in fleshly pleasure is the one who is bankrupt in the poverty of spiritual truths. Do you remember Paul telling us in 2 Timothy 3:4 about those, I believe, in the last days’ church who are “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God’?

Titus 3, in my New King James Bible, is entitled: “Graces of the Heirs of Grace”! Titus 3:1-11 says, “Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various pleasures and lusts, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, that having been justified by His grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I want to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless. Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.”

There it is! A Magnificent contrast between apostasy and the repentant rest and reach! Hebrews 11:25 speaks of Moses when it says, Moses “choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin…”

“Apostasy or the repentant rest and reach?” In 2 Timothy 2:8-17 we read: Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. This is a faithful saying: ‘For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.’ Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, tightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer…”

“Apostasy?” How many have been on that threshold, ready to fall away – but then there is miraculous favor from God! In Lamentations 3:11, this is Jeremiah writing, yes, and telling us of being hedged in, hedged by the hand of God, weights on one’s soul and spirit, and then says: [Verse 11], “He has turned aside my ways and pulled me in pieces.” God’s heart is broken over apostasy in any child of His – double God’s heart for the one who senses that his strength and hope in the Lord is perishing or vanishing! And God steps in!

Cal Thomas and Ed Dobson, in “Blinded by Might: Can the Religious Right Save America?” [Grand Rapids, Mich., Zondervan, 1999, p.23], wrote: “We don’t have a shortage of leaders, but a shortage of followers of the one Leader who can transform lives and nations. We don’t need to enlarge our vision, but make it smaller and more focused. We don’t need more numbers, but more quality and consistency among the numbers we already have. We need more people who will do things God’s way and fewer people doing things man’s way.”

Is that a challenge for pastors and churches, leaders of splinter groups, youth and young adult disciplers, to preach and teach and reach, yes, those who are ‘falling away’? Is it a challenge to preach and teach and reach those, who according to George Barna or George Gallup Jr., 76% of evangelicals or church folk believing human beings, by nature, really are basically good, saying, “Church, just leave them alone,” or 86% saying, concerning salvation, “God helps those who help themselves.” Where under God’s Heaven or in His Word do you find that?

Apostasy or Repentant Rest and Reach”? Much ‘apostasy’ comes out of ‘cultural Christianity’ that ignores even Jesus’ own words. But ‘world religions’ are stumbling blocks also issuing their performance creeds far short of the Truth of the Cross of Christ. And have you examined ‘Christianity’ that majors on ‘churchianity’ finding repulsive that Jesus says: “You must be born again!”

Listen to our Lord’s words, and examine if this is what your ‘church’ has shared with you: John 3! “Nicodemus, YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN, born of the water [of the Word] and born of the Spirit! It’s not an option, Rabbi!” “Nicodemus, examine God’s love . God loved the world and gave His Son, Jesus, to be the sacrifice for your sin. He who believes in [trusts in, relies upon, adheres to] is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, 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.”

This is why, in I Peter 1:23, Peter wrote: “having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.”

Oh, hear me! GOD HAS CHOSEN, PRE-DETERMINED, THAT IN CHRIST MEN ARE SAVED! APART FROM JESUS THEY ARE “LOST”, SEPARATED, ALIENATED! IT’S A MATTER OF GOD’S LOVE,GRACE, AND MERCY. It’s not even an option other religions hold up to Him – it’s Jesus ONLY! Ephesians 1:4-6 tells us: “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”

Also, God has said: IT’S THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB OF GOD SLAIN BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD THAT REDEEMS, REGENERATES, RESTORES, AND RELEASES GOD’S LIFE IN YOU! Ephesians 1:7-8 says: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence…”

And, OH! THERE’S THE PRECIOUS MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT! Ephesians 1:11-14 says, “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”

“Repentant rest and reach” is because of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in one’s life! You really don’t believe there is that vital step of repentance apart from the Spirit, do you? In John 16:7-8 Jesus said: “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…”

Then in Acts 2:32-39 Peter preached the Truth about God’s Holy Spirit and our relationship to Him. He said: “This Jesus God has raised up of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.’ Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

Oh, but then in John 16:13-14 Jesus magnified the Holy Spirit’s continuing ministry as you press in to Jesus: “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 take of what is Mine and declare it to you.”

Look at John 15:26 where Jesus also said: “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” Also examine carefully I John 5:6 where John wrote: “This is He who came by water and blood – Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And IT IS THE SPIRIT WHO BEARS WITNESS, BECAUSE THE SPIRIT IS TRUTH.” WOW!

When in John 16:14 Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would “glorify Me,” He opened the door to every believer’s reception, dependence, and release of the Spirit through him/her! Oswald Chambers wrote: [“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.248], “The pietistic movements of today have none of the rugged reality of the New Testament about them; there is nothing about them that needs the death of Jesus Christ; all that is required is a pious attitude or atmosphere, and prayer and devotion. This type of experience is not supernatural nor miraculous, it did not cost the passion of God, it is not dyed in the blood of the Lamb, nor stamped with the hall-mark of the Holy Ghost; it has not that mark on it which makes men say, as they look with awe and wonder – ‘That is the work of Almighty God.’ That and nothing else is what the New Testament talks about.”

Does the Holy Spirit see in you “the welcome sign” for His reception in your heart, mind, and life?

“Apostasy or repentant rest and reach”? Without a doubt, I am thoroughly convinced that most ‘apostasy’ is because of a starvation diet coming from neglect, and, yes, denial of the need of the Word of God in one’s daily life, even when Jesus said in Matthew 4:4, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

Our Lord spoke to “many of His disciples” who heard His words and said to each other, ‘This is a hard saying; who can understand it?’ Apart from the Holy Spirit, no one will truly understand or receive God’s Holy Word! Then He said in John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” You’ll remember in I Corinthians 3:1-3 that Paul had to ‘scold’ the Corinthians!

Have you examined lately Exodus 16? Israel had been delivered from Egypt and were on their way to “the promised land” – and all of a sudden they are “hungry”. [Oh, I pray you read this with spiritual understanding and receive it on your journey to your ‘promised land’!]. Look at Exodus 16 again:

• God rains ‘bread’ from Heaven for His children of faith, His Holy Word!
• “Gather a certain quota every day.”
• “In the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord.”
• Verse 12, “And you shall know that I AM the Lord your God.”
• Verse 16, “Let every man take for those who are in his tent.”
• Verse 17, “Let no one leave any of it till morning” – apply it!
• Verse 31, “and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.” Oh, how “sweet” God’s Word is to one’s taste!!

The prophet Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 15:16, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.”

I close this chapter on “apostasy or repentant rest and reach” by Looking at Luke 10:38-42 asking you: Have you disciplined your walk with Christ on “the necessary part”? Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about many things. But one thing is needful, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

That good, needful, necessary part? Sitting at the feet of Jesus and hearing His WORD!!

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

GAME PLAYERS OR TRUE DISCIPLES?

“A RESIGNATION TO HOPELESSNESS”?

You are aware that Jesus so easily identified the “game players” and the true disciples. “Game players” are the imitators of true discipleship – and I have no doubt the “game players” today in the ‘last days’ church out-number the true disciples! A born-again believer doesn’t dress like the world, talk like the world, or live for the world and its pleasures. A born-again believer cannot, will not, must not be identified as one who is consumed by the sinful passions and sinful pleasures of the age in which he’s called out to express the Indwelling Christ in his daily walk.

In Psalm 24:3-6 David’s psalm says: “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face.”

That doesn’t sound to me like a ‘game player’ in whose mind and heart and will there is not one inch of surrender to a fleshly, sinful, pleasurable life-style! ‘Game players’ open wide the doors of their hearts to destructive, devilish diseases that impair and hinder their supposed walk of faith.

As we begin this message together, I want you to come to Isaiah 33:10-22! “Now I will rise,” says the Lord, “Now I will be exalted, Now I will lift Myself up. You shall conceive chaff, you shall bring forth stubble; your breath, as fire, shall devour you. And the people shall be like the burnings of lime; like thorns cut up they shall be burned in the fire. Hear, you who are afar off, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge My might.” The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness has seized the hypocrites; “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil; he will dwell on high; his place of defense will be the fortress of rocks; bread will be given him, his water will be sure. Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; they will see the land that is very far off. Your heart will meditate on terror; “Where is the scribe? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers?” You will not see a fierce people, a people of obscure speech, beyond perception, of a stammering tongue that you cannot understand. Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet home, a tabernacle that will not be taken down; not one of its stakes will ever be removed, nor will any of its cords be broken. But there the majestic Lord will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, in which no galley with oars will sail, nor majestic ships pass by (For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; He will save us).”

Did you catch the “game players” and their journey? “The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness has seized the hypocrites (‘play-actors’); who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” Oh, but then in Verses 15-16 we see true disciples! “He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil; he will dwell on high; his place of defense will be the fortress of rocks; bread will be given him, his water is sure.”

Almighty God is the God of the free-will eternal decision about ‘blessing’ or ‘the curse’! In Deuteronomy 30:11-20 God issues His decree about ‘the choice’ of ‘game players’ or ‘true disciples’: “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ ‘Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life, and the length of your days; and that you may dwell IN THE LAND…” What land? “The land of His promises!”

The game players are those who desire to be religious but shun the truth of re-birth. The game players desire ‘blessing’ without any commitment to please God. The game players are the promoters of many gods and pat themselves on the back for their devotion to the ‘god’ they’ve determined to be ‘god’ for themselves. True disciples have been “born again” by the Word and the Spirit, they’ve been taught and live in the pathway of Holy Living, they’ve locked the truths of God’s Word in their hearts, blessed as obedient sons and daughters, fully anointed and presided over by the Indwelling Holy Spirit, and overflowing, uncontained love for their King!

Oh, they “dwell in the High Places,” in the “Upper Room” of holy presence seated at the feet of Jesus, at peace with whatever door the Lord opens for them to walk through!

“Game players”? More devotion to marred religious leaders than devotion to the Master and His revelation. “Game players”? They’ll sleep while Jesus says pray, sit while Jesus says to go, harbor resentments and bitterness while Jesus says forgive, bless others while they’ll hoard selfishly for themselves, love the fleshly while Jesus tells us to die to the flesh and be one with the saints, and they love themselves and hold on to it for dear life while Jesus commands us to lay our lives down!!

“True disciples”? Isaiah 33:2 says of them, “O Lord, be gracious to us; we have waited for You. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in time of trouble.” But “game players” have no trouble, expect no trouble, see no trouble, because their eyes are fixed inward, not upward, because the true Savior says to His true people, “In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world!”

“Game players”? ‘Why wait upon the Lord? We are able to discern for ourselves what our lives are to be about – and God should be proud of our independent, fleshly, determined ways.” But “true Disciples”? “Lord, what would YOU have me to do?”

“Game players”? They determine where they walk, why they walk that way, and will settle for themselves what they want to do when they get where they are going! But “true disciples” have heard the voice of their Lord and Savior, “This is the Way – walk in it.” So Deuteronomy 33:15 speaks of those who “walk righteously and uprightly,” unashamed of their convictions and consecration of lives to the honor of Christ, to His will and to His Word!

“Game players”? In Jeremiah 17:9-10 the Lord said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to every man according to his ways, according to the ‘fruit’ of his doings.” But the true disciple? They truly understand why Jesus died, have truly identified with Him in His death, and have been raised up as new creations! 2 Corinthians 5:15-21 so clearly defines ‘true disciples’: “And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves but for Him who died and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us; we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him [in Christ Jesus!]

There’s an encouraging word in Jeremiah 45:5. It says: God speaking, “I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go.” Why? Because a true disciple knows that Jesus alone is resurrection life and hope – and when the vision of an exchanged life occurs, true believers are, according to 2 Corinthians 4:10-11, “always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who LIVE are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

Can you really conceive of a “game player” taking the yoke of Christ upon himself and learning of Jesus? If you’ve ever been around farming in the early days when tractors and plows were so different – farming was a farmer with usually a two-part yoke in one beam where the “master bull” led the way and the young protégé struggled and fought and after thorough discipline from the master bull and farmer would then get in step!

Being broken and trained is what ‘game players’ want no part of because they are the masters of their own destinies, and are always resistant to the squeeze of Holy God. Oswald Chambers said, “If you have the whine in you, kick it out ruthlessly.” But ‘game players’ don’t kick – they do whine, complain, and even curse God and His true disciples.

“Game players”? You’ve heard them: “God better show Himself strong for me or I won’t believe.” But Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance (or realization) of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Question! Did you “see” Creation being made or do you know by faith, you KNOW, God spoke and the worlds were framed? ‘Game players’ can’t handle it when heaven is shut up, God is silent, and no answer comes for their delicate, selfish question. But the true disciple?

Come with me to Galatians 3 and be ready to rejoice with all true disciples and then intercede for the “game players”. Verses 1-9 are so very revealing of what it is that builds true disciples! “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain – if indeed it was in vain? Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? – just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.”

I believe in Galatians 4 Paul is dealing with “game players” who had to be confronted. In verse 4-7 he describes the true disciples but then says in verse 9, “But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?”

“Game players”? In Matthew 16:24 Jesus said: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. Verse 25 says, For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Verse 26, For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Again, Oswald Chambers said: “Individuality counterfeits personality as lust counterfeits love.” Do you understand the ‘war’ some fight and lose because there is a stronghold called ‘the old life,’ ‘the flesh,’ the sin nature that some are unwilling to die to?

But the true disciple understands and fights that ‘war’ but also understands the available power of God’s saving grace. In Boice’s “Gospel of Grace,” he shared these words: [p.129], “Since grace is the source of the life that is mine – And faith is a gift from on high – I’ll boast in My savior, all merit decline, And glorify God ‘til I die.”

In A.W. Tozer’s, “The Knowledge of the Holy,” [New York: Harper & Row, 1961, p.7] he wrote: “With our loss of the sense of majesty has come the further loss of religious awe and consciousness of the divine Presence. We have lost our spirit of worship and our ability to withdraw inwardly to meet God in adoring silence. Modern Christianity is simply not producing the kind of Christian who can appreciate or experience the life in the Spirit. The words, “Be still and know that I am God,” mean next to nothing to the self-confident, bustling worshipper in this middle period of the twentieth century.”

Well, what about the early 21^st century? Do you believe there is a multitude who have time to ‘be still’ and know God? What has happened in our modern world? “Game players” have forgotten God!! And, sadly, even some true disciples have been confronted with alternatives to all-out devotion! Isaiah 2:32 says, God speaking, “Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number.”

This is why Simon Peter was so challenged by the Holy Spirit to record these words in 2 Peter 1:2-15! “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus showed me. Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease.”

Resignation to hopelessness? Oh, yes, some have resigned themselves to that pattern of life, but in Hebrews 6:18b-19 the author says: “…lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil…” Isn’t this why Peter said in I Peter 1:13, “…hope to the end…yes, until the revelation of Jesus Christ on the earth the second time”?

All, both “game players” and “true disciple” are going to face on this earth horrendous, horrifying, ‘hard’ and difficult times, and some are so miserable they blame our Lord rather than lean on Him. It’s like Shakespeare wrote in “Romeo and Juliet,” “Past hope, past cure, past help!” Under God’s Heaven, let the distressed know that YOU have a living hope!

In “Sonnet, On the Sacred Monte,” John Addington Symonds wrote: “gods fade, but God abides and in man’s heart Speaks with the clear unconquerable cry Of energies and hopes that cannot die.” Amen?

“Game players”? In Psalm 81:11-12 God records His sadness for those who do not heed His voice. He said: “But My people would not heed My voice, and Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, to walk in their own counsels.” And then in verses 15-16 He said: “The haters of the Lord would pretend submission to Him, but their fate would endure forever. He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat; and with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you.”

I don’t know how you read the Psalms and interpret them, but I want you to know I personally entitled the Psalms “The Story of Authenticity,” or “Being Real Before God!!” Then Psalm 1 lays out “the Way of the Righteous and the End of the Ungodly.” “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does he shall prosper. The ungodly are bot so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

The “game player”? The “play actor”? The “part-timer” of allegiance or faithfulness? The wind blows and they’re driven away, and there is no “standing” in the overcoming provision of our Lord. But the true disciple? He’s a “son of the Most High!”

I want to close this chapter with Spurgeon’s words from “Spurgeon’s Sermons,” [Vol. 15, p.43], “It is a matter of fact that the man who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, and lives as a Christian should live, dwells on the heights. [I say, “Game players live in low-lands”!!] His mind is lifted up above the common cares and worries and vexations of life. The Holy Spirit has begotten him again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and therefore his conversation is in heaven; from whence he looks for his Savior the Lord Jesus. I am sure that many of you know what it is to ride on the high places of the earth and to look down upon the world as a poor paltry thing. You have walked with God in light, even as He is in the light, and then you have been filled with a joy no man takes from you, and you have trodden the world beneath your feet, and all that earth calls good or great. Thus has it been true of you, ‘he shall dwell on high.” Amen?

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“DRAINED BY TROUBLE OR STRONGER BY THE STRUGGLE?”

“A RESIGNATION TO HOPELESSNESS?”

In Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary he defines “trouble” as: ‘a disturbance of mind; agitation; commotion of spirits; perplexity; affliction; calamity; uneasiness; vexation; [he quotes Milton, “Lest the fiend some new trouble raise.”

And the result in many lives is that they become “drained” of hope, “drained” of any fleshly peace or fleshly happiness they may have had, “drained”, for some, of even their ‘sanity’ – they crash! Far too many are drained by trouble and look for counterfeit remedies – even drugs or liquor or immoral sex, seeking to hide their own pain and disappointment.

Besides the absence of God in most troubled lives that have left them so empty, so hopeless, so drained, is that they never, ever, were aware that life on earth, life in the real world, is not without “war” or “wars” in the human psyche, and none are exempt! And they try to live without God, live without understanding life’s dilemmas, refusing to admit their need of a “higher power” outside themselves.

I don’t know, if you thoroughly search the Scriptures, that you’ll find anywhere God advocating, advising, men to “suck it up – you’re on your own.” No! God appeals to ALL to let Him be the load-lifter and the burden-bearer and the mighty Arm of a divine offense and defense! But, since there is ‘free-will,’ God waits and woos, seeking to win over even one soul who’ll admit his need of God!

“Drained by trouble” is an indication of an empty moral caliber that has no ‘fight’ – that’s because “stronger by the struggle” is because one has chosen to “lean not to his own understanding, but in all his ways to acknowledge God” and give Him His rightful place in one’s troubled soul.

“Drained by trouble” is because the man who thought he’d never face trouble, established his pathway of life without Divine Presence, and when trouble came, he had no understanding of God’s promise to be with us in our time of trouble. Ask any troubled person – their troubles are not an imagination of a sick soul life – their troubles are many! And they don’t know where to turn! The ingenuity of men, fallen men, has no remedy of staying power in their storms of ‘disturbance of mind,’ ‘agitation,’ ‘commotion of spirits,’ ‘paralyzing perplexity’ or ‘calamity.’ They try rather than trust.

I do want you to know that it is so very clear by the revelation of God’s Word that “the saints,” [those: “set apart” for God’s glory], are made “stronger by the struggle”! Paul shared his heart and his God-given wisdom in 2 Corinthians 6:1-10, “We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God; in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.”

And after spiritually instructing and educating God’s people in Corinth, in verses 11-12, he said: “O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections.” And that happens. Some who ought to be made strong by their struggles relate to worldly men apart from the wisdom of God, behaving like “mere men” when they are sons of God!

I came across an article that Bill Anderson wrote when he was pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, Florida. He told that a biographer of the Russian monarch, Ivan the Great, says that when a wife was sought for the ruler, a very beautiful Greek woman, Sophia, was found and brought to him. [Webster’s Biographical Dictionary says that the marriage was politically motivated, and was designed to establish the claim of Russian rulers as protectors of Orthodox Christianity.] They were to be married in 1472 in the Greek Orthodox Church. Very elaborate plans for the ceremony were made. Three hundred personal attendants were enlisted as bodyguards for the ruler. The couple sought baptism into the Greek Orthodox Church in preparation for the marriage, but Ivan could not receive baptism because (at that time, at least) no professional soldier could receive baptism into the Greek Orthodox Church. As a solution to that apparently insurmountable problem, the ruler, along with his three hundred attendants, each attended by a priest, waded out into a large body of water and, at a given signal, all were immersed. However, at the moment of immersion, each of the men, along with Ivan, raised his sword out of the water, and so were immersed, except for their arms and swords.

Have you gotten the picture of “drained by the trouble”? Problems arise, conflicts emerge, compromise is birthed – and some, wanting to partially commit, baptizing a part of themselves, but holding on to their “war weapons” including the strong arm of the flesh or old sin nature!

“Drained by the trouble or stronger by the struggle”? In 2 Corinthians 7:3 there is such a moving, heart-stretching, mind-clearing verse for the “stronger by the struggle” when Paul said: “I do not say this to condemn; for I have said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.” Did you get that? Natural men live together so they can die together, but spiritual men ‘die together so they can live together.’ And that’s called “perfecting holiness in the fear of God,” but those who fear of being “drained by the trouble”, trying to be a follower of Christ, refuse or deny any step of death to self!

In James Boice’s book, “Whatever Happened To the Gospel of Grace?” [p.191], Boice wrote: “Surveys of contemporary beliefs and conduct tell us that most Christians do not act much differently from non-Christian people. This is not surprising, since little contemporary preaching teaches about or encourages a difference. But we should be very different, at least if we take the gospel seriously. Christians are to be the new humanity, a community of those who “love…God…even to the contempt of self” as opposed to those who “love…self, even to the contempt of God,” which is how the great church theologian St. Augustine expressed it centuries ago in his “The City of God.”

Dr. Glen Schultz, strong Christian educator, has said: “At the foundation of a person’s life, we find his beliefs. These beliefs shape his values, and his values drive his actions.” [“Kingdom Education,” Nashville, Life Way Press, p.39].

Josh McDowell’s “Beyond Belief To Conviction” does a fabulous job identifying why our modern-day youth, yes, even church youth, have been programmed to view their surroundings in church culture, school culture, a nation’s culture on the basis of “postmodernism.” Then, in his book, [pps. 12-13], he lists its “common beliefs.” He highlighted six things:

• Truth does not exist in any objective sense. [What a lie!]
• Instead of “discovering” truth in a ‘metanarrative’ – which is a story (such as the Bible) or ideology (such as Marxism) that presents a unified way of looking at philosophy, religion, art, and science – postmodernism rejects any overarching explanation of what constitutes truth and reality.
• Truth – whether in science, education, or religion – is created by a specific culture or community and is “true” only in and for that culture.
• Individual persons are the product of their culture. That is, we are not essentially unique individuals created in the image of God; our identities are defined by our culture (African-American, European, Eastern, Western, urban, rural etc.)
• All thinking is a “social construct.” In other words, what you and I regard as “truths” are simply arbitrary “beliefs we have been conditioned to accept by our society, just as others have been conditioned to accept a completely different set of beliefs.”
• Any system or statement that claims to be objectively true or unfavorably judges the values, beliefs, lifestyle, and truth claims of another culture is a power play, an effort by one culture to dominate other cultures.

And what you’ve just read is “trouble” and many, many people, youth included, have been “drained” by it, while others are “stronger by the struggle” in “fighting the good fight of faith.”

You do understand what Paul was talking about as he wrote to the Ephesians and us, [Ephesians 4:14], “that we should be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, Verse 15, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ -.”

Have you missed or even omitted John 1:14? “And the Word [Jesus Christ] became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

There has always been a spiritual war of dramatic significance when ‘fallen flesh’ takes up weapons against “Truth” whose other names are the “Lord Jesus Christ”! The “drained by trouble” may even fight for awhile but eventually walk away from “Truth” but the “Stronger by the Struggle” are being molded more and more into the likeness of Christ! It’s why Paul said in Ephesians 4:13, “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” WOW! And WOW again!

If there is no “beholding His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth,” it is because the “drained by the trouble” have been looking for their own glory, discovering only grit and untruths, and they tire out! But the “strengthened by the struggle” find “grace and truth”!

“Drained by the trouble”? That’s those around you, in your world, that every day put their ‘confidence in the flesh’! But the “strengthened by the struggle” have discovered the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus the Lord and walking with Him, in Him, and through Him – and with Paul, as he wrote in Philippians 3:7-10, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”

“Drained by the trouble”? It’s that endless search, unending attempt, powerless effort, of self-discovery, self-fulfillment, self-realization, that enthrones a ‘sick self’ as lord over one’s own life. But the “strengthened by the struggle”? 2 Corinthians 4:11 says, “For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

“Drained by the trouble”? Oh, they desire to be more than “mere men” but believe it’s really about discovering their ‘true identity’ in their own efforts apart from any consideration of God’s help, God’s plan, God’s power, or God’s grace, mercy, and love. It’s that strong fleshly determination – “I don’t need God. I am my own man. I’ll achieve what I dream for myself,” with no reaching out of self and up to God! Remember Pharoah’s assertion?

Blinded minds and hearts are the result, not only of their old sin natures, but the truth that the Gospel is veiled and hidden by “the god of this age,” and apart from “turning to Christ,” that veil remains! But for those who are the “strengthened by the struggle,” [that’s, yes, the struggle of admitting their need is met only outside themselves], 2 Corinthians 4:6 says, “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

“Drained by the trouble”? That’s those whose journey has been void of God altogether, but they try and try and try to be better than they are, even knowing there must be a better way than they’ve found, but refuse to bow before Heaven’s Throne to admit they have needs they can’t meet on their own – so they slam the door of opportunity in the face of Christ! “One’s need of acceptance by God? That’s weakness which is not what or who I am! I’ll make it on my own!” But they fall short!

“Strengthened by the struggle”? James 1:18 says, “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first-fruits of His creatures.” That sounds to me as a parallel to a mother giving birth to her child. The “seed” was planted, the growing started, and the labor and birth brought forth the new born baby. God’s Word is planted in a believer’s mind and heart, the mind and heart is convicted by the Holy Spirit, birth takes place spiritually, and one becomes a “new creation in Christ Jesus” – and, yes, the struggle begins by choosing Jesus daily over your ‘old man’! In James 2:4 the brother of Jesus, anointed by the Holy Spirit, wrote:

“Listen, my beloved brethren: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” Isn’t that so illuminating to you? Why is it ‘the poor’ and not ‘the rich’? The wise man of Proverbs wrote in Proverbs 10:15, “The rich man’s wealth is his strong city..”, and you might even say, ‘his strong suit’ because it’s his wealth that dresses him up – not God! In Psalm 52 David had just described the “mighty man” who boasts in his evil, and then says in verse 7, “Here is the man who did not make God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and strengthened himself in his wickedness (or ‘desire’ in an evil sense).”

But then I don’t see David as a ‘poor man’ in this world’s wealth, yet he says in Psalm 34:6, “This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.” The richest man in the world truly can be redeemed when in his life he recognizes his own “poverty of spirit”!

“God, bless the man who knows the “poverty of spirit” and looks to You to redeem him.” “Yes, Lord, let the rich man know that it truly is Your blessing that makes one wealthy, physically, spiritually, or financially.” “Yes, Lord, let the rich man know that true honor comes out of the overflow of Your heart to pour out on him who leans not to his own understanding but in all his ways acknowledges You!”

In Psalm 49:6-20 what we read is so powerful! I pray God’s Spirit convicts you as you read!! “Those who trust in their wealth and boast in the multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him – for the redemption of their souls is costly, and it shall cease forever – that he should continue to live eternally and not see the Pit. For he sees wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless person perish, and leave their wealth to others. Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever, their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names. Nevertheless man, though in honor, does not remain; he is like the beasts that perish. This is the way of those who are foolish, and of their posterity who approve their sayings. Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall be consumed in the grace, far from their dwelling. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for He shall receive me. Do not be afraid when one becomes rich, when the glory of his house is increased; for when he dies he shall carry nothing away; his glory shall not descend after him. Though while he lives he blesses himself (For men will praise you when you do well for yourself), he shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light. A man who is in honor, yet does not understand, is like the beasts that perish.”

But the “strengthened by the struggle”? Please examine with your heart as well as your head Psalm 66:8-12! “Oh, bless our God, you peoples! And make the voice of His praises heard, who keeps our soul among the living, and does not allow our feet to be moved. 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 through water; but You brought us out to rich fulfillment.”

Some say Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes, but I’m not sure. But in Ecclesiastes 5:10-19 there are wise words and warnings for both the “drained by the trouble” and “the strengthened by the struggle.” It says: “He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them; so what profit have the owners except to see them with their eyes? The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep. There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun; riches kept for their owner to his hurt. But those riches perish through misfortune; when he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand. As he came from his mother’s womb, naked shall he return, to go as he came; and he shall take nothing from his labor which he may carry away in his hand. And this also is a severe evil – just exactly as he came, so shall he go. And what profit has he who has labored for the wind? All his days he also eats in darkness, and he has much sorrow and sickness and anger. Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage. As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor – this is the gift of God.”

“Drained by the trouble”? Peter spoke of those who “secretly bring in destructive heresies [false teachings opposed to God and His Holy Word!], even denying the Lord who bought them [bought with a price! Jesus’ shed blood! Yet still they deny Him!], and bring on themselves swift destruction.” [2 Peter 2:1].

In 2 Peter 2:9-10 Peter wrote: “then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries.”

He then shows the depravity of all false teachers who spew unbelief, lies, distorted teachings: [2 Peter 2:12-17]. “But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity; a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.”

Are you familiar with “wells without water”? Their words are verses 18-19 of 2 Peter 2! “For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.”

Are you familiar with words or beliefs or teachings that turn you from Truth to a state of more and more self-indulgence? Yes, even to deeper darkness than you’ve already experienced! John 12:35-36 says, Jesus speaking: Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.

Luke 11:34-36 says: “The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.”

But “drained by trouble” folk walk with darkness as a way of life – no radiant light of the Light of the world – Jesus; but “strengthened by the struggle” folk at times find themselves experiencing darkness because our Lord is up to something good and godly for our edification. He said in Matthew 10:27, “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear, preach on the housetops.”

I can tell you, man/woman of faith, you are destined for times of walking in dark places where gracious God plans on building, strengthening, revealing, eternal truths you’d find in no other way. Did He say, “What I tell you in darkness…”?

In “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.13], Oswald Chambers was writing about Genesis 15:12, “Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.” Chambers said: “Whenever God gives a vision to a saint, He puts him, as it were, in the shadow of His hand, and the saint’s duty is to be still and to listen. There is a darkness which comes from excess of light, and then is the time to listen. Genesis 16 is an illustration of listening to good advice when it is dark instead of waiting on God to send the light. When God gives a vision and darkness follows, wait. God will make you in accordance with the vision He has given if you will wait His time. Never try and help God fulfill His word, Abraham went through thirteen years of silence, but in those years all self-sufficiency was destroyed; there was no possibility left of relying on common-sense ways. Those years of silence [like darkness] were a time of discipline, not of displeasure.”

And, I say, maybe darkness for you, dark, dark darkness, is to drain the “drained by troubles’ blues, so you may become those “strengthened by the struggle”!!

I’ve changed the word ‘death’ for the word ‘darkness’ in an old hymn that says: “Darkness has no terrors for the blood-bought one, O glory hallelujah to the Lamb! The boasted victory of the grave is gone, O glory hallelujah to the Lamb!…

Jesus rose from the dead, Rose triumphant as He said, Snatched the victory from the grave, Rose again our souls to save, O glory hallelujah to the Lamb!”

That’s the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world in the mind and heart of God on your behalf!! NO “RESIGNATION TO HOPELESSNESS”!!

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

THE HOPELESSNESS OF GODLESS GOVERNMENTS OR THE HOPE OF GOVERNMENTS BEING IN GOD’S WAY?

As I was reading from Genesis recently, I came across Genesis 24:27, where verse 26 had said the man bowed down his head and worshipped the Lord. Then in verse 27 he said, “As for me, being on [or in] the way, the Lord led me…” And I asked myself: “If it’s true of a man, [and it is], is it also true of governments?” I have no doubts at all that God desires every nation on the face of the earth to be “in His way”, establishing all things national under the Sovereignty of God.

In Genesis 6:5 it says, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

“Kingdom living” is for the “new-born” while governments became so necessary because of fallen man’s evil ways continually! Of course, men didn’t see themselves as “evil” so God put His Ten Commandments into stone to expose their ‘lawlessness’! Governments were birthed by God to maintain some semblance of sanity in the midst of brainless, heartless men who opposed God.

You’ll remember there was a world-wide flood and most died, but some were placed in “the ark of safety” – and a new beginning occurred. In Genesis 9:11-13, 15b, God said to Noah, “Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. Verse 15b, the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.”

From Noah and the beginning of ‘covenant’, we see families and then nations birthed! That’s chapter 10 of Genesis! In Genesis 11 we see the “beginning of confusion”, and then in Genesis 12 we see “the beginning of unveiled purpose” through Abram – God said to him in Genesis 12:1-4, Now the Lord had said to Abram, “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him…Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.”

Abram, at 75 years of age, said “yes” to God!! Understand, you are never too old to apprehend the vision of God for yourself, your family, or your nation! [June 12, 2013, I celebrated my 77^th birthday, and I’m about to finish this new book!] Look at “covenant blessing” in Genesis 17:1-8! When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: “As for Me, behold My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God for you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

But if there is a “blessing” for a nation, can there be a “curse”? In Psalm 9:17 David said, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” What a sad word! In Job 8:11-18 there are words of warning for individuals and governments or nations. It says: “Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh? Can the reeds flourish without water? While it is yet green and not cut down, it withers before any other plant. So are the paths of all who forget God; and the hope of the hypocrite [play-actor] shall perish, whose confidence shall be cut off, and whose trust is a spider’s web. He leans on his house, but it does not stand. He holds it fast, but it does not endure. He grows green in the sun, and his branches spread out in his garden. His roots wrap around the rock heap, and look for a place in the stones. If he is destroyed from his place, then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have not seen you.’”

And the sad truth is, it’s not only governments and nations that forget God, because Jeremiah 2:32 says: “Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number.” I truly believe that “nations” drift away from God-given covenants because God’s people “forget” Him “days without number” and their “salty” influence is troddened under the feet of godless men and leaders who step in without any desire in their minds or hearts to please or obey God!

When “the world” suffers from ungodly leadership in pulpit and pew in the “church,” the “church” will suffer when the world is being strangled by ungodly leadership there also – and a black darkness falls on both. As I was reading I Thessalonians, I came across chapter 5, verse 15, which says: “See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and all.” And I had to ask myself and the Lord: “Is this a call for citizens in a government AND governmental leaders looking out for what is best, what is God-like for all?” “Are the decisions they make honoring God and truly blessing His people that have been entrusted to their care?”

In II Thessalonians 2:3-12 we find words of warning again that I believe should be shared in every nation, because every nation has subversive influences from “the man of sin” or the “son of perdition.” He’s also called “the lawless one”! Read the following prayerfully:

“Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

If this is true – and it is!!! – what should we be doing? In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus shared “The Great Commission” – and apart from that becoming a living reality in our “world,” I don’t see a lot of hope.

We saw earlier in Genesis 12:1-3 some vitally important and significant verses to challenge us in the 21^st Century that relates to “world-changers” like Abram! Will you be one? Did God say of Abram that He would make of Him “a great nation”? And that through Abram “all the families of the earth [would] be blessed”?

In Exodus 19 Holy God reached out to the world of that day through Moses and the Israelites. He said in verses 3-6, And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.” And nations were multiplied and established.

But then you see how leaders and nations can betray God’s holy trust when in Psalm 2:1-12 we see God’s response: “Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure; “Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.” I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’” Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.”

If God responds concerning nations, what about His people? In Psalm 110:1-3 there is God’s call for His people to rule in the midst of God’s enemies! The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion, Rule in the midst of Your enemies! Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power…”

How does that occur? In Isaiah 9:6-7 God tells us! “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”

Sadly, most men of governmental rule are out for gain, not to the glory of God. In Matthew 20:25-28 Jesus said: But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Political gain for ‘self’ was not His intent but sharing His life in community. Worldly influence was so far from His walk in the world, but, as King of kings and Lord of lords, He came to serve and lay His life down.

Isn’t it absolutely awe-inspiring to you, that as Jesus came, He came to wash the disciples’ feet saying to them, John 13:14, “If I then your Lord and Teacher, have WASHED YOUR FEET, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” True governmental service? The spiritual rule of servanthood?

I’ll never forget an awesome day ministering in India in one of the pastors’ conferences that I led for over 25 years. I was moved that particular day to wash the feet of those gathered in that conference! It was a shock to India pastors and their wives that I would get on my knees and wash their feet! It was and is the ‘ruling heart of Heavenly governmental service!

My question now is: “Can your government, our government in the United States, ever become a ‘foot-washing leadership base’? If there is no governmental reign of God in the leadership of a nation, or the legislators, or the general public of a state, they’ve shut the door on a governmental, godly reign over all the people!

In local, state, or national governments do you see them as holy appointments of Almighty God? I personally, through the Word of God and the personal experiences of living in a nation, that our government bases were intended to portray God’s eternal reign in people and nations. But rebellion has been man’s response far more often than submission to Holy God In fact, in I Samuel 8:7 God said, “…for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.”

So God gives up? Right? God disowns loyal men? God turns His back on fallen humanity? In 2 Corinthians 5:17-19 we read, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now ALL THINGS ARE OF GOD, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

Did you see that? “reconciling THE WORLD to Himself”? Yes, “God so loved the world” including godless governments built by ungodly men! In Matthew 4:17, 23 we see Jesus at work, doing what? From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Verse 23, And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.”

That’s God’s reign! His divine intent is to so transform men that not only their hearts and homes are transformed but their businesses, bank accounts, relationships, and governments are touched by Him! That’s God’s reign! That’s the Kingdom of God in Heaven transforming earthly representatives, yes, in governments, to servants of the Most High God!

There is a never-ending principle in God’s Word that relates to an individual life, a family, a community, a state, and a nation. It has never changed! Galatians 6:7-8 says: “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.”

Whatever a man sows, that he will reap! Whatever a family sows, that it will reap! Whatever a community or state sows, that it will reap! And whatever a nation’s government sows, yes, in Washington, DC, or your nation’s capital, THAT IT WILL REAP!

And, collectively, there is the ‘citizens’ role’ in a godly government! In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus said: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

“Light of the world”? “Light in a government”? “Light in a state and community locally?” How many times have you witnessed governmental actions and had to say, “That is so foreign to the nature and character of God Almighty – what are our representatives doing?” When did true ‘salt’ and true ‘light’ become so offensive?

Of course, you have a choice – you are free to ignore your government or engage your government when you know it needs to be engaged! In fact, in Romans 1:14 Paul said: “I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise.” Has that changed concerning our ‘influence’ in the world of which we are a part?

When Barack Obama’s “health care law” was passed, those who voted had never really studiously read what they made as ‘national law’! And it WILL have a horrific effect upon the nation as a whole – probably help to bankrupt us and, yes, the medical community.

I have no doubt this is why Cowper, in “Expostulation,” wrote: “Sworn on every slight pretense, Till perjuries are common as bad pence, While thousands, careless of the damning sin, Kiss the book’s outside, who ne’er looked within.”

Nation building? In Matthew 7:26-27 Jesus said: “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

Can you imagine a ‘home-builder’ who is sure he doesn’t need architecturally-designed plans? “Measurements are out – I can eye-ball it!” Really? What about a ‘nation-builder’ who is sure ‘sand’ will do when solid rock is called for? Isn’t this what Paul was talking about in I Corinthians 1:26-29? For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.”

Oh, but then you come to Matthew 21:33-44 and you hear Jesus Himself speak!! And you shake – because you wonder: “What is going to happen to OUR nation? Will it be given to another?” Will it be forfeited by a leader opposed to constitutional government?”

But we serve a gracious, merciful God – and to every nation God has and God WILL send a prophet and call incompetent leaders to His judgment bar! In 2 Kings 20:1 the Holy Word says, “In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, SET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER, for you shall die and not live.”

If there is “disorder” in a national ‘house,’ where are the prophets? If there is “confusion” in a national house, where is the prophet speaking the clarity of divine truth and divine hope for that nation? Oh, how frail are nations that try to live apart from God so faithlessly?

Follow carefully Spurgeon’s words in his “Spurgeon’s Sermons,” [Vol. 15, pps. 51-52]. Consider it as a ‘nation’ – not a life only! “A sudden death is a specially impressive warning. If men of old age die we regard it as coming in the common course of things; but when a young man (or young nation) is suddenly snatched away, then we understand that though the old must die, the young may die; and that no one among us may reckon upon any long day of life, since in a moment our sun may go down ere it is yet noon. So falls the grass beneath the mower’s scythe, so fades the leaf from the tree. In a moment our strength is turned to weakness, and our comeliness into corruption. Then, in accents as plain as they are terrible, the Lord says, ‘Because I will do this unto you, prepare to meet your God, O nations!’”

Do you understand? Nations have survived because men of Truth stand up to warn, to challenge, to pray, for, yes, true biblical revival in the hearts of its leaders and people. What does II Chronicles 7:14 tell us? “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Psalm 82 is such a powerful psalm that relates to what John Piper called “Putting the gods in their place”, out of his book “A Godward Life.” [p.103]. He wrote: “God asserts the truth we must hold to through all the cosmic conflict of this age: ALL NTIONS BELONG TO GOD! Satan is a deceiver (speaking a half-truth) when he says to Jesus in Luke 4:6 that the earth is his and he gives it to whomever he wills. The ultimate truth is: “Arise, O God, judge the earth! For it is You who does possess all the nations.” Psalm 82:8. “Our God owns the nations. The gods are permitted [Satan? Demons?] for a season to wreak havoc. We are called to see beyond their suicidal schemes of sin. We are called to stand with God and bear witness to His truth against the darkness. In due time He will defeat all His enemies and “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” [Habakkuk 2:14].

What do you do when you see a house burning? In the early 1960’s when Sue and I lived in Hewitt, Texas, pastoring First Baptist Church there, we were returning late, late one night from, I believe, a Baylor University drama. We saw smoke coming from a home by the access road. I stopped the car, backed up, got out, and ran to bang on the front door and yell, “Fire, fire!” A young man in his 30’s came running out – thankful Sue and I had stopped to warn him! Who are you warning with a nation “on fire” and “ready to burn to the ground”?

Do you see and sense “destructive fires” in nations, the demonic influences of awful desolations, even the sad state of total indifference to fatalistic paths many nations are taking? Haven’t you read and wept for nations who have “no vision [and] the people perish”?

I remember reading Leonard Ravenhill in his book, “Why Revival Tarries”! [p.39]. “The preacher may go ‘with’ the crowd; the prophet goes ‘against’ it. A man freed, fired, and filled with God will be branded unpatriotic because HE SPEAKS AGAINST A NATION’S SINS; unkind because his tongue is a two-edged sword; unbalanced because the weight of preaching opinion is against him. The preacher will be heralded; the prophet hounded.”

Don’t you find it sad and heart-breaking that a national society can sink to a gutter-level of sin and degradation – and smile about it? There was a 19^th century poet named Philip Bailey who wrote: “The first and worst of all frauds is to cheat one’s self. All sin is easy after that.” And nations ‘cheat’ themselves because they refuse, deny, suppress, or corral all prophetic, biblical warnings!

It was Charles Swindoll in his book “Come Before Winter,” [p.101], who wrote: “The direct discussion of forgiveness of sins through Christ’s blood at the cross and His miraculous resurrection is about as welcome in a sophisticated rap session on religion as a life-sized bust of Martin Luther would be in the Vatican.”

Paul Scherer, in “The Word God Sent,” [New York: Harper & Row, 1965, p.11], really nailed it as he wrote about the downward trend of most nations. He said: “One by one the generation that refused to be bound by the Pope, and refused to be bound by the Church, decided in an ecstasy of freedom that they would not be bound by anything – not the Bible, not by conscience, not by God Himself. From believing too much that never did have to be believed, they took to believing so little that for countless thousands human existence and the world itself no longer seemed to make any sense. Poets began talking about the ‘wastelands,’ with ‘ghostly lives,’ as Stephen Spender put it, ‘moving among fragmentary ruins which have lost their significance.’ Nothingness became a subject of conversation, nihilism a motive, frustration and despair a theme for novels and dramatists, and ‘the edge of abyss’ as much of a nautical term among the intelligentsia as it was for explorers in the day of Columbus!”

My, my – how far have we fallen? Fallen away from God as a people and as nations!

Hebrews 1:10-12 comes out of Psalm 102:25-28! After reading it, I wondered about a nation’s children as “a cloak You [God] will fold them up, they will be changed. But You are the same, and Yours will not fail.” Examine these verses with your head and heart! “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail.”

Let me ask you: “What is your history related to God in YOUR nation? In Acts 17:26 Paul said: “And He [God] has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings…” Why?

Verse 27, “so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us,…Verse 28, for in Him we live and move and have our being…” Yes, as nations of our world – WE BELONG TO GOD! Don’t you think it’s time we act and live like it, honoring Him in all we are and all we do?

It was Daniel C. Roberts and George W. Warren, in the late 1800’s who wrote the following hymn. I believe it ought to be revived in all churches worldwide. It says:

“God of our fathers, whose almighty hand Leads forth in beauty all the starry band – Of shining worlds in splendor through the skies, Our grateful songs before Your throne arise… Your love divine has led us in the past, In this free land by You our lot is cast; Be Thou our ruler, guardian, guide and stay, Your Word our law, Your paths our chosen way…

From war’s alarms, from deadly pestilence, Be Your strong arm our ever sure defense; Your true religion in our hearts increase, Your bounteous goodness nourish us in peace…

Refresh Your people on their toilsome way, Lead us from night to never-ending-day; Fill all our lives with love and grace divine, And glory, laud, and praise be ever Thine.”

Do you remember the story of Esther? Esther sent word to Mordecai in Esther 4:11 that she had “not been called to go into the king these thirty days.” In verses 13-14 Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Esther’s response? “If I perish, I perish!”

In my lifetime of 77 years, one of the greatest preachers I ever heard was Dr. R.G. Lee, former pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. He was a superb, Spirit-anointed, Bible-centered proclaimer of God’s Truth. Before Adrian Rogers’ death, then pastor at Bellevue, Adrian put together in book form a collection of “RG LEE, Payday Someday”, the name of his most famous message. In that book I came across such wisdom about nations, governments, and God, I felt it had to be shared here. [pps.213-214]. Hear Dr. Lee with your mind and heart!

“In this critical hour there is the tendency to idolize science so that thousands of people undertake to interpret everything in terms of natural phenomenon – reducing the supernatural to ignorance. There is the notion that ethics, religion, soul, and God are only concepts – having their origin in man’s experience with shadows, dreams, trances, storms, seasons, and other natural forces…There is intellectual recoil against emotional expression, and the obvious inadequacy of rationalism as a substitute. There is widespread agnosticism toward religion and religious organizations, and their consequent loss of wholesome authority are abroad. There is increasing disregard for the Sabbath, and the growing tendency of society, business, and government to secularize the Sabbath, as well as the tendency to omit Christian standards from business, from professions, from education…Amid the endless struggle for military supremacy, there is the reduction of Christianity to the status of humanism, social service, and national or individual therapy, with the resulting tendency to undermine faith and destroy the passion for souls…But our consideration should not be to look long and pessimistically at such dark things, but to look to ourselves that we may be men and women doing God’s will – weighing sixteen ounces to the pound and measuring thirty-six inches to the yard for God. While black snow is falling, the fever of life’s fierce heat burning divine dew off the grass, and with so many epicures in philosophies, with so many feeders of inflamed appetite for amusements, with so many dealers in fine-spun metaphysical disquisitions, with so many experts in speculative cleverness dealing in the airy abstractions of an “up-to-date” gospel, God still asks: “Who will rise up for Me against the evildoers? Or who will stand up for Me against the workers of iniquity?” [Psalm 94:16]. May it be ours to say, “I will rise up for You against evildoers. I will stand up for You against the workers of iniquity.” WILL YOU?

Have you grasped it? When Israel asked Samuel to give them a king, [I Samuel 8:5], “Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations,” God Almighty was very clear, [I Samuel 8:7], And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.”

God-government or Godless government? We do have a choice!!

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

AN ABANDONMENT OF HOPE OR A CONSTANT CONFESSION OF HOPE?

“A RESIGNATION TO HOPELESSNESS?”

Someone has anonymously written: “Age is a quality of mind; If you’ve left your dreams behind, If hope is cold, If you no longer look ahead, If your ambitious fires are dead, Then, you are old!”

If that is true for some, and no doubt it is, then what is the explanation for ‘youth’ suicides across America? That’s not age, but a mind, spirit, and heart burden of one’s hopelessness! It was Augustine who said: “What can be hoped for which is not believed?” That was in his writings called, “On Faith, Hope, and Charity.”

In Romans 4:13-22 Paul gives us a view on ‘the eternal hope’: For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham and his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, ‘I have made you a father of many nations’) in the presence of Him whom he believed – God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, ‘So shall your descendants be.” And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

Circle around his words, “who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations…” He wasn’t ‘weak in faith,’ he didn’t waver at the promise through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, and was fully persuaded!

That’s why in Hebrews 6:18b-19 the writer said, “…lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil…”

Hopelessness is a ‘curse’ while hope is an eternal blessing. Hopelessness is a 10,000 pound weight that crushes while hope is an ‘eternal feather’ lifting one to God’s highest heaven. Hopelessness is a ‘worldly hope’ that is diseased while ‘heavenly hope’ is eternal health and wellness. Hopelessness is going to war with no armor, no ammunition, no purpose in the fights and struggles and battles while hope truly is fighting the good fight of faith and winning. Hopelessness is the freedom to perish while hope is the ‘prisoner’ that protects. Hopelessness is ashes and bankruptcy and soul sickness while biblical hope is the fire of Heaven and eternal prosperity and spiritual health. Hopelessness is the rotten fruit of worldly gods and false expectations while hope is the spiritual fruit of the Holy Spirit with a certain heavenly result.

John Greenleaf Whittier wrote: “Behind the cloud the starlight lurks, Through showers the sunbeams fall; For God, who loves all His works, Has left His hope for all.”

When it comes to the reality of “the eternal hope” and one’s constant confession of that hope, one realizing in divine freedom to choose that, “the natural man [unborn spiritually, unrepentant, unchanged] receives not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him.” [I Corinthians 2:14].

Foolishness? In I Corinthians 2:1-4 Paul opens up ‘the wisdom of men’ and its result and the testimony of God and His result: “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power…”

“An abandonment of hope or The Constant Confession of Hope”? It’s certainly not the wisdom of men producing eternal results in the heart, but the very wisdom of God Himself! What did Paul say? “My speech and my preaching were not with enticing words”! He preached the Gospel of Christ alone! And he said, “in demonstration of the Spirit and power.”

Look at Isaiah 32:13-20! “On the land of My people will come up thorns and briers, Yes, on all the happy homes in the joyous city; because the palaces will be forsaken, the bustling city will be deserted. The forts and towers will become lairs forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks – UNTIL THE SPIRIT IS POURED UPON US FROM ON HIGH, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places, though hail comes down on the forest, and the city is brought low in humiliation. Blessed are you who sow beside all waters…”

The Isaiah passage is why Jesus said in John 16:13-14, “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 take of what is Mine and declare it to you.”

This is also why Oswald Chambers wrote in “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.248], “The pietistic movements of today have none of the rugged reality of the New Testament about them; there is nothing about them that needs the Death of Jesus Christ; all that is required is a pious atmosphere, and prayer and devotion. This type of experience is not supernatural nor miraculous; it did not cost the passion of God, it is not dyed in the blood of the Lamb, not stamped with the hall-mark of the Holy Ghost; it has not on it that mark which makes men say, as they look with awe and wonder – ‘That is the work of God Almighty.’ That and nothing else is what the New Testament talks about.” “God, help us! Far, far too much ‘flesh’ is preaching and teaching today void of Truth and the Holy Ghost!”

Did Chambers speak of “the rugged reality of the New Testament”? Look at our calling in Hebrews 10:22-25! “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our evil hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

“Drawing near to God, new hearts, holding fast, no wavering, stirring up, not forsaking – but exhorting one another!” The constant confession of our hope! That’s through the laid-down life before God and those all around us!

But “an abandonment of hope” comes when encounters with God and His Word are disallowed, He’s denied, “I’m one doomed to die, no purpose for me, I’m a loser, I have no future,” and on and on the disillusioned spouts the Devil’s sick lies. Isn’t it true, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he”? [Proverbs 23:7]. Look at Proverbs 17:22, “A merry heart does good, but a broken spirit dries the bones.” That’s spiritual death!

“An abandonment of hope” so often occurs because of spiritual bankruptcy or neglect! In 3 John 2 the beloved John wrote, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” If there is no ‘soul prosperity’ in and through the richness and treasures of God’s Word, then the wide door of destruction is opened, and James 1:13-14 tells us, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted with evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.”

Do you understand evil enticement to lead you away from God and fill you with eternal emptiness of even a shred or thread of hope? Rather than that ‘soul prosperity’, there’s dried bones, a broken spirit, an empty heart, a disillusioned mind, the loss of morality and spirituality and one’s reputation, a denial of consequences and the cost, a high-lighting of wrongness rather than rightness, and one overcome and overwhelmed by “the devil’s fear,” the one abandoning hope is swept away like a turbulent wave on a stormy sea.

But the one who “lives” by the constant confession of his/her hope? Examine I Thessalonians 4:1-2, “Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and please God; for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.”

This is one who understands, submits to, and obeys the revelation of God’s Holy Word and God’s revealed will! I came across a ‘cartoon’ that so identified submission to the call of our constant confession of eternal hope! A young grandson asked his aged grandfather, “Granddad, your generation didn’t have all these social diseases. What did you wear to have safe sex?” The granddad didn’t hesitate at all but quickly responded, “A wedding ring.”

“The one who abandons hope”? I truly and sadly believe it’s because in far too many lives, families, and nations, Holy God is not honored! In Leviticus 10:3 And Moses said to Aaron, ‘This is what the Lord spoke, saying: “By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified.” “Honor God? Does that mean ‘reverence Him, bow before Him, surrender to Him?” In James 4:8 the Holy Word tells us, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

But isn’t the lack of desire to honor Him that which Paul exposed in Romans 1:20-21? “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

“An abandonment of hope”? 2 Corinthians 6:16 says: “And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? FOR YOU ARE THE TEMPLE OF THE LIVING GOD…” But you can hear “the hopeless”: “I’m not a temple of God – I’m a farm’s outhouse!” And they run from Him! Where they’ve been in that ‘flesh’ pilgrimage is where they want to be and to stay! But the constant confessing of hope people are those, with Paul, who say, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Don’t you see it? Low calling or high calling? The fleshly or the Spirit? The ‘pigs’ or the angels? The devil or Jesus?

“An abandonment of hope”? Moses didn’t! In Hebrews 11:24-26 we read: “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharoah’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.”

Hope-abandoning people? They love Pharoah and his lifestyle! They enjoy “the passing pleasures of sin”! They want no part of “the reproach of Christ”! They long for the treasures of Egypt!

But Moses? God’s true sons and daughters? They choose to suffer affliction with God’s people rather than poisoned by the passing pleasures of sin!

“An abandonment of hope”? Look at James 1:22-24 “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.” Psalm 55:19b says: “Because they do not change, therefore they do not fear God.’

No doubt this is why in Philippians 2:15 Paul spoke of “a crooked and perverse generation”! And some are so in love with their depravity, they shake their fists at God Himself!

“Abandoned-hope people”? James 4:4 says, “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

And this is why we read in Proverbs 22:11, “He who loves purity of heart and has grace on his lips, the king will be his friend.” This is why we read in Hebrews 12:14-15, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord; looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble; and by this many become defiled.”

What did Paul write Titus that is so important at this point? Titus 1:15 says, “To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.” What a sad, sick testimony!

“Abandoned-hope people”? What a heart-breaking experience when a family or a friend or a pastor has to deal with, minister to, pray for, one who is consumed by ‘ledges and leaps’ because they can’t see anything or anyone to keep living for!

Ella Wheeler Wilcox wrote “One Ship Drives East.” It’s in “The Best Loved Poems of the American People, edited by Hazel Felleman, [New York: Garden City Publishers, p.364]. It says:

“One ship drives east and another drives west With the selfsame winds that blow. ‘Tis the set of the sails and not the gales Which tells us the way to go. Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate, As we voyage along through life; ‘Tis the set of a soul That decides its goal, And not the calm or the strife.”

And that certainly is not taking the Lord’s name in vain, but taking and standing through whatever gale comes, standing in Him!

“Abandoned-hope people”? For them peace is whatever they determine gives them peace – certainly not peace with God – and as a result of that decision they become rebels to God and themselves doing whatever comes naturally to a fallen man before Holy God – and he does so unashamed! You know that modern man has ‘idolized’ beauty but when beauty or a beautiful woman or a handsome may stay divorced from God their beauty becomes a state of ugliness that is so deadly – and you don’t have to be around them very long before the stench pervades the atmosphere around you!

“Abandoned-hope people”? Don’t you see it embroidered on the fabric of a nation we call “America” or the “USA”? Abandoned-hope people exist without a divine plan – it’s fleshly restlessness without eternal purpose, it’s ego-centered, not God-centered, it’s artificiality substituted for divine reality, it is that destructive intent not divine initiation, it’s an awakened state to a rebel’s plan of no guilt, no conscience, no sensation, nothing really but a bored life that is like a blank sheet of paper!

But “the constant confession of our hope people”? It’s called by some ‘authentic Christianity’ which is repentance toward Gods, faith in the finished work of Christ at the cross, reconciling us, restoring us to the Divine Intent, releasing us in a real world to live redemptively, relying on the Word and the Spirit to shape our lives and then pour us out on a lost and needy world! That’s the triumph of very God in the shell of our lives that were crucified with Christ – nevertheless we live or better still, Christ lives in us! What was so shallow and empty became the residence of the depths of God and His fullness.

There are those modern-day rebels who so openly deny God and, yes, denounce His Son or our Savior, and defame anyone vocal about their faith. It would be easy to call that “the triumph of ignorance” but they are not ignorant, only void of eternal truth! Moral law becomes “what makes me feel good.” And those who abandon hope become practicing philistines who pervert romance into licentiousness! You do understand immoralists, thieves and robbers, outlaws, criminals, sex perverts, liars, part animals, brain-dead intellectuals who argue with God Himself. It was Bandelaire who said: “Life is a hospital in which we all are dying of a deadly disease.” And, at least some who love the world and become so decadent in it know the truth about themselves.

“An abandonment of hope”? It’s kids, youth, young adults, the middle-age crisis folk, mature adults (?), and seniors who face sicknesses they seem to know nothing about because a moral fungus crawls in their inner-most beings! “Beasts,” “wild beasts” are being loosed all around! There is a fast erosion of the common sense of decency, right becomes wrong, wrong becomes right – cultural diseases that have a deadly sting. Do you grasp, see, sense, innocence being poisoned every day? You do understand that fallen man [that’s all who ever lived who fell AWAY from God!!] has the freedom to choose good or to choose evil.

“An abandonment of hope”? Fleshly desires have no place in anyone’s definition of moral standards! Freedom is not license to do as one pleases – rape? Incest? Lying? Stealing? Cursing God? No! But for some, Sodom and Gomorrah they’ve determined to resurrect? “we’re free to do whatever feels good.” Oh, really? A man whose perversion sends him after little children is OK with you? GIVE ME A BREAK!

“An abandonment of hope”? “Don’t worry, he’s just lazy and indifferent;” “don’t worry, he’s just drifting [toward the falls], but he’ll be OK;” “he’s just uncertain about himself in this fleeting moment, but he’ll come around;” “they severed roots from a very Godly family, but they’ll come home after they’ve sown their wild oats;” “there’s no true meaning to life – don’t worry about me!” So they take “a loaded gun” and play Russian roulette with their lives?

You do understand – so many say today, “Since there is no truth, we’re establishing our own! Since there is no real truth, I’ll just share with you my real if not radical opinions!”

But then there are those who say, “My Lord and My God! To You I bow, to You I surrender, to You I offer my life, my gifts, my talents, my witness!” And Heaven rejoices!!

“The Constant Confession of Our Hope?” I urge you to check out Bill Gaither’s song, “He Touched Me.” What a precious testimony of saving grace and faith!

“ABANDONING HOPE OR ABIDING IN HOPE?”

In the Random House Collegiate Dictionary the word “hope” is described as follows: “The feeling that what is desired is also possible, or that events may turn out for the best..; to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence..; that something desired may happen..; trust, rely.” And no doubt, redeemed or not, there are people gripped in their minds with a “hope” that what they put their faith in may happen or it may not happen. But ‘fleshly hope’ is nowhere near Biblical hope! Some, both out of or in the church “hope things turn out for the ‘best’,” or like others they live, they strive, they ‘try’, but live in a state of mind AND heart : “I hope against hope,” which IS a sad state of mental, physical, and spiritual levels of living! Why not ABIDE IN BIBLICAL HOPE without being swayed by the world, the flesh, or the devil?

In John 15:4-11 the Lord Jesus tells us: Jesus says, “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. If you abide in Me, AND My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”

As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Would you say that Jesus was extremely clear when He said that if you and I as believers “abide in Him” that we will be strongly held in the arms of Him whose arms cannot be broken? Did He also say that only in and through Him does Sovereign fruitfulness become a reality? And in that “rest” in Him only, did He also say that abiding in Him supernaturally allows divine fruitfulness, to bud and produce, yes, the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of Christ, the fruit of God?

But, notice John 15:2! “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit the Father takes away, and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” And in the branch should one, yes, be concerned about minimum or maximum ‘fruit-production’? Is the “fruit” that the Word declares the evidence of one’s “new birth experience” or an unredeemed life that just “hopes for the best”, but hoping for the best is not the same as “resting in the hope Christ has promised” which is “His best” revealed in His full surrender to God the Father’s “Before Creation, but settled in His Mind, His Heart, and His Will: “My Son will be the “hope of all repentant, trusting hearts, in reconciliation to My eternal purpose for created, sin-bound men who are only set free from godlessness and led by Christ into the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Do you remember Jesus saying thousands of years after Abraham’s birth, life, and death that “Abraham rejoiced to see My day and he was glad?” Father-God knew that in the reality of men’s birthing on earth He didn’t want “spiritual zombies” as sons and daughters but people free to choose whether they wanted to be independent of God or dependent upon Him for mercy and grace! And, yes, Abraham and many Old Testament citizens learned of the Coming Messiah who would be the “blood sacrifice” in behalf of repentant hearts and souls.

But, sadly, multitudes abandoned hope from God holding on to “best effort” human genius! That’s like Pharoah of Egypt, confronted in Exodus 5 by Moses and Aaron on a mission from God, telling Pharoah that Holy God said to “Let My people go” from their Egyptian bondage and slavery with Pharoah saying in Exodus 5:2, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”

Even though Sovereign God determined the Savior of the world would come as “Emmanuel” or “God in flesh”, and that He would come being born of the Virgin Mary, only true, God-trusting Old Testament believers of Israel put their faith in the Savior their physical eyes would never see, indicating certainly “spiritual vision” far outweighs being able to see with only physical eyes! Yes, “Abraham (having never seen) rejoiced to see My day, and he was glad!”

Most of Israel abandoned hope although they were devoted to religious observances! Most of the world today doesn’t even look back to the Cross of Christ as most of Israel in the Old Testament didn’t look forward to His coming! They were satisfied with their religious observances even as they practiced, yes, a godless lifestyle, heavily reinforced with religious activities, never sensing the Voice of Christ or the Holy Spirit’s unveiling of Christ to them. Why? “Who needs a Savior when we’re capable of doing whatever our natural or religious minds determine! We’re able to be religiously devoted!”

And there are still those even today who “take up stones to throw at Christ”! To them it was justified because they didn’t see the great “I AM” Jesus as worthy of anything but stoning! But, I urge you, reflect upon Saul’s attitude toward the prophet Samuel who had just learned from God, “Saul doesn’t follow Me”, and Holy God instructed Samuel to tell Saul, as well as all unbelievers today, 1 Samuel 15:22-23, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.”

Of course, we don’t have to be concerned in the church today about being called ‘kings’, or do we? In Revelation 5:9-10, “the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. And they sang a new song, saying: (Speaking to the Lamb of God, King Jesus!), “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and nation, (GET READY!!!), and have MADE US KINGS AND PRIESTS TO OUR GOD; AND WE SHALL REIGN ON THE EARTH.”

That’s not when you die and go to heaven, but when on earth you choose the sentence of death unto yourself that the Resurrection Life of Christ may be manifested in you as He anoints YOU IN HIM to reign upon the earth!

But around you daily you cross paths with people who “abandon hope” and refuse to even consider “abiding in hope” because some tell them, “If you even rang God’s heavenly doorbell, He wouldn’t answer you because even God can’t help the hopeless,” which is so foreign to the mind, heart, and will of God. I tell you, God is able to save, heal, deliver the worst sinner on the face of the earth if he/she, in true repentance and faith calls out for God’s mercy and grace!

But I tell you also, there is a huge difference between a ‘religious hope fabricated by men’ and redemptive hope written forever by the shed blood of the Lamb of God who still says: “Come unto Me, and I will give you rest.” I don’t know who wrote it, but I came across an anonymous statement: “There is more hope for a self-convicted sinner than there is for a self-conceited saint,” and to that I say, “Amen!”

I wrote a few words I pray will enlighten you, bless you, and encourage you – no title yet, just a few, I hope, challenging words!!

“Lord Jesus, Son of God, Savior of repentant, faith-believing minds and hearts, Open our understanding of all Your gracious deeds as, by Your Spirit, we examine our heart-felt needs!

That’s the need to abandon hopelessness and be swept up in the sea of Your abiding hope! Our wanderings without you birthed a life of a world of grief because, we as your children, rested in ourselves as thieves.

In ourselves, no hope; in ourselves, no cure; in ourselves, no help; becoming hopeless and helpless, blinded by ‘flesh’, deceived by Satan, fooled by the world, we dance the death that will not die, even blinding ourselves to God’s open eye!

There are dark clouds for men without God, but gracious God, in amazing love, placed His Son on our very sod; hope is His gift, mercy His song, His invitation to Him belong!

“Come to Me and I’ll give you rest, find your place in Heaven’s nest – no longer the sad song of life’s frustration, but washed in His blood, indwelt in your body, you see your heart as My destination.”

There is for your life, though clouds may come, the starlight of heaven shining on your home. Circumstances may arise with Satan’s intent to discourage your walk, but never give in to his empty talk.

Christ Jesus has spoken, and His received Word need never be broken! He ever abides to stand by your side, that you in His glory may continue to abide. His sunset of hope, like an anchor to hold, is never swept away but continually abides to stand by your side, His promise that cannot be denied!” Amen?

“Abandoning Hope Or Abiding in Hope?” I pray you’ll join me in “Abiding in Hope”! Let’s look first at “God’s Amazing Promise”! In Hebrews 6:9-20 we read: “But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.’ And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. [A forty year wait!].

For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, DETERMINED TO SHOW MORE ABUNDANTLY TO THE HEIRS OF PROMISE THE IMMUTABILITY OF HIS COUNSEL, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. [Did Abraham ‘lay hold of the hope’ AFTER HE HAD PATIENTLY ENDURED? Again, there is ‘birth’, ‘infancy’, ‘youth’, ‘young adult’, and the ‘senior fully matured in the faith’!].

Hebrews 6:19-20 continues: “This hope we have AS AN ANCHOR OF THE SOUL, BOTH SURE AND STEADFAST, and which enters the “Presence” behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” Are YOU “standing on our Lord’s promises and resting in the sure Word of God that never fades away or changes?

SECOND, ABIDING IN HOPE IS BEING ENRICHED BY THE ANOINTED WORD OF GOD! Don’t ever forget or overlook in ‘discipleship training’ the words of Jesus in Matthew 4:4 as Jesus responded to Satan’s temptations! He said: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Tell me, first, about your physical dieting! Do you at least try to eat three square meals a day? BUT, is there the necessity of ‘spiritual feeding’ of the redeemed soul? If you eat three square meals a day to maintain your physical body, what about maintaining the ‘spiritual life’ that MUST BE NOURISHED IN THE BREAD, MEAT, AND VEGETABLES AND HONEY OF GOD’S SPIRIT-WORD?

In John 6:63-64 Jesus said: “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” How many ‘believers’ and ‘church folk’ have crossed your path who insist there is no need of discipline in the Word “after” one had been born again?

Very interesting Verse in Psalm 49:20! “A man who is in honor, yet does not understand, is like the beasts that perish.” And, I thought: How many honorable men in the church or outside the church are esteemed but couldn’t give you one word about himself as a student of God’s Holy Word feeding on it daily? Are you “being enriched” by the living and abiding Word of God?

THIRD, ABIDING IN HOPE IS BEING SUSTAINED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT! In Romans 8: 1-2 Paul wrote: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh (one’s old sin nature), but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”

Abandoning hope is the determination to choose to live by one’s best effort without any need of “God’s interference” with one proving he/she can do it on one’s own determination! But Holy God just happens to be smarter than fallen mankind’s assessment of himself, God fully aware ‘in the flesh’ fallen mankind cannot, does not, will not live the overcoming life against the world, one’s old sin nature, or Satan’s interference; therefore merciful God sustains us by the Holy Spirit in divine conviction, divine conversion, and divine consecration – the Holy Spirit sustains true believers!

In Romans 8:8-11 Paul continued laying the foundation for a true believer “abiding in hope”! He wrote: “So then those who are in the flesh (living under the control of their old sin nature) cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And IF Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Holy Spirit who dwells in you.”

But there are those ‘professing believers’, ‘active church members’, even ‘preachers’, who say, “Oh, someday, in the sweet by and by, we’ll finally experiencing what it means to live in Christ’s fullness!” Yet Paul wrote in Romans 15:29, “But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.” Really? In the here and now? That’s the true gospel! And “in Christ” you can “live with joy by the will of God,” “daily refreshed in His resurrection life, resurrection power, and resurrection hope”! I say to you: NEVER FORGET Martin Luther’s words in his famous hymn that says: “A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing; Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe Does seek to work us woe; His craft and power are great, And, armed with cruel hate, On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, Our striving would be losing, Were not the right Man on our side, The Man of God’s own choosing. Do you ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He; Lord Sabaoth is His name, From age to age the same, And He must win the battle.

And tho’ this world, with devils filled, Should threaten to undo us, We will not fear, For God has willed His truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim – We tremble not for him; His rage we can endure, For lo! His doom is sure: One little world shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers – No thanks to them – abideth; The Spirit and the gifts are ours Through Him who with us sideth. Let goods and kindred go, This mortal life also; The body they may kill; God’s truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever.” Can YOU say AMEN to the grace, mercy, and love of God as YOUR ABIDING HOPE, or do you presently walk on “the sinking sands” of fleshly suffocation?

BY J.FARRELL FISHER, September 1, 2014

I really don’t know for sure the public’s response to the Scripture I’m about to share, but I sense in my inner man an awful rejection of the Scripture. It comes from John 3:36 when John said: “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

I’d personally say that what we’ve just read is a frightening and future event that you’d think most people would like to avoid! “The wrath of God abides on him!”

In Jeremiah 45:5 our Lord spoke: “And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I will bring adversity on all flesh,” says the Lord, “But I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go.”

The last part of that verse reminds me of “I must decrease – He must increase.” But the first part is about those who have not believed, will not believe, and, as a result, the wrath of God abides on him.”

“Abounding Misery and Chaos or Advocacy Peace and Blessing?” Jeremiah 32:38-40 speaks of those who enter an everlasting covenant with Holy God. It says: “They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.”

But I want you to know that much or most of what Jeremiah wrote, he did from behind prison bars! His devotion to Truth and its Author cost him dearly! At the very same time as he was writing from behind bars God was at work establishing the door to Advocacy Peace and Blessing! In fact, Jeremiah 33:30, tells us, God speaking to Jeremiah, and us, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

Jeremiah didn’t know and never would know if Almighty God had not opened his door of understanding to “Advocacy Peace and Blessing” – he would have, as most men, only known “Abounding Misery and Chains.”

Godless, the majority of men know only “abounding misery and chaos,” while the few, broken by Holy God, discover “advocacy peace and blessing.” Show me a man of peace and blessing and I’ll show you a man who’s been to the Cross of Christ!

It’s not a reason to rejoice at all, but in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, Paul wrote: “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”

A ‘veiled gospel’ that has erupted in “abounding misery and chaos” and they don’t even know they’re enveloped by it? Death is already at work in them!

Do you understand someone speaking of “a soul so base as mine”? That’s a picture of one “abounding in misery and chaos” who know nothing about amazing grace and eternal peace through Christ alone! They know and understand the paralysis of sin and the pulverizing power of a dead conscience, basically powerless to believe in Christ’s shed blood of the Atonement shed fully at Calvary’s Cross! Their own sin overpowers divine grace and fills them only with despair. It’s as if the powers of darkness instill within unbelievers a deadly disease called ‘sin’ that breeds despondency, discouragement, doubt and fear, and cements their minds with lies that God Himself couldn’t help them, and all of a sudden they seem to be emotionally and mentally paralyzed with hopelessness.

But if Jesus says, and He does, “Come unto Me, and I will give you rest,” what He did 2000 years ago, He still does today! But people who are ‘heavy laden’ are acutely anguished body, soul, and spirit, and add more ‘weights’ trying to overcome on their own with their burden of sin growing stronger with despair and discouragement intensifying.

Have you heard the defiant to ‘saving faith’? “If I try harder, I’ll find the peace I’m looking for.” “If I earn my place on an athletic team, I’ll quiet my demons.” “If I earn a lot of money, everything will be OK.” “If I make a name for myself, I’ll adjust the mental, moral, and spiritual problems.” “If I stay busy, busy, I won’t have time to worry, worry, doubt, doubt, or be afraid, afraid.” Above all, they want to ignore God’s knock at the door of their heart. They want to totally shut out any references to the Cross and Christ’s shed blood. They want to refute the necessity of repentance and faith because that speaks of accountability before Holy God!

Opposite of self-effort and fleshly intent to be an overcomer of sin and death in and through one’s self is Jesus as He faced the judgment of unbelievers and the Cross praying to the Father in Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” So true, because every willful sin represents the nails in our Lord’s body!

In Fact, in Matthew 24:12 Jesus said, “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” But ‘cold-hearted’ people need to know that the Holy Word of God tells us, in Romans 5:20, “…But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,” Verse 21, “so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” And I believe that our Lord is telling us that the person who is the furtherest throw away from God is His target with the arrow of grace, mercy, and love – and though they’ve abounded in misery and chaos, our God is ABLE through advocacy peace and blessing, to birth new life, new hope, new purpose, with God glorifying Himself through a transformed sinner to a Heavenly saint!

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 speaks so clearly, hopefully, and powerfully about those who had abounded in misery and chaos, sinners separated, bound, hopeless – but they meet the Resurrected Christ and are ‘comforted’ by God! It says:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulations, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God…

For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation…

And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.”

Abounding misery or Advocacy Peace? Abounding chaos or Advocacy Blessing? Tribulation or consolation? Trouble or comfort? Hopeless or steadfast? Sufferings or eternal salvation? Bondage or liberty and freedom? A sin-bound life of death and separation or sainthood by the Life and oneness with Christ? A paralysis of sin and guilt or the pleasure of forgiveness and freedom through our bondage-breaker, Jesus?

And the amazing, life-changing Truth? Romans 8:28 tells us, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Do you long for the Lord’s nearness to you? In Psalm 34:18 David said: “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite (or crushed) spirit.” David didn’t stop there but went on to say in verse 19, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”

Advocacy peace and blessing reigns supreme! Years ago Andrae Crouch wrote and sang the song entitled “Through It All.” It’s a spiritual classic! It says:

“I’ve had many tears and sorrows, I’ve had questions for tomorrow, there’s been times I didn’t know right from wrong…But in every situation, God gave me blessed consolation, that my trials come to only make me strong…

I’ve been to lots of places, I’ve seen a lot of faces, there’s been times I felt so all alone. But in my lonely hours, yes, those precious lonely hours, Jesus lets me know that I was His own…

I thank God for the mountains, and I thank Him for the valleys, I thank Him for the storms He brought me through. For if I’d never had a problem, I wouldn’t know God could solve them, I’d never know what faith in God could do…

Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God… Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to depend upon His Word.”

No doubt this is why David wrote in Psalm 32:7, “You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.” Do you believe – have you experienced the reality of the God who “gives songs in the night”?

Reading through Acts recently I came across Acts 16:25. “But at midnight Paul and Silas [imprisoned] were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.”

I’m telling you: Dark nights are our opportunities for “songs of light”! A night of sorrow may be your hallowed moment of Holy Presence like you’ve never known before! It may be in “the dark” when your enemies come to arouse and threaten you, but then Holy God steps in in the Light of His Glorious Presence! It may be a dark night of fear and doubt but Holy Truth raises you above it! It may be a dark night of worrisome anxiety but Holy Peace stands up in Holy Promises! And the dark night becomes your “song of light”!

Out of “The Mourning Bride,” William Congreve wrote: “What do the damned endure, but to despair?” Despair or to delight, sorrow or to celebrate, assaulted by the powers of darkness and the enemies of God or to be affirmed by our Advocate of peace and blessing?

It was John Calvin, in his “Institutes of the Christian Religion,” who wrote: “God foreordained for His own glory and the display of His attributes of mercy and justice, a part of the human race, without any merit of their own, to eternal salvation, and another part, in just punishment of their sin, to eternal damnation.” Are you the “called” or the “cursed”?

Can you believe it? Jesus dared to say, [Matthew 23:33], “Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?” I love what Thomas Scott once wrote when he said: “No affliction nor temptation, no guilt nor power of sin, no wounded spirit nor terrified conscience, should induce us to despair of help and comfort from God.”

Why? How? Who? Because His Word says: “Whosoever will may come.” That tells me of God’s pardon and forgiveness, not of His penalty and unforgiveness! What does Revelation 22:17 tell us? And the Spirit and the Bride say “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.”

Acts 2:21 tells us, “And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” And how could even one resist the words of Jesus in John 11:25-26? “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” “Believe”? That means “trust in,” “rely upon,” “adhere to!!” Is that YOUR testimony of belief and trust? Do you really have a mind and heart “trust” in God?

It was Horace Bushnell who said, “Trust God for great things: with your five loaves and two fishes, He will show you a way to feed thousands.”

ABOUNDING MISERY AND CHAOS OR ADVOCACY PEACE AND BLESSING? I’m sure you understand that a Christ-less life is a life of continual, addictive sin but when we come to Christ as Lord we hear Him say, “Go and sin no more.”

But the beloved John tells us in I John 2:1, “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” John then said in Verse 6, “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked,” and He never walked in sin but He went to the Cross to die for your sin and mine!

And before Father-God we see Jesus, our advocate, representing us before Him because of our faith and trust in our Lord and Savior’s atoning work in our behalf as our “legal attorney”!

I don’t know who wrote it but the words are so encouraging: “We have listened to the preacher – Truth by him has now been shown; But we want a Greater Teacher, from the everlasting throne: APPLICATION is the work of God alone.”

In I Thessalonians 5:5-11 there’s powerful statements of encouragement by Paul. It says: “You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor the darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober…

For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.

For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.”

Both the above Scripture and words by Spurgeon really challenge all true believers of their ministry! Spurgeon said: “As the spiritual guide of the flock of God along the intricate mazes of experience, it is the duty of the gospel minister to point out every turning of the road to heaven, to speak concerning its dangers or its privileges, and to warn any whom he may suspect to be in a position peculiarly perilous. Now, there is a portion of the road which leads from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City, which has in it, perhaps, more dangers than any other portion of the way. It does not abound with lions; there are no dragons in it; it has no dark woods, and no deep pitfalls; yet more seeming pilgrims have been destroyed in that portion of the road than anywhere else, and not even Doubting Castle, with all its hosts of bones, can show so many who have been slain there. It is a part of the road called the Enchanted Ground. The great geographer, John Bunyan, well pictured it when he said:

‘I then saw in my dream that they went on till they came into a certain country, whose air naturally tended to make one drowsy, if he came a stranger into it…

‘And here Hopeful began to be very dull, and heavy of sleep; wherefore he said unto Christian, I do now begin to grow so drowsy that I can scarcely hold up my eyes; let us lie down here, and take one nap…

‘Christian: By no means, said the other, lest sleeping, we never awake more. ‘Hope: Why, my brother? Sleep is sweet to the laboring man; we may be refreshed if we take a nap…

‘Christian: Do you not remember that one of the shepherds bid us beware of the Enchanted Ground? He meant by that, that we should beware of sleeping; wherefore, ‘let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober.’”

And Spurgeon went on to speak “concerning the condition of the majority of churches in the present day.” He said, “they are lying down on the settles of LUKEWARMNESS, in the Arbors of the Enchanted Ground. There is not that activity and zeal we could wish to see among them; they are not, perhaps, notably heterodox; they may not be invaded by the lion of persecution, but they are somewhat worse than that, – they are lying down to slumber, like HEEDLESS and TOO-BOLD in the Arbor of Sloth. May God grant that His servants may be the means of arousing the church from its lethargy, and stirring it up from its slumbers, lest haply professors should sleep the sleep of death.”

What was the verse that inspired that? I Thessalonians 5:6, “Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober [self-controlled].”

Advocacy peace and blessing does not breed abounding misery and chaos – but sin and self-abandonment to sin does just that! Sin and self-abandonment to sin breeds a person so insensitive to the things of God, making a person so subject to satanic deception, breeding spiritual paralysis concerning the things of God, and depriving one of true security but basically spiritually producing one so insecure of who he is and what he’s about! But I pray, not YOU, as you read this writing!

I don’t know how you personally respond to the title of this teaching, but one thing I’m assured of, and that is the vast difference between fallen mankind’s view of hope and the true biblical hope which is in Christ alone.

I really felt it very comical when I first went to a dictionary, and read in the “Random House Collegiate Dictionary” of 1975, copyrighted by Random House Inc.! Their first words to define hope? “The feeling that what is desired is also possible, or that events may turn out for the best…” (A ‘feeling’? Or ‘what is desired is possible’- even if it deepens and broadens the separation between God and man?) The second words in the Dictionary as they tried to define hope? “A particular instance of this feeling: ‘the hope of winning’! (But has ‘winning’ in one’s fleshly journey enhanced his/her nearness to God, or, because of “pride” in winning and achieving, is the gap widened and broadened before a lost man and the seeking God?).

The third words in Random House’s interpretation of hope? “There is little or no hope of his recovery”, yes, hope for many is really hopelessness in human flesh seldom making a difference in one’s desire for something better than they’ve known.

But somehow, by God’s grace and divine intervention, fallen humanity must see the voice of God and the hand of God lifting people out of spiritual hopelessness to the realm of never-ending seasons of hopefulness! And we’ll search this out in the Word in a few moments, but for now, examine “hope” from the human perspective without divine intervention!

“Hope”? A healthy body! Yet how many have you witnessed in healthy bodies who ARE sin-sick souls? “Hope”? Food on the table every day, but all it does is feed the sin-sick body! “Hope”? A decent income for life’s comfort! Well-fed in the body but dead because of spiritual malnutrition! “Hope”? Pleasurable activities to keep one restrained from having to consider and wrestle with the eternal purpose of God! “Hope”? The ramping up of acceptable ambitions that keeps one reasonably at peace with himself and void of consideration of God’s intention! “Hope”? A relatively cheap acceptance of true devotion or even an awareness of a “God-life”! “Hope”? For a truly fleshly, hopeful life, there must be a strong defense and avoidance of whatever would introduce Light and Life, especially since one is comfortable in darkness and death! “Hope”? Have YOU ever heard someone say to you, “Aren’t I allowed to choose to be at peace in myself with my own darkness and spiritual death?”

And God still says: “Choose you this day whom you will serve”, because Holy God is not interested in imitation discipleship on one’s own terms, but men and women who voluntarily choose, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!”

You realize that there are ‘make-shift stars’ in the galaxy of one’s own fleshly creation, but there IS the Holy Presence of “Heaven’s Star of Bethlehem” never fading but more gloriously illuminated when ‘death to self’ is unreservedly yielded to!

Educated unbelievers are enslaved to their godless enmity of God’s holiness, and enormously arrogant concerning their godless identity! You’ve heard it: “Who cares what God desires? I call the shots of my own life-direction!”

Dare I tell you that unbelievers, smart or dumb, are, and one day will be, called before the Holy Throne of God to explain their “life decision”! Consider Revelation 20:11-15! Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the “BOOK” Of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. {God’s determination and declaration of eternal punishment?}. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. {Is that cast into the lake of fire called Hell after God’s declaration of guilt because of unbelief, but For the Blood Redeemed, the New Creations, the Sons and Daughters of Redemptive Faith, it’s “Kingdom Living” in God’s realm of, yes, His Eternal Heaven?}

I tell you, it’s absolutely heart-breaking to know, sense, and have to declare that rejecters of the true gospel, rejecters of the Resurrected Christ, enemies of the Cross, are, in the flesh, as the embodiment of self-will, self-rule, reserving the right of self-determination, and are mentally deranged, morally bankrupt, fully ‘flesh-inspired’, demonically controlled, and ‘motherly ill and sin-sick’ like a disguised Jezebel!

Oh, but listen!! Romans 5:5-11! “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength (“helpless” as to be being reconciled to God by ‘fleshly effort’!), 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 (being) 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 Crucified but Resurrected Life!. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have NOW received the reconciliation.” [Don’t you find it strange to hear some Bible teachers talk about everything related to redemptive faith to be finalized IF Jesus comes back to “get” them?]. To far too many ‘hope’ is future, yet when I look at HOPE I see “Hope” like this: “H” or holy, “O” like this: omnipotent, “P” like this: power, “E” or endowed (or blessed with a personal, eternal gift!)! “HOPE”!!

Is it possible that this is why David wrote in Psalm 87:7, “All my ‘fresh’ springs shall BE IN You,” when for all of fallen humanity, apart from a redeemed heart, we drank from streams of dirty water? I know the Book of Jeremiah was written specifically in his day for enslaved Jews, but since the Word declares “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable…,” does all of fallen humanity drink from ‘dirty waters” needing the “new spring of life and living water in Christ”? I think so! Hear me! “The living ‘hope’ doesn’t make one ashamed, but inflamed in the blaze of God’s love, grace, and mercy – out of the “death of the ungodly”, through repentance and faith, we leap with sure and complete confidence in our Lord’s saving grace, and we’ll never be ashamed to honor Him!

Several truths you and I need to rest in: FIRST, THE ASSURANCE OF UNASHAMED HOPE THAT NEVER DIES! But, for an enemy of Christ, they live, at least some, with a false hope of ‘self-betterment’ by their fleshly ‘best’, assuming God should recognize their personal effort at self-improvement, whole others are gripped by their spiritual poverty, satisfied ‘with the husks the swine eat’!

And whether they recognize it or not, ‘unashamed hope in one’s self’ IS the vast void that is a personal stronghold, the unawakened aching abyss of the unbelieving heart, and the diseased heart and mind that resists strongly any conviction of sin, or their part because of sin being the reason Christ Jesus chose Calvary’s Cross in their place! Yes, Jesus died for both ‘saints’ and sinners!

But true believers redeemed by the blood of the Lamb? Having repented, they received forgiveness, reconciliation, “new life in Christ”, and a hope that is eternal! In Hebrews 10:12-14 we see, sense, are sure of, the validity of Christ’s eternal work in our place for our forever benefit! It says:

“But this Man (Christ Jesus), after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”

The assurance of unashamed hope that never dies? I can tell you without hesitation or reservation, Holy, Loving, Merciful God intends every true believer resting in and rejoicing in Christ alone and, yes, His gift of assurance in His unashamed hope that never dies! In Philippians 2:5 Paul said, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…”, who made Himself of no reputation…, Verses 8-11, “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. THEREFORE God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that AT THE NAME OF JESUS every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

And Paul’s primary concern for the believers he was apart from at the time he wrote the letter? Verse 15: “that you (as a disciple of Christ!) may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, AMONG WHOM YOU SHINE AS LIGHTS IN THIS WORLD, Verse 16, holding fast the word of life…”. Tell me about your testimony of “unashamed assurance and hope that never dies”!

SECOND, KNOWING HOPE NEVER DIES OR THAT THE JOURNEY DOESN’T HAVE TO BE DELAYED, FORSAKEN, OR PARTIALLY ACHIEVED, DO WE STAND ON GOD’S PROMISES? Hear the Biblical Assurance of Victory in Jesus! In Romans 5 I remind you of what Paul wrote, inspired by the Holy Spirit: Verses 5-10, “Now hope does not disappoint, BECAUSE the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

For when we were still without strength (“helpless”), 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 (being) 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.” GLORY!

It was J.P.Scholfield who wrote the old hymn entitled: “Saved, Saved!” It says: “I’ve found a friend who is all to me, His love is ever true; I love to tell how He lifted me And what His grace can do for you.

He saves me from every sin and harm, Secures my soul each day; I’m leaning strong on His mighty arm; I know He’ll guide me all the way.

When poor and needy and all alone, In love He said to me, “Come unto Me and I’ll lead you home, To live with Me eternally.”

Saved by His power divine, Saved to ne life sublime! Life now is sweet and my joy is complete, For I’m saved, saved, saved!” Is that YOUR testimony?

THIRD, HAVE YOU BEEN DISCIPLED, AFTER RECONCILIATION AND CONVERSION, IN THE LIFE ENCOUNTER, ENLIGHTMENT, AND ENERGIZING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT? I’m sure you’re aware of what Jesus said before His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. In John 16:13-15 our Lord said: “…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 take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.

Didn’t Romans 5:5 tell us, “Nor hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us,” followed by the awesome truth of the ministry of ‘helps’ by the Spirit under His sovereign guidance in Romans 8:8-14,

“So then, those who are in the flesh (old sin-nature!) cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh (any longer if Christ lives within you!) but IN THE Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

But IF the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Therefore, brethren, we are debtors – not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

Are you aware of the “Super-Intended Life” over-seen, watched over, trained in the skills of spiritual warfare against the world, the flesh, the devil? Did Romans 8:14 tell us, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God?” Did Romans 5:5 tell us, “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us”?

And as the result of the Holy Spirit’s presence in true disciples and His eternal watch-care over us, guiding us into all truth, the Spirit interprets tribulation for us as the opportunity of receiving His perseverance, showing us perseverance produces character, and character, endless hope, because we see, receive, rely upon, and welcome every testing and our victories in and through the Spirit!

In fact, what did Paul tell us in Romans 8:26-27? “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He (the Spirit) makes intercession FOR THE SAINTS according to the will of God.”

How shocked are you that the God who searches men’s hearts is interested in the prayers of the Holy Spirit when He clearly understands an immature disciple’s life of prayer, if there is one, is ‘selfish praying’ of ‘fleshly convenience’? Do you just, maybe, think that Jesus Himself witnessed and understood the prayers of many when He said, “My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves.” (Matthew 21:13).

We need a yieldedness to the Holy Spirit as we pray! And learning to pray, we learn from men like Paul who said to us in Philippians 4:6-7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” I’m convinced it’s going to be a shocking day when professing disciples, pastors, missionaries, teachers, dads and moms, governmental leaders locally and nation-wide, have their daily prayer calendars, if there is one, of their intercessory prayers for all!

I find it alarmingly mind-boggling to read a statement, I don’t know who, who nailed my concerns about “prayerless Christians, men and women, husbands and wives, even, yes, children, who never pray”! The statement? “If Christians spent as much time praying as they do grumbling, they would soon have nothing to pray about.” Do you understand? Prayer is the precious privilege of laying hold of God’s desire to willingly release His longing, His passion, His desire, His, yes, willingness, to bless you – your prayerless life is a broad wall in you that God sees as your lack of desire in having Him truly involved in your life!

From the editor of the very old Des Moines “Register”, a letter written in to him said: “To get nations back on their feet, we must get down on our knees.” And that’s a true God-blessing position for any man! If the Holy Spirit represents us before the Throne of God, does He do so out of the hearts of men and women who desire nothing but answered prayer to the glory of God? I have no doubts! W.W.Walford and William B. Bradbury wrote together an old hymn together entitled “Sweet Hour of Prayer.” I close with these words:

“Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer! That calls me from a world of care, And bids me at my Father’s throne Make all my wants and wishes known; In seasons of distress and grief, My soul has often found relief, and oft escaped the tempter’s snare By your return, sweet hour of prayer.

Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer! Your wings shall my petition bear To Him whose truth and faithfulness Engage the waiting soul to bless; And since He bids me seek His face, believe His Word and trust His grace, I’ll cast on Him my every care, And wait for You, sweet hour of prayer.

Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer! May I your consolation share, Till, from Mount Pisgah’s lofty height, I view my home, and take my flight; This robe of flesh I’ll drop, To seize the everlasting prize; And shout, while passing through the air, Farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer.”

Don’t you believe it’s time to resurrect prayer lives, prayer families, prayer churches, prayer disciples who faithfully grab the Throne of God and don’t let go? “All Our Hope Is In Christ Alone!” Do you believe it, receive it, walk in it?

“THE JOY OF A HOLY HOPE!”

It’s so interesting, convicting, and illuminating to read the Book of Job, seeing the extremes of serious doubts and unbeliefs, but then to see a man coming into the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! There was a time period of doubts, fears, and unbelief, but by the grace and mercy and love of God Job became an overcomer, victorious through God’s faithful pursuit of his soul! In Job 42:5 we read Job saying to the Lord, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear: but now my eye sees You!” Verse 10 says, “And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends; also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”

In Job 31 Job highlighted the fatal, false steps of unbelievers who choose the ‘flesh walk’ totally void of the Spirit’s blessing, hearts ‘deceived’ and ending up experiencing ‘the consuming fire’, inheriting a consuming destruction, and rewarding one with spiritual bankruptcy eternally! I don’t know who said it, but I read in the “Encyclopedia of Religious Quotations”, (p.231), the following statement: “Life with Christ is an endless hope, without Him a hopeless end.” So very, very true! But there are many who refuse to answer God’s knock at their hearts’ doors, willfully, ignorantly slamming the heart’s doors when the Savior knocks!

“The Joy of The Holy Hope” but you choose a ‘faithless life’ that without Christ dissipates into a coveted state of eternal captivity under the control of the demons of Hell and Satan accepting you as their and his forever slave in darkness forever, separated from King Jesus and the Holy Father and the Holy Spirit who so desired to “guide you in all eternal Truth”? One never comes into the blessed state of life who never truly trusts in the eternal redemptive hope found in Christ’s crucifixion, His resurrection, and His ascension to the eternal throne of God patiently waiting for the full increase of redeeming grace manifested in the minds and hearts of all born-again-‘faithers’!!

As I write this truth I do so just a few weeks AFTER!! I’m sure if you’ve attended any churches you found some singing, “O Little Town of Bethlehem, The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight” – And that’s about the celebration of the birth of Christ who came to “set the captives free” through His sacrificial death, His Resurrection, His present reign at the right-hand throne of God, and ‘His resting men and women’ who, yes, let Christ in them BE their hope of eternal glory!

Dare I say it? Believe I will! “Lost eternal hope is the fainting, falling, faithless life that “play-acts” life’s purpose as he, she refuses to answer Christ’s “knock” at their heart’s door!”

Are you aware that there are, sadly, multitudes world-wide who, yes, choose to live in a darkened, gray, indeterminate world of spiritual unbelief, no mindful consideration of revealed truth, no “fix” on eternal spiritual Truth, and, for them, absolutely no consideration of anything the Holy Spirit, God the Father, or Christ Jesus has to say, and certainly, for many, no consideration of anything Christians or churches have to say?!?

“Christ in you the hope of glory”? Yet multitudes live their lives independent of Holy God and His “Holy Hope”, living lives in “false hopes”, not lives established on the eternal Truths spoken by God! Multitudes ignore God’s holy knock on their hearts’ doors, certain in themselves but uncertain about heavenly help! Are YOU living your life on uncertain foundations? Consider several uncertainties!

One, consider the uncertainty of one’s trust in his/her conception of true beauty! Psalm 39:11 says, “When you with rebukes correct a man for iniquity, you make his beauty to consume away like a moth; surely every man (without God in Christ as his/her Savior and Lord) IS VANITY!”

Two, consider the shallowness of fleshly trust in men! Psalm 146:3 clearly says, “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help,” but put your trust only in God’s promises! How clear to you is 2 Corinthians 1:20? “All the promises of God in Christ Jesus are ‘yes’, and in Him “AMEN”, unto the glory of God.”

Three, consider the ‘fleshly pride’ in one’s self-allegiance that has no room for “trust in the finished work of Christ alone at Calvary”! In 2 Corinthians 1:9 Paul the Apostle said, “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead.” Men who are ‘fleshly alive’ and ‘preeminently alive’ in themselves exchange a false identity God never desired for them to be deceived in, and even for the ‘fool’, he says, “There is no God”, when forever and ever the Resurrected Lord and Savior reigns and keeps on reigning to the Father’s glory, honor, and praise!

Four, examine the reality of the troubling tombs of godless lives, yes, men/women, boys and girls, with “darkened hearts, warped wits, and worldly wills”, because there is eternal difference between ‘fleshly darkness’ and Christ Jesus God’s “Eternal Spiritual Light”!

Fifth, in 1 Thessalonians 2, Verses 4-13 we learn about our “calling” by Christ into His eternal Kingdom! Paul wrote: “But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which tries our hearts. Foe neither at any time used we flattering words, as you know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness: Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, whom we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ.

But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherishes her children: So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because you were dear to us.

For you remember, brethren, our labor and travail; for laboring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:

As you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father does his children, That you would walk worthy of God, who has called you unto His kingdom and His glory. For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when you received the word of God which you heard of us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually works also in you that believe.”

Dare I say it? Simply mental belief apart from full surrender to the Lordship of Christ with His “gift” of resurrection presence, eternal forgiveness, and new life, new purpose, new power, and new privilege, IS ‘head knowledge’ absent of a “new heart”! And that end result? Religious activities with open doors to Satan’s realm of deception rather than “kingdom allegiance” under the Banner of the Resurrected, Reigning, Royal King of kings and Lord of lords!

But because of grace that leads one to faith, as Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:13-15, we “gird up the loins of our minds, being sober (eternally seriously minded!!), and hoping to the end for the grace that is to be brought to us as Christ is revealed in us, As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in our ignorance; But as He which called us IS HOLY, so you be holy in all manner of conversation or your walk through the journey of your earthly pilgrimage with Christ as your Lord, your Savior, and your guardian presence with Christ in you!!

Do YOU truly have the spiritual understanding of reconciliation to Holy God in and through the blood sacrifice of Christ and His victorious resurrection, now continuing to reign at the right hand Throne of Holy God, yet telling us He also makes the redeemed heart His place of earthly residence? Do you daily take the sentence of death to your old man in order for the Resurrected, Reigning Christ to be Himself in you and through you?

Hear me! Living without “Christ in you” as Savior and Lord is to be a life residing in abiding, hellish darkness, not freed into the “Light” of Resurrection Presence!

I truly love what John Wesley wrote in his writing entitled “Christian Perfection”! Wesley said, “The holiest of men still need Christ as their Prophet, as “the light of the world.” For He does not give them light but from moment to moment; the instant He withdraws, all is darkness. They still need Christ as their King, for God does not give them a stock of holiness. But unless they receive a supply every moment, nothing but unholiness would remain. They still need Christ as their Priest, to make atonement for their holy things. Even perfect holiness is acceptable to God only through Jesus Christ.”

Much of modern-day ‘Christianity’ is based upon misdirected curiosity but with limited inquiry totally short of, yes, the divine revelation! Reject the mystery of Christ’s existence, or look upon Him as only a historic person and riddle of a past life short-lived for only about 33 years, and the mixed mess of examining Christ Jesus sadly surfaces for some as only an “inexplicable riddle”!

SO…what does one do with John 3:16? “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes (or Trusts) in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Blaise Pascal once said, “Jesus Christ is God to whom we can approach without pride, and before whom we may abase ourselves without despair.” Why? How? Because we understand through the revelation of God’s Holy Word that “all sinners were crucified with Christ on His Cross, buried with Him in His grave, but raised with Him through God’s power, released in us by, yes, our God-given faith and heart-led repentance, new-born, then filled with the Holy Spirit, and commissioned as His royal ambassadors! YES! We willfully crown Him in our hearts as “Lord of all”, you and me included because He called us, convicted us, converted us, anointed us, and declared us as His chosen, adoptive children in the Holy Family of God!!

Is it any wonder to you that “in Christ”, through the gifts of repentance and faith, that guided by the Holy Spirit you live royally blessed with the whole treasury that flows out of God’s heart, through His throne, through His Son, and, yes, through His born-again, new-birthed sons and daughters as the richness of His grace abounds, His graciousness embraces the true child of faith, and continues from one’s spiritual birth, to enrich their lives of faith with Heaven’s treasures??

Hear me! The Christian faith is not an intellectual theory or a self-centered speculation – it IS Christ’s Resurrection Presence living in the repentant heart and life resting in His promises! I grew up from early childhood of my home church in Cleveland, Tennessee, singing from the very old “American Hymnal” the hymn by R. Kelso Carter entitled “Standing On the Promises”, but you do know that far too many ‘professing Christians’ just “Sit On The Premises”, mindless of Christ’s intent of a repentant heart and faith-captured life becoming the Temple of His Holy Presence, yes, Christ in you, through you, as you daily take the sentence of death to yourself so that He might reign through you, extending His life, expressing His love, and proving His power! The Hymn?

“Standing on the promises of Christ my King, Thro’ eternal ages let His praises ring; Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, Standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail, When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, By the living Word of God I shall prevail, Standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord, Bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord, Overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword, Standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises I cannot fall, Listening every moment to the Spirit’s call, Resting in my Savior, as my all in all, standing on the promises of God.”

ARE YOU STANDING ON THE PROMISES OF GOD? The “Promises” are Merciful God’s “Creative Providence” in action, in you, for all around you to discover the Christ in you which can be their hope of eternal life, eternal rest, and eternal “Victory In Jesus”!! AMEN?

Once an outcast – but in Christ NOW a son or daughter in His redeemed, blood-bought family! Once living in darkness – but NOW living in the “Light” of His abiding Presence!

Once separated from God – but Christ’s coming, Christ’s Cross, Christ’s empty tomb, Christ’s “faithful knocking” at the hearts doors of all redeemed sons and daughters, Christ’s abiding presence and His constant, personal persuasion, blessedly favors us not to rest in “best effort, human trying” but trusting His Word: “I’ll never leave you nor forsake you”!!

In the old “American Hymnal” published in 1933 by the editor, Robert H. Colman, written by Fanny J. Crosby and W.H. Doane, is the hymn “Safe In The Arms of Jesus.” It says: “Safe in the arms of Jesus, There by His love overshadowed, Sweetly my soul shall rest. Hark! It’s the voice of angels, Borne in a song to me, Over the fields of glory, Over the jasper sea…Safe in the arms of Jesus, Safe on His gentle breast, There by His love overshadowed, Sweetly my soul shall rest.” Amen? Are YOU “Safe In The Arms of Jesus”? Proverbs 29:25 states, “The fear of man brings a snare; but whoso puts his trust in the Lord shall be safe,” followed by Verse 26 which says, “Many seek the ruler’s favor; but every man’s judgment comes from the Lord.”

DREAMS AND VISIONS”!

By: J.FARRELL FISHER, OCT.18-20, 2017

How many do you know over your lifespan who live IN “the wonderful blessings of dreams and visions”? I hate to say it, but I’m afraid that there are many lives you come in contact with who know nothing about “true dreams and true visions” from the mind, will, and heart of Holy God! It was an anonymous writer who long ago wrote: “A vision without a task is a dream; a task with a vision is drudgery; a vision and a task is the hope of the world.”

And for certain, without dreams and visions from the heart and mind of God, lives on planet earth live in the midst of meaningless existences with no hope for a ‘blood-redeemed, Christ-purchased life, blessings, and anointings from the ONLY Savior and Lord and conquering King of kings! How many do you know who, yes, wonder, “Why am I here?”, living with dark curtains, like night, when Holy God would have them living in the “Sonlight of Eternal Presence”!

Have you witnessed men “who soar” because they caught a “dream or a vision”, even unaware it was God Himself, so they give no glory or honor to the Inspirer of their soul? Sadly, many are totally unaware of the Dream and Vision Maker and Author and pat themselves on their backs for their ‘genius labor’? At the same time there are those with poor physical eyesight, yet because of their faith in God, with poor eyesight they astound family and friends with the riches they possess from God in their ‘dreams and visions’ even beyond those their nearest and dearest ‘talk’ about!

You are aware that there are ‘great men’ in the world who accomplish great things, but in their ‘self-back-patting’ they are blinded or have ignored Holy God as, yes, the Author and Finisher of ‘their’ “Faith Dreams”! Visions, dreams, artistic master-pieces, medical miracles, athletic abilities, financial brilliances, creative stepping-stones of better ‘pathways’, are ALL from the mind and heart of the Creator, Holy God, the Eternal Three-in-One: God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit who “guides us into all truth”!

I’m sure you’re aware of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem and of ‘the wise men’ from the East who came to Jerusalem, saying, (Matthew 2:2), “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” But neither the ‘wise men’ or King Herod were interested in Jesus’ birth spiritually but for knowing His location where they could kill Him!

Christ Jesus was birthed! Matthew 2:10 says, When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. (It’s good and godly to rejoice in the birth of Christ Jesus!). The true believers fell down and worshipped Him, but then, Verse 12 says, “…being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.”

Look at Verse 14! Joseph is instructed by God about ‘taking the young Child to Egypt’ because God knew the scribes and Pharisees wanted to kill Him! Verse 14 says: When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”

It’s not just a few verses but a number of years later, and Matthew 3:13-17 illumines us more concerning King Jesus, the Promised Messiah, King of kings and Lord of lords! It tells us: Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and You are coming to Me?”

But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water, and BEHOLD, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

And Holy God, the Father of all mankind and of His Son, the Lord Jesus, blesses all of mankind, whether they receive it or not, unveiling the eternal Gospel of Christ, God’s “Promised Messiah”, God’s “Blood Redeemer”, even giving the “gifts” of repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of Christ at the Cross AND the empty tomb! We serve a Risen Savior and Lord! It’s why in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Paul was inspired to write:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” “In Christ – new creations”! “In Christ – new creations given the ministry of reconciliation”! “In Christ – ambassadors for Christ”! “In Christ – entrusted with ‘the word of reconciliation’?” “In Christ – imploring people to be reconciled to God”? “In Christ – true believers becoming the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus”?

But you hear the ‘pretenders’: “You disciples who truly believe you’re ambassadors of Christ! I joined His church – that’s all that matters!” Really? In Acts 3:25-26 Peter said to the “Jewish pretenders”: “You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning every one of you from your iniquities.” And having been turned from their sin AND sin natures, true disciples were to be turned, yes, to the ministry of world redemption! “God so loved the world (lost, alienated from, captives of their sin natures and Satan, bound to the ‘flesh’ needing “Spirit-birth”, God sent His Son!)”. And as “followers” of Christ, we unite in His message, ministry, and mission: ‘I came to seek and to save that which is lost!”

It was a lady by the name of Katherine Logan who stated: (Encyclopedia of Religious Quotations”, (p.465), “A vision foretells what may be ours. It is an invitation to do something. With a great mental picture in mind we go from one accomplishment to another, using the materials about us only as steppingstones to that which is higher and better and more satisfying. We thus become possessors of the unseen values which are eternal.”

“Possessors of the unseen values which are eternal”? In Galatians 2:20-21a, Paul said: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh (one’s physical body)I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God…!”

But some do set aside the grace of God because their ‘grit’ is more important to them than God’s grace! Rather than the Resurrected Presence of Christ in them, some choose to serve in the ‘best’ (?) of self-effort, neglecting the glory of the Resurrected Christ! How many do you know who “profess Faith” yet are strangers to the vision of the glory of God He desires to pour out on them?

In Joel 2:28 God spoke – have YOU heard Him speak to you? “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, you’re young men shall see visions.”

It was a dramatic, victorious day for the early church after the resurrection of Christ when Peter had an awesome unveiling of Truth for the early disciples and us when he spoke in Acts 2:36-42, Peter saying, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.” Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter, and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and of prayers.”

Question! “Do you see yourself as one of those early believers who encountered the Resurrected Christ and learned of their eternal destiny in Him?” It was Jonathan Swift who in his writing, “Thoughts on Various Subjects”, wrote: “Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” When I read Swift’s words I immediately went to 1 Peter 1!! Examine carefully Verses 3-16!! Peter said:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. [Last time? How about the “last days” of deceptive Jewish practices that crucified Christ with 70 AD the days of their destruction?].

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of faith – the salvation of your souls.

Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. (Check Isaiah 53!). To then it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven – things which angels desire to look into.

THEREFORE gird up the loins of your mind, be sober (serious-minded!), and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is brought to you at the revelation (or unveiling) of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

Dare I ask? Believe I will!! “Do you personally live fully surrendered, living as one who clearly understands that he/she is no longer his/her own because he/she was purchased in and through the shed blood of the Lamb of God, understanding he/she is no longer his/her own but distinctively is owned, blessed, loved, and cared for by Almighty God, by His Son, and by the Holy Spirit, as His earthly family of faith, and, yes, understanding he/she IS Christ Jesus’s faithful ambassador and honorable representative of the King of kings and Lord of lords?”

Have YOU “girded up the loins of your mind”, determined to live “sober and serious-minded” because of God’s call and purpose for your earthly life, and are “resting in your hope fully upon the grace of God” as He called you and appointed you as Christ’s “salt and light” in the darkened world around you? William Pierson Merrill and Aaron Williams wrote the old hymn, “Rise Up, O Men of God”, and it was published in the old Broadman Hymnal in 1940! It says: “Rise up, O men of God! Have done with lesser things; Give heart and mind and soul and strength To serve the King of kings.

Rise up, O men of God! His kingdom tarries long; Bring in the day of brotherhood And end the night of wrong.

Rise up, O men of God! The Church for you does wait, Her strength unequal to her task; Rise up, and make her great!

Lift high the cross of Christ! Tread where His feet have trod; As brothers of the Son of man, Rise up, O men of God!” Are YOU a man of God or a weak wimp?