I’d like to begin this discussion by painting a picture of a first century church that we see reflected in many twenty-first century churches. Imagine you have moved into a new city and are checking out churches to see which one you’ll attend (or if you’ve settled on a church, you can compare what we examine in this writing with the church you’re already in; your choice). Here’s what the church in Ephesus looked like 2000 years ago based on the description given in Revelation 2:1-7;
1. Sound doctrine
2. Sincere and determined commitment by the majority of the congregation to love one another
3. Exceptional discernment – the leadership of this church could protect the sheep from false doctrine and false teachers
4. Aggressive and faithful ministry, outreach, and fellowship with enduring patience and creativity
5. A willingness to endure hardship to insure that the Name of Jesus was honored in all things
In Ephesus the saints were being cared for, protected and loved. The lost were being reached with the gospel. Everyone was experiencing the joy of fruitful, high-energy activity. They sang together, prayed together, laughed and cried with each other. They explored the Scriptures with extraordinary skill, consistency and accuracy.
If you were looking for a church and you found one with all these qualities, wouldn’t you give it serious consideration? Or, if you are now attending a church with these qualities, wouldn’t you want to tell everyone that you’ve found the best church in town? All these things we’ve looked at are what you would have seen if you walked into the church at Ephesus in AD 95. It’s probably similar to what you’d see if you walked into many of our contemporary evangelical churches today; and like the early Ephesians, you’d probably be pretty impressed.
However . . .
To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not given up. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
It appears that in spite of all the good things they had going for them, they were on the verge of losing everything in terms of true spiritual life and light. I doubt any of them saw that coming! This letter (Revelation 2:1-7) which was sent to them must have really freaked them out.
They saw what they saw – but the Lord saw what He saw. He was gracious in commending their good qualities, but completely honest about their true spiritual condition. Why didn’t they see what He saw? An equally important question would be: If the Lord evaluated our church, would He see something other than what we see? Is it possible that we could be like the Ephesians and not have a clue what’s really going on? Could we be so focused on the “seen” that we are completely out of touch with the “unseen”? Remember Paul’s words to the Corinthians who were having the same problem as the Ephesians?
We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
(2 Corinthians 4:18)
The things “not seen” are the ones which have eternal value – they have substance. They are more real and much more important to the Lord.
In the second and third chapters of the book of Revelation we have the Lord's survey of the seven churches. As those eyes that are as a flame of fire peer into the inner spiritual state and lay bare the condition - analyze, dissect, separate, place on the two sides of debit and credit, and form and pass their final verdict - we see one thing to be at issue with regard to them all.
There may be differences in them; the aspects may vary, but when all has been surveyed and gathered together it is to establish but one fact, namely, do they, or do they not, have that which, from the Lord's standpoint, justifies His continued Presence and activity within them?
T.A. Sparks (TAS)
In other words, do all those wonderful things we listed regarding the awesome church in Ephesus compromise what the Lord is really after? Apparently not. In the midst of their programs and outreaches and home groups and sound teaching, they were missing the one thing that matters most: “First Love”
It is vitally important to know what God considers essential for the continuance of His life and activity in an assembly. It’s not what we think but what He thinks that ultimately matters. It’s not what looks good to us that matters – it’s what looks good to Him. This is the question that is addressed in the seven churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3: The most essential qualities needed to have a living representation of the Lord in this world.
I am quite sure that those who have any knowledge whatever of the time, spiritually, will agree with me when I say that the crying need for our time is for (spiritual interpretation). There never was a time when there existed so extensively the need for a voice of interpretation, when conditions needed more the ministry of explanation. We must know the true spiritual condition of things.
TAS
If we were a part of the church in Ephesus and tried to objectively consider all we were doing in the light of the letter we’d received, our initial response to that letter would probably be: That doesn’t make any sense! Everything we have going for us proves that we haven’t left our first love! What better evidence could you ask for in a church to prove a vital and living relationship with Jesus than what you see with your own eyes in Ephesus!?
Apparently no matter how well a church (or an individual) is doing in all the impressive outward things, only one thing can insure Christ's continued support in regard to the testimony of Life and Light - First Love. We need to find out what First Love is because for us as individuals, or for the church we’re in, if we miss that, it appears we miss everything.
First, a comment from British theologian, Lance Lambert,
It is not a question of the time of love. When you are young, you have first love, when you are old you have another kind of love. No! First love is a quality of love. It is complete love - a love that possesses you, a love that masters you...
As far as I know, the Church at Ephesus will go on with its meetings. It will have its Bible studies; it will have its prayer meetings; it will have its evangelistic outreach; people will make decisions for Christ and get baptized; it will have all its elders, deacons, and workers and the apostles who come in and go out. Everything will continue. It will still, in one sense be a church, but the heart of the matter has gone. What a terrible thing it is that we can just rumble on with all our meetings and not realize that the lampstand has been taken away.
Compare Luke 14:26,
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.
“Hetton” (hate) – means, ‘inferior’, ‘less’, or ‘worse’ – it’s a term of comparison. In comparison to our love for Christ, all other loves are inferior or less. As a side note; love may or may not involve emotion. Abraham may have felt more for Isaac, but when he had to make his choice, he chose God.
According to Paul in 2 Timothy 3:5, the most powerful resistance to God’s testimony in the world “in the last days” is offered by those who have “a form of godliness,” but not “the power thereof” (If you believe the church you attend does have the "power thereof" rather than just a similar form, read the book of Acts again and make the comparison; does what you see in your church match what you see in Acts? Not even taking into account the signs and wonders, what about simply the life expressed in such passages as Acts 2:41-47 and 4:32-37? Is that happening?)
The reason this deception is so effective in our generation is because we have nearly no ability to discern between what is spiritual and comes from the Lord and what is carnal and is generated through the soul of man (mind, emotion and will). We don’t know the difference between Christianity at its best and the living, dynamic expression of Christ Himself in His people.
We believe, based on what we see, that the contemporary, cutting edge, authentic, relevant and enthusiastic Christianity expressed in our churches is the spiritual lampstand of the indwelling Christ. It’s not. Just like we often think the wonderful things we personally do for the Lord are the same as the works He would do in us if we were in a first love relationship with Him.
We are no longer a spiritual people. We are a busy, faithful, sincere, loving, doctrinally sound, compassionate, emotionally charged, creative people. And we have no idea what the difference is between that and spiritual life in Christ.
Many Christians, pastors and churches have replaced commitment to Christ with commitment to a particular form or version of Christianity. There is a major (and deadly) difference between commitment to Christ and commitment to Christianity. One is based on the unique relationship of first love (which it appears nearly everyone thinks they have) and the other is based on personal ambition and personal agendas (which nearly no one recognizes as such).
First love gives the Headship of the church to Jesus Christ without any strings attached – He is free to do as He desires. If He wants to do a “new thing” (as Isaiah spoke of in Isaiah 43:19), He is free to do so. If He wants to continue what exists, He is free to do that also. The ultimate issue is the sovereignty of the Lord, not the creativity, energy or desires of men. It’s not how much Christianity is being seen, how much work is being done, but how much of Christ Himself is present in it.
As I mentioned above, everyone thinks they are in a first love relationship with Christ. I doubt that any pastor or church is going to say they are an unfortunate example of a 21st Century Ephesus. As DeVern Fromke points out,
There are thousands of fundamental, evangelical churches who loudly proclaim that Christ is all we need, that He is completely sufficient, that Christ is our center and circumference. These have become very popular slogans. But perhaps many have only learned these nice phrases and echo them as a parrot would. It seems quite evident that the real significance of Christ as our all has not dawned, for in the very next breath they launch into extensive methods and programs for accomplishing the work of God; immediately they start to search out patterns and principles for doing things – all of which are simply good religious substitutes for Him.
The letters in Revelation 2 and 3, as well as Paul instruction in 1 Timothy 4:1 and 2 Timothy 3:1-8, warned us this deception was coming and yet we go on, business as usual, as if it could never happen to us. This is something we need to do more than just consider or contemplate as an interesting concept. This is life or death for the spiritual life of each of us as well as for our churches.
With that in mind, let’s look at some practical definitions of ‘soul’ and ‘spirit’ to help clarify how this problem has come about and what we can do to move back to God’s original intent for us. We’ll begin with Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 2:13-14
Which thing also we teach, not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God . . . neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.
The “natural” is the “soulish” (psuche) man who operates in the soul rather than the spirit. The unbeliever has no choice but to live in his soul because his spirit is dead. The Christian may walk either in the spirit or in the soul. If he chooses to live by the resources of his soul, his understanding of that which is spiritual is no different than that of the natural man (1 Corinthians 3:1-3). The carnal believer “walks as men”. His life is spiritually indistinguishable from that of the natural man. Regardless of how many Christian activities he may be engaged in, it is not coming from the Spirit, but from the flesh. Because of this, he cannot recognize the source of his ‘production’ because as Paul said, the believer who lives in his soul and not in his spirit cannot know the things of the Spirit of God because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14).
Many believers feel that they do have spiritual discernment – that they can see and differentiate between good and evil. But Hebrews 4:12 compared with 5:11-14 makes it clear that only those Christians who have moved far beyond infancy and have learned in experience to “divide” or distinguish between soul and spirit can recognize that which is from God as over against that which is from the soul of man or from a spirit of the enemy. Christian maturity is not a common characteristic among Western Christians in our generation (cp. Ephesians 4:14; 1 Corinthians 1:11-13; 3:1-4).
The kind of spiritual discernment needed to combat the subtle deceptions of the last days is much greater than the childlike discernment that can tell the difference between, say, Mormonism and Christianity. It must also be a greater discernment than that which determines what is and what is not sin – even unbelievers have enough “discernment” to know that murder is evil and compassion is good.
Mature spiritual discernment is the recognition of Christ (His presence or His absence). Spiritual discernment can distinguish that which comes from the Spirit of God and that which flows through the soul of man.
When a pastor has sufficient discernment to know the true spiritual state of his congregation he can minister to them according to their real need. Jesus didn’t talk to the woman at the well about being born again; He didn’t talk to Nicodemus about living water. He could see past any superficial conversation or body language that might have occurred and see clearly the spiritual need that was before Him. Jesus operated out from the spirit not the soul and could live and minister in the spiritual world, “The words I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63.
If a pastor is well-studied and intelligent, his tendency in living and ministering from his soul is to allow his mind to guide his work. If he is a compassionate person, the emotions control his actions. He may appear successful (people respond very positively to intelligence, sound teaching and genuine compassion) but he cannot address the deepest needs of his people because our deepest needs will always be spiritual first and then soul or body.
They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially . . . (Jeremiah 6:14)
The Lord has very serious warnings of judgment to leaders of God’s people who fail to minister from spiritual maturity and discernment, and who therefore have primarily their intelligence and emotion as resources to draw from in ministry. No matter how many people are “helped” by their ministry of instruction and compassion their deepest needs are not addressed. The woman at the well needed the Lord’s compassion but she needed living water even more.
Watchmen Nee writes,
When someone comes to us, we must discern his spiritual condition, his nature, and the extent of his spiritual progress. We must determine whether he has said what is really in his heart and how much he has left unsaid. Further, we must perceive his characteristics – whether he is hard or humble, whether his humility is true or false. Our effectiveness in service is closely related to our discernment of man’s spiritual condition. If God’s Spirit enables us through our spirit (not our soul) to know the condition of the person before us, we can then impart the appropriate word. . . Without such knowledge, a brother can only handle others by his own understanding. If he has a special feeling on a certain day, he will speak to everybody according to that feeling, no matter who it is that comes. If he has been learning and new subject, he speaks on it to all who come to him. How can such work be effective? No physician can use the same prescription for all his patients. (If we cannot spiritually interpret or diagnose) people’s sicknesses, we cannot cure them.
This problem of soul over spirit is evidenced in countless places in Scripture from Esau’s bowl of porridge to the conception of Ishmael. One classic example is in Acts 1:15-26. I won’t quote the extended passage here, but the story is this: Peter decided that since Judas was gone and the Bible made it clear that “another was to take his (Judas’) place” (Psalm 109:8), it was time to get another apostle on the team. So, following a time of prayer (in which, by the way, those praying graciously gave God two options to choose from: Barsabbas and Matthias), the church leaders “voted” and decided Matthias should get the honor. We never hear from Matthias again in the Bible. I wonder why. Probably because God had already chosen the twelfth apostle (Paul) but it was not yet His timing.
Think for a minute about how this played out and what the implications are for us. The leaders gathered together to have a meeting because there was a problem that needed to be resolved. They had a verse to back up their desire to move forward with addressing the problem and, of course, no problem should be tackled without a few minutes of prayer. When you have the Bible on your side; when you’ve prayed to make sure you’re in God’s will, and when you have a consensus of agreement among the church leadership staff, how can you go wrong? Addressing the problem was both reasonable and scriptural. Their rationale about why and who should be considered as numero twelve was also reasonable (vs. 21 and 22). No doubt Matthias and Barsabbas were awesome. So, they had Scripture references, prayer, a sincere desire to do the right thing, a great idea about how to solve the problem and group consensus on what to do. Does this sound at all like what happens in leadership meetings in our churches today?
With all that, they were totally out of line with God’s will. They didn’t know who God wanted for this role nor did they know His timing or way of choosing His apostle. They were operating purely in the realm of sincerity, reason and democracy (mind, emotion and will). Since they were good Christians they also added the Bible and prayer.
In Proverbs 20:27 we read, “The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord . . . “. In the original creation of man, God indwelt the human spirit to provide spiritual life to and through man. This is what formed the basis of, “Let us make man in Our image . . .” (Genesis 1:26). Man was intended to be the lamp or vessel through which the indwelling God would become the Divine Source of His own image or likeness.
A lamp is totally dependent on oil for light. The lamp is worthless without light-producing oil within it. In the fall Satan convinced Adam and Eve they could be like God (like Christ) within the resources of their own souls. He appealed to their souls to cause the fall. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food (lust of the flesh), and that it was pleasant to the eyes (lust of the eyes), and a tree to be desired to make one wise (pride of life) she took of the fruit and did eat. . . (Genesis 3:6; compare also 1 John 2:16). Mind, emotion, will.
Satan convinced Adam and Eve they could be like God without God.
God knows that in the day you eat thereof, your eyes will be opened, and you shall be like God . . . (Genesis 3:5).
They were deceived into believing they could be like God independently of the Lord. Their soul took ascendancy over their spirit. They died spiritually. The Divine life left and the light went out, because a lamp without oil can’t function.
At the cross the Last Adam (Who in His death represented this entire race of fallen humanity) took the soul-dominated or natural man into the grave. When the Lord was resurrected the barrier of sin that kept God out of man was removed. Through the Second Man in resurrection a new race of humanity began in which Jesus was the First Born (see 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45-49; Romans 8:29).
A Christian is simply a person restored to what humanity was meant to be by design in creation – a vessel in which God can clothe His Divine nature and express His image outwardly in a visible form (1 Peter 1:4). Jesus was the perfect example of this as the Son of Man (John 14:7-9; Hebrews 1:3). To see Jesus was to see a perfect, exact image of the invisible Father Who indwelt Him. When a Christian is living in spiritual normality, he or she is simply a visible expression of the indwelling invisible Christ within (2 Corinthians 4:10-11).
Where does “Christianity” fit into the above? It doesn’t. Christianity is a soul reproduction of what can only happen by God in the spirit. The soul can imitate what it learns from the Scriptures about what it believes should be happening; but it can neither produce nor recognize the presence or absence of spiritual life. Sincerity plus ‘doing our best for Jesus’ equals Christianity. Christianity is the soul’s best effort to reproduce what it sees in the Bible, but the early church was the result of spiritual life - which only God could do. God may indeed intervene in a soul-based church to accomplish His will in those genuinely seeking Him, but it will be in spite of rather than because of the church.
In Matthew 16:21-23 we see the story of Peter rebuking the Lord for His expressed intent to go to the cross. There is no doubt about Peter’s sincerity, love and commitment to Jesus. He had all of that and more; as did Ephesus. But he was operating in his soul not in his spirit. If his spirit would have had ascendency over his soul (the divine order of things) he would have understood, or at least trusted, what Jesus told him. Note that after this conversation with Peter, Jesus immediately makes a transition in Matthew 16:24-25 to explain why it is so important that we not operate in the soul or self-life. He says we must lose that life in order to find another – the spiritual life in Christ. Our souls are placed in their proper servant-relationship to our spirit which is in union with the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17).
Before we finish our discussion of Peter conversation with the Lord in Matthew 16, we need to take a brief tangent.
Spirituality is not a life of suppression. That is negative. Spirituality is positive; it is a new life, not the old one striving to get the mastery of itself. . . Whether we are able to yet to accept it or not, the fact is that if we are going on with God fully, all the soul’s energies and abilities for knowing, understanding, sensing and doing will come to an end, and shall, on that side, stand bewildered, dazed, numbed and impotent. Then a new, other, and Divine understanding, constraint, and energy will send us forward. . .
TAS
When a person climbs aboard a plane that person trusts the plane and crew to get him from point A to point B. He doesn’t try flying without the plane or the law of gravity would overpower him; and he doesn’t sit on the plane struggling all the way to “die to gravity” so he can stay in the air. He simply gets on the plane, abides there, and lets the plane to what it has committed to do.
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets us from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). Our fight is not a fight against sin and death (trying to “die to gravity”); our fight is a fight of faith – staying on the plane; abiding in Christ by childlike faith. As we trust in Him in all things, the higher law of the Spirit will keep us above the lower law of sin.
The brokenness we experience through suffering is God’s hand of love freeing us from the dominance of the self-life (the soul in ascendency) so the spirit can be released to express the glory of the indwelling Christ.
We who are alive are always being delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus might be made manifest through our mortal flesh.
(2 Corinthians 4:11)
When the natural is broken, the spiritual can come in. So, if your desire for success is your natural ambition, then God will insure failure to free you from this natural obsession so the Lord may be your “First Love”. Once He is established in that position in your soul, then you will be free to experience success (if that’s His will) without success sabotaging your inner peace and spiritual life in Christ - success without anxiety.
If having a perfect family or good health or anything else in the realm of the natural world is keeping your from a full experience of the indwelling Christ and the life you can have in Him, God will touch that so it will no longer be the thing you want most. When He has your heart He can give you what you desire, or replace it with something even better, and you will not be moved either way, because you are now experiencing the greater life of inward rest in Him. You are also beginning to move into the new life promised as you lose the old life (soul-life). “He that loses his life (self-life) will find it (new life in Christ)”.
It feels like a great loss, even a death, when the things we want most are taken away. But that is so we will can learn not to trust in ourselves, but in God Who raises the dead (2 Corinthians 1:9). We can learn faith so we can enter life. A creature sharing the fullness of the life of his Creator. Who wouldn’t want that? But one life must be lost for the other to be found. We can’t enter life in the Spirit until our life in the soul comes to a complete end. We can glimpse it, taste it, but never know the full reality of it until all that is not of Christ in our affection and ambition has been removed by the gracious application of the cross to all that binds us to this world.
I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh (my body), I live by faith (utter and complete dependence) in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.
(Galatians 2:20)
How can this life be entered? How we exercise the kind of faith that moves us from the old man to the new man?
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God
(Romans 10:17)
If we give God time enough to talk to us long enough our faith will grow strong enough.
Ian Thomas
We must learn of Him to be able to trust Him fully. God has given us the way of learning that achieves this goal. As shown in Ephesians 4:11ff, we are “equipped” by coming under the authority of the communication gifts God has provided for the body of Christ to come to full maturity.
When in Acts 8:26ff Philip was sent to a eunuch from Ethiopia was reading and trying to understand the Bible, Philip asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The eunuch replied, “How can I unless someone explains it to me?”
Exactly!
Daily personal devotions are good, but they will not open the deep things of God in His word to us. To move forward in our spiritual advance we must have “someone explain it to us” – thus the provision of the teaching gifts cited in Ephesians 4:11. Coming under the authority of these gifts prevents us from ignorance and from misinterpreting what we read (Ephesians 4:14). The Holy Spirit works through His giftings to lead us into all truth. The ear cannot say to the mouth, I have no need of you.
In addition we must be learning from men who are living what they are teaching. It would be foolish for me to try and sell hair restorer. If the teacher doesn’t in his own experience know the difference between soul and spirit; if he isn’t experiencing the life of Christ beyond theology, he can’t communicate that life to others.
Now, back to Peter’s rebuke of the Savior in Matthew 16. Peter was completely sincere and fully committed to the Lord, yet Jesus said, “Get thee behind me Satan”. In his soul Peter loved the Lord intensely and wanted nothing more than to protect Him from harm. His rebuke of Christ was an illustration of unenlightened enthusiasm – the single most predominant characteristic of contemporary Western Christianity.
In a sense our soul is neutral ground, meaning that it is a responder not an initiator. The soul can respond to the world, the flesh and the devil or it can respond to the human spirit indwelt by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17; Romans 8:16). When the soul responds to our three enemies, when we come under their sway, we are “carnal” (1 Corinthians 3:1-4).
When the soul is responding to the spirit, we find ourselves in the process of having “Christ formed in us” (Galatians 4:19).
Christianity as it is currently expressed in the Western church is not just an unfortunate misunderstanding of God’s intent or a tragic perpetuation of spiritual infancy or carnality; it’s a luciferian deception. The original lie has made its way into the hearts of all who would heed it from the beginning of time. This, I believe, is the foundation of the final apostasy or “falling away” of the church prior to the coming of our Lord (1 Thessalonians 2:3). For those of you who believe “this can’t happen to us” – it’s already begun.
Satan has always sought, from the beginning time, to move us into a place of independence, self-reliance and soul-based living. That which we see in modern evangelicalism is merely a poor imitation, a caricature of the real thing. As I mentioned earlier, the fact that within this “Christian” religious system we have developed, the lost are reached and the saints are ministered to is simply evidence of God’s faithfulness to those seeking Him in spite of, not because of, the spiritual condition of the church.
What we are seeing in our generation is the increasing ascendency of the soul over the spirit. It is true both corporately in our assemblies and meetings, and it is true in our own struggling attempts to live a life only Christ can live. Unless we can see with our inner eyes the division of soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12); unless we can move from soul to spirit in our perception and sufficiency, we will never know the life we have missed by selfishly adopting a form of godliness without the power of true spiritual life.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Who Will Be God?
As most of you know, I am a prison chaplain and have been for quite some time. Much of what I do involves helping inmates discover and develop their spiritual lives. Some of what I do relates to the big picture of the Department of Corrections which includes, but is obviously not exclusive to, chaplaincy. In that sense I’m only a part of the whole. Like all other agencies within this Department, we have to work backward from the ultimate goal to determine what works and what doesn’t work in getting us to where we want to be. The goal for Corrections is to lower recidivism. When that happens fewer released inmates commit crimes and consequently there are fewer victims in the real world. I think chaplaincy helps immensely with that, but I’m biased.
The principle of working backward is vital. Much of what confuses us as Christians is the seemingly bewildering means God is using to reach whatever His goal is. But I’ve discovered that the mystery of our lives and circumstances can become much clearer if God’s ultimate goal becomes clearer; not to mention the advantage of being able to enthusiastically and intelligently cooperate with the Lord in what He’s doing. In this writing I hope to help answer two primary questions: “What it the ultimate issue in God’s creation?” and “How do our lives fit into God’s final purpose?” No sweat, right? This is Christianity 101, so please bear with anything that’s overly familiar.
Let’s begin with applying the working backward principle to interpreting the Bible. As you know, Biblical revelation is progressive. Paul understood much more than Abraham (Ephesians 3:1-5). This doesn’t mean that God loved Paul more or that Abraham wasn’t as close to God in terms of intimacy. It just means that as the millennia of human history have unfolded, God has increasingly, progressively, revealed Himself and His purpose (also see Hebrews 1:1-2). For example, it was of immense help to the writers of the New Testament to finally understand the purpose of the Law. Jesus promised that when the Spirit came, He would “guide (them) into all truth” (John 16:13), which He did. But as we know from John 16:7, the Holy Spirit could not come in this way until after Christ was glorified. If you read Galatians, Hebrews and 2 Corinthians 3:6-18 you will see a wonderful fullness of understanding around the giving of the Law as well as a clear explanation of why (thankfully) we are no longer under the Law. Our understanding both of God Himself and of His eternal purpose in creation has been progressively revealed throughout history and painstakingly recorded and preserved in the Scriptures.
The revelation of God is now complete. The book of Revelation is both the final as well as the consummate book of the Bible (Revelation 22:18). God’s goal is revealed and reached. For Him as the eternally present “I am” it’s a done deal. Since we are still trapped in time, we see the continued unfolding of God’s purpose, but we know (because of Revelation) the ultimate issue and outcome of all God’s creative and redemptive acts. Once we know where all this is going, we can make sense of the ways God is using to get us there. Understanding His ways is vital (Hebrews 3:10) but they will always remain a mystery until we understand His ultimate purpose in all He has done.
Let’s begin to explore the final outcome of the ages by looking at what is at the very end of all God’s working.
“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb . . . and there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him; and they shall see His face. . .” (Revelation 22:1-4a).
After all that must be accomplished is accomplished, at the center of the universe will be a throne out of which life flows. In Scripture thrones speak of kingship, authority, dominion (Matthew 25:31 cp. Philippians 2:9-11; Revelation 3:20-21; 4:2-5 cp. 12:5). At the consummation of history as eternity begins that which will characterize all God has done is represented by a throne. Why is authority the final criteria of God’s work, of God’s victory? Hasn’t He always been on the throne of heaven?
We need to go back before the beginning of the creation of our universe and of humanity. At some point in eternity past the throne of God was challenged by an angel (please read through Ezekiel 28:12-19 and Isaiah 14:12-17). Lucifer (now Satan) challenged God’s right to reign supreme and stated his own intent to assume that position of ultimate authority, “I will ascend . . .”. From that time forward, all in God’s creation have decided for themselves who will be their God. Though there may be a multitude of gods and religions (including the humanistic god of self), ultimately there are only two possibilities – Satan or God. Jesus is the only way to the Father; there is a multitude of ways to worship Satan.
This is the one thing that runs through the spiritual history of this universe. It is the thing which is behind all that is taking place on this earth in our lives. There is no such thing as secular and sacred. There is only the hidden reality of spiritual conflict for the throne. Those who stand with God wrestle not against flesh and blood (that which is seen) but against principalities and powers (that which is unseen). The Lord has revealed the meaning of humanity’s history and in the end it will be shown to be a spiritual history. Everything in our lives has immense spiritual significance because everything touches on the issue of the throne. Who will be God?
Worship is not simply a matter of singing songs; it is a position of life – a position taken by our will to stand for or against the living God. “He that is not for Me, is against Me” (Matthew 12:30). There is no neutral ground, no alternative stand. The choice to give God His rightful place touches everything we do and everything we are.
This is why, during the time of the incarnation, Satan sought above everything else to receive the worship of Jesus; “If you will worship me I will give you the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them”. To which Jesus replied as representative of God’s ultimate purpose, “Begone, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord, thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:9-10). Whether we realize it or not, this is behind all that exists or ever will exist. Every decision by every intelligent, created being stands on one of these two foundations. It is a position of life. It is a determined stand for all that is of God and a stand against all that is not of Him. Our lives show forth our position, our stand, and this stand has a powerful impact on the unseen worlds in ways that will not be wholly evident until faith becomes sight. We are in an immense cosmic conflict that began before time and ends only when, “He (Jesus) shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power” (1 Corinthians 15:24).
So, do we open our worship services by singing and expressing our adoration? In part, yes. But something more significant should be there in our understanding. Whether we sing, minister, or work at our jobs, our “worship” is meant to be a challenge to the enemy and a confirmation of our desire for the supreme rights of Christ in His people. “Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end” (Ephesians 3:21). At the end of time there is no temple, no place of worship. Instead, “And I saw no temple in it; for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it” (Revelation 21:22). Since our Lord came in His incarnation, God is no longer to be worshipped in this place or that; “neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem” but “in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:21-23). If we say we 'go to church to worship God' (and which of us has not used that phrase?) we understand neither what the church is nor how God is worshipped.
Again, this is very personal for us. This idea of our stand for God in all that we are is the conflict of all creation. Satan has great spiritual discernment. He doesn’t care how many people gather for “public worship”. But when even one individual moves toward the exaltation of Christ by his or her life, Satan takes note and moves into action against that person. Satan is at present “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4) and will do all in his power to retain that position. God has determined to have unquestioned authority at the end but in our age, as the coming of the final phase of history draws near, the enemy’s challenge against that outcome continues. The victory has been won at the cross where “the prince of this world is cast out” in terms of his legal position (John 12:31), but the final application of that victory is not yet applied; the final curtain is not yet drawn on him.
Everything, every detail in the Bible, everything in the history of Man and Angels, everything in our lives personally has to be seen in the light of God’s ultimate purpose to establish “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb” as the undisputed Sovereign of the universe. The centrality of the cross is imperative in this because the cross is the great renunciation and rejection of one race of humanity under Satan just as the resurrection introduces the “First born” of a new race in Christ (Romans 9:29). When anyone makes the decision to turn to Christ from the power (authority) of Satan, that person is entered into the new humanity (Acts 26:18).
All that we see written in the Scriptures and all we experience in our own lives can only be seen in their full value if they are seen in the context of this great cosmic reality. Who will be God? When we focus on the details to the exclusion of the big picture we experience limitation, weakness, confusion, denominational agendas, etc. Our vision is limited and the consequences are severe, “there are contentions among you . . . is Christ divided?” (1 Corinthians 1:11, 13). Where there is no vision the people disintegrate, they “cast off restraint” (Proverbs 29:18); they are weakened and scattered, flying in a million different directions. There is no unity. When unity is lost, power is lost, because unity of vision and purpose is the foundation of power with God (Acts 4:32-33).
When we explore the Bible to discover this great eternal purpose and conflict even seemingly disconnected teachings on a variety of subjects throughout the Scriptures begin to make more sense. For example, why not mix wool and linen? Why not have two kinds of animals working under one yoke? God does not have any desire for mixture or impurity or hypocrisy. There must be no contradiction or inconsistency. God will allow only for absolute, final, undivided, unreserved worship of Him alone. In the end no rivals will be allowed in any realm, whether human or angelic. This is what our lives can demonstrate now, in time. This is what they are meant to demonstrate. No rival to God in our affections or obedience or worship; nothing mixed or impure or contradictory.
It doesn’t matter where you open the Bible you will touch on this eternal conflict. King Saul “. . . spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen” (1 Samuel 15:9). But “David the son of Jesse, a man after (God’s) heart, who shall do all (His) will" (Acts 13:22) replaces Saul as king. David is a king who will represent the sovereign right of God to be God. David’s life demonstrates inside history the final outcome of history. The principle of kingship under God is abandonment to the will of God over all other wills, including our own. With David and so many others it was “Not my will, but thine be done” in all things, regardless of personal cost. The stand taken by a child of God that expresses in time what will characterize the eternal state is “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” David had substantial weaknesses and failings but his heart was for God. The Lord looked at his heart and through the weakness of the flesh saw a heart that belonged to Him.
All of Satan’s activity, assault and deception have one object in view – to turn the heart of man away from the interests of God to himself, just as he did with one-third of the angelic host. He has been remarkably successful in his efforts.
“I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you . . . for I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s” (Philippians 2:19-20).
Our suffering and testing is our opportunity to declare our allegiance in spite of all the forces of hell which seek to steal away that allegiance through mistrust in our Lord: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15). In the book of Job we see both the seen and unseen cosmic battle in action. Job’s cry of faith impacted the unseen world in incredible ways, as the Lord was shown to be Job’s God and Satan was defeated in his attempt to turn Job away from Him. Satan’s ground was, once again, taken away in the history of a man from the ancient world.
As I wrote earlier, it doesn’t matter where you turn in the Scriptures, you will always, ultimately, find this challenge and conflict at the heart of everything you read. The real issue in any decision we make (including our decision for salvation) is not simply that we escape hell and are assured of heaven, but that God is established as Lord in us and Satan has lost his ground. As this continues with people being saved and the Christian growing in Christ, the Lord’s ground is enlarged and Satan’s ground shrinks. Eventually, Satan’s place will be forfeit and God will be “all in all”. May it be so in our lives now. Ultimately there will be no question as to Who is the final object of worship in this universe.
This is the great spiritual drama which God is working out in the unseen worlds. Worship is something that comes down to the very smallest details of life. Who is going to have the supreme place in us? Who will be God? When we live to the Lord, we enter into active intelligent cooperation with God in the primary thing for which we exist. We are part of something immense and vast and eternal. Everything that belongs to our Christian life has to be seen in that light, through that spiritual grid. We will struggle and lose against immorality; we will find nothing but limitation and imitation in our ministry (our “Christianity”); everything will be partial and incomplete until we live in the fullness of what God is doing. We have to be related in a living way to what He is accomplishing in the history of His creation. We are called to associate with Him in answering the prehistoric challenge to the throne of heaven. “I am come to do Thy will, O God” is the essence of worship and the mark of sonship (Hebrews 10:7). This is not just something to be considered or professed; this is a personal stand of life against all that would question the rights of God in His creation. Jesus has never been concerned with ritual or church services or human creativity; He is concerned with the immense principles which govern this universe, “Not My will, but Thy will be done” as both the foundation and increasing character of the life of God’s people.
There are two kingdoms watching us with great interest; watching every life on earth, especially those who claim Christ. Each kingdom vies for our allegiance. In the end all will have made their decision (and a million demonstrative decisions along the way). Everything we are and everything we do will ultimately be evaluated (it’s “value” determined) by how much it contributes or takes away from the ultimate purpose of God in creation. In everything we have to ask ourselves, “Where does this take me?” What does sin do but bring death? What does my version of Christianity do but bring imitation and emptiness? How can I be joined to the Lord in fullness of vision and life – in reality as over against theory? Ritual and tradition (even if contemporary in style) do not lead to fullness. Only spiritual knowledge leads to an increase of Christ in us (1 Corinthians 2:13-14). How much of His life is in this thing? Not how active or enthusiastic or busy or emotionally rewarding or entertaining is it, but how much of Christ is here? I know we like to think this is all about us, but it isn’t. It’s all about the throne and the Lamb Who will reign unrivaled for all eternity. The measure of Christ is the only measurement that heaven acknowledges. From a book entitled, “The School of Christ”,
“The mark of a life governed by the Holy Spirit is that such a life is continually and ever more and more occupied with Christ, that Christ is becoming greater and greater as time goes on. The effect of the Holy Spirit’s work in us is to bring us to the shore of a mighty ocean which reaches far, far beyond our range, and concerning which we (are overwhelmed with) the depths of Christ. If we live as long as ever man lived, we shall still be only on the fringes of this vast (wonder) that Christ is.”
“That at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God, the Father.”
Philippians 2:10-11
The principle of working backward is vital. Much of what confuses us as Christians is the seemingly bewildering means God is using to reach whatever His goal is. But I’ve discovered that the mystery of our lives and circumstances can become much clearer if God’s ultimate goal becomes clearer; not to mention the advantage of being able to enthusiastically and intelligently cooperate with the Lord in what He’s doing. In this writing I hope to help answer two primary questions: “What it the ultimate issue in God’s creation?” and “How do our lives fit into God’s final purpose?” No sweat, right? This is Christianity 101, so please bear with anything that’s overly familiar.
Let’s begin with applying the working backward principle to interpreting the Bible. As you know, Biblical revelation is progressive. Paul understood much more than Abraham (Ephesians 3:1-5). This doesn’t mean that God loved Paul more or that Abraham wasn’t as close to God in terms of intimacy. It just means that as the millennia of human history have unfolded, God has increasingly, progressively, revealed Himself and His purpose (also see Hebrews 1:1-2). For example, it was of immense help to the writers of the New Testament to finally understand the purpose of the Law. Jesus promised that when the Spirit came, He would “guide (them) into all truth” (John 16:13), which He did. But as we know from John 16:7, the Holy Spirit could not come in this way until after Christ was glorified. If you read Galatians, Hebrews and 2 Corinthians 3:6-18 you will see a wonderful fullness of understanding around the giving of the Law as well as a clear explanation of why (thankfully) we are no longer under the Law. Our understanding both of God Himself and of His eternal purpose in creation has been progressively revealed throughout history and painstakingly recorded and preserved in the Scriptures.
The revelation of God is now complete. The book of Revelation is both the final as well as the consummate book of the Bible (Revelation 22:18). God’s goal is revealed and reached. For Him as the eternally present “I am” it’s a done deal. Since we are still trapped in time, we see the continued unfolding of God’s purpose, but we know (because of Revelation) the ultimate issue and outcome of all God’s creative and redemptive acts. Once we know where all this is going, we can make sense of the ways God is using to get us there. Understanding His ways is vital (Hebrews 3:10) but they will always remain a mystery until we understand His ultimate purpose in all He has done.
Let’s begin to explore the final outcome of the ages by looking at what is at the very end of all God’s working.
“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb . . . and there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him; and they shall see His face. . .” (Revelation 22:1-4a).
After all that must be accomplished is accomplished, at the center of the universe will be a throne out of which life flows. In Scripture thrones speak of kingship, authority, dominion (Matthew 25:31 cp. Philippians 2:9-11; Revelation 3:20-21; 4:2-5 cp. 12:5). At the consummation of history as eternity begins that which will characterize all God has done is represented by a throne. Why is authority the final criteria of God’s work, of God’s victory? Hasn’t He always been on the throne of heaven?
We need to go back before the beginning of the creation of our universe and of humanity. At some point in eternity past the throne of God was challenged by an angel (please read through Ezekiel 28:12-19 and Isaiah 14:12-17). Lucifer (now Satan) challenged God’s right to reign supreme and stated his own intent to assume that position of ultimate authority, “I will ascend . . .”. From that time forward, all in God’s creation have decided for themselves who will be their God. Though there may be a multitude of gods and religions (including the humanistic god of self), ultimately there are only two possibilities – Satan or God. Jesus is the only way to the Father; there is a multitude of ways to worship Satan.
This is the one thing that runs through the spiritual history of this universe. It is the thing which is behind all that is taking place on this earth in our lives. There is no such thing as secular and sacred. There is only the hidden reality of spiritual conflict for the throne. Those who stand with God wrestle not against flesh and blood (that which is seen) but against principalities and powers (that which is unseen). The Lord has revealed the meaning of humanity’s history and in the end it will be shown to be a spiritual history. Everything in our lives has immense spiritual significance because everything touches on the issue of the throne. Who will be God?
Worship is not simply a matter of singing songs; it is a position of life – a position taken by our will to stand for or against the living God. “He that is not for Me, is against Me” (Matthew 12:30). There is no neutral ground, no alternative stand. The choice to give God His rightful place touches everything we do and everything we are.
This is why, during the time of the incarnation, Satan sought above everything else to receive the worship of Jesus; “If you will worship me I will give you the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them”. To which Jesus replied as representative of God’s ultimate purpose, “Begone, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord, thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:9-10). Whether we realize it or not, this is behind all that exists or ever will exist. Every decision by every intelligent, created being stands on one of these two foundations. It is a position of life. It is a determined stand for all that is of God and a stand against all that is not of Him. Our lives show forth our position, our stand, and this stand has a powerful impact on the unseen worlds in ways that will not be wholly evident until faith becomes sight. We are in an immense cosmic conflict that began before time and ends only when, “He (Jesus) shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power” (1 Corinthians 15:24).
So, do we open our worship services by singing and expressing our adoration? In part, yes. But something more significant should be there in our understanding. Whether we sing, minister, or work at our jobs, our “worship” is meant to be a challenge to the enemy and a confirmation of our desire for the supreme rights of Christ in His people. “Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end” (Ephesians 3:21). At the end of time there is no temple, no place of worship. Instead, “And I saw no temple in it; for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it” (Revelation 21:22). Since our Lord came in His incarnation, God is no longer to be worshipped in this place or that; “neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem” but “in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:21-23). If we say we 'go to church to worship God' (and which of us has not used that phrase?) we understand neither what the church is nor how God is worshipped.
Again, this is very personal for us. This idea of our stand for God in all that we are is the conflict of all creation. Satan has great spiritual discernment. He doesn’t care how many people gather for “public worship”. But when even one individual moves toward the exaltation of Christ by his or her life, Satan takes note and moves into action against that person. Satan is at present “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4) and will do all in his power to retain that position. God has determined to have unquestioned authority at the end but in our age, as the coming of the final phase of history draws near, the enemy’s challenge against that outcome continues. The victory has been won at the cross where “the prince of this world is cast out” in terms of his legal position (John 12:31), but the final application of that victory is not yet applied; the final curtain is not yet drawn on him.
Everything, every detail in the Bible, everything in the history of Man and Angels, everything in our lives personally has to be seen in the light of God’s ultimate purpose to establish “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb” as the undisputed Sovereign of the universe. The centrality of the cross is imperative in this because the cross is the great renunciation and rejection of one race of humanity under Satan just as the resurrection introduces the “First born” of a new race in Christ (Romans 9:29). When anyone makes the decision to turn to Christ from the power (authority) of Satan, that person is entered into the new humanity (Acts 26:18).
All that we see written in the Scriptures and all we experience in our own lives can only be seen in their full value if they are seen in the context of this great cosmic reality. Who will be God? When we focus on the details to the exclusion of the big picture we experience limitation, weakness, confusion, denominational agendas, etc. Our vision is limited and the consequences are severe, “there are contentions among you . . . is Christ divided?” (1 Corinthians 1:11, 13). Where there is no vision the people disintegrate, they “cast off restraint” (Proverbs 29:18); they are weakened and scattered, flying in a million different directions. There is no unity. When unity is lost, power is lost, because unity of vision and purpose is the foundation of power with God (Acts 4:32-33).
When we explore the Bible to discover this great eternal purpose and conflict even seemingly disconnected teachings on a variety of subjects throughout the Scriptures begin to make more sense. For example, why not mix wool and linen? Why not have two kinds of animals working under one yoke? God does not have any desire for mixture or impurity or hypocrisy. There must be no contradiction or inconsistency. God will allow only for absolute, final, undivided, unreserved worship of Him alone. In the end no rivals will be allowed in any realm, whether human or angelic. This is what our lives can demonstrate now, in time. This is what they are meant to demonstrate. No rival to God in our affections or obedience or worship; nothing mixed or impure or contradictory.
It doesn’t matter where you open the Bible you will touch on this eternal conflict. King Saul “. . . spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen” (1 Samuel 15:9). But “David the son of Jesse, a man after (God’s) heart, who shall do all (His) will" (Acts 13:22) replaces Saul as king. David is a king who will represent the sovereign right of God to be God. David’s life demonstrates inside history the final outcome of history. The principle of kingship under God is abandonment to the will of God over all other wills, including our own. With David and so many others it was “Not my will, but thine be done” in all things, regardless of personal cost. The stand taken by a child of God that expresses in time what will characterize the eternal state is “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” David had substantial weaknesses and failings but his heart was for God. The Lord looked at his heart and through the weakness of the flesh saw a heart that belonged to Him.
All of Satan’s activity, assault and deception have one object in view – to turn the heart of man away from the interests of God to himself, just as he did with one-third of the angelic host. He has been remarkably successful in his efforts.
“I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you . . . for I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s” (Philippians 2:19-20).
Our suffering and testing is our opportunity to declare our allegiance in spite of all the forces of hell which seek to steal away that allegiance through mistrust in our Lord: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15). In the book of Job we see both the seen and unseen cosmic battle in action. Job’s cry of faith impacted the unseen world in incredible ways, as the Lord was shown to be Job’s God and Satan was defeated in his attempt to turn Job away from Him. Satan’s ground was, once again, taken away in the history of a man from the ancient world.
As I wrote earlier, it doesn’t matter where you turn in the Scriptures, you will always, ultimately, find this challenge and conflict at the heart of everything you read. The real issue in any decision we make (including our decision for salvation) is not simply that we escape hell and are assured of heaven, but that God is established as Lord in us and Satan has lost his ground. As this continues with people being saved and the Christian growing in Christ, the Lord’s ground is enlarged and Satan’s ground shrinks. Eventually, Satan’s place will be forfeit and God will be “all in all”. May it be so in our lives now. Ultimately there will be no question as to Who is the final object of worship in this universe.
This is the great spiritual drama which God is working out in the unseen worlds. Worship is something that comes down to the very smallest details of life. Who is going to have the supreme place in us? Who will be God? When we live to the Lord, we enter into active intelligent cooperation with God in the primary thing for which we exist. We are part of something immense and vast and eternal. Everything that belongs to our Christian life has to be seen in that light, through that spiritual grid. We will struggle and lose against immorality; we will find nothing but limitation and imitation in our ministry (our “Christianity”); everything will be partial and incomplete until we live in the fullness of what God is doing. We have to be related in a living way to what He is accomplishing in the history of His creation. We are called to associate with Him in answering the prehistoric challenge to the throne of heaven. “I am come to do Thy will, O God” is the essence of worship and the mark of sonship (Hebrews 10:7). This is not just something to be considered or professed; this is a personal stand of life against all that would question the rights of God in His creation. Jesus has never been concerned with ritual or church services or human creativity; He is concerned with the immense principles which govern this universe, “Not My will, but Thy will be done” as both the foundation and increasing character of the life of God’s people.
There are two kingdoms watching us with great interest; watching every life on earth, especially those who claim Christ. Each kingdom vies for our allegiance. In the end all will have made their decision (and a million demonstrative decisions along the way). Everything we are and everything we do will ultimately be evaluated (it’s “value” determined) by how much it contributes or takes away from the ultimate purpose of God in creation. In everything we have to ask ourselves, “Where does this take me?” What does sin do but bring death? What does my version of Christianity do but bring imitation and emptiness? How can I be joined to the Lord in fullness of vision and life – in reality as over against theory? Ritual and tradition (even if contemporary in style) do not lead to fullness. Only spiritual knowledge leads to an increase of Christ in us (1 Corinthians 2:13-14). How much of His life is in this thing? Not how active or enthusiastic or busy or emotionally rewarding or entertaining is it, but how much of Christ is here? I know we like to think this is all about us, but it isn’t. It’s all about the throne and the Lamb Who will reign unrivaled for all eternity. The measure of Christ is the only measurement that heaven acknowledges. From a book entitled, “The School of Christ”,
“The mark of a life governed by the Holy Spirit is that such a life is continually and ever more and more occupied with Christ, that Christ is becoming greater and greater as time goes on. The effect of the Holy Spirit’s work in us is to bring us to the shore of a mighty ocean which reaches far, far beyond our range, and concerning which we (are overwhelmed with) the depths of Christ. If we live as long as ever man lived, we shall still be only on the fringes of this vast (wonder) that Christ is.”
“That at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God, the Father.”
Philippians 2:10-11
Saturday, July 10, 2010
The Reason for the Intensity of our Present Conflict
God always does a unique work in His people at the end of a dispensation in preparation for the beginning of a new era. As one author put it,
Things become very strange and very difficult; everything seems to be thrown into a state of disturbance, upheaval, intense pressure and conflict. The great conflicting forces in this universe register very terribly and intensely upon that which is of God and upon those who are of account to Him, so that there often arises the sense that this is an actual end, and a question as to what more is possible. Inwardly we feel that the way is becoming exceedingly hedged up: 'frustration' is the word which seems to prevail, and outwardly everything is in a state of serious and great question as to the future. Indeed, it becomes more persistently the experience of the true people of God that they could give up and abandon everything. The ways in which this works out are numerous, but the whole effect is to paralyze and put out of commission that which is of God and bring it to a complete standstill.
This is a time of increased intensity in spiritual conflict. Life can’t simply be approached business-as-usual any longer. We can’t just go through the motions week after week as if things will continue status quo forever. We are now at a time in history when the Lord is bringing an awakening in the knowledge of Christ to those in His church who want His best – who are in pursuit of Christ. And that desire to know the Lord in fullness is being resisted with great intensity by our enemy.
In a very practical way, God is reducing all of us to Christ. Meaning that everything we thought would carry us through; everything we thought would sustain us and provide life and security is being stripped away. As Paul told the Corinthians, We had the sentence of death in ourselves so that we would learn to not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.
We can no longer rely on a second-hand knowledge of the Lord. Things must become very personal and very real for us to survive spiritually. The reason for this is simple: Christ must become our life not merely our religion. In Philippians 1:21 Paul told them, For me to live is Christ. . . He wasn’t being poetic. Paul knew that Christ (not Paul, not Christianity) – Christ was the direct, intimate source of Paul’s life.
In Hebrews 12:27 we read, And this word, Yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. The Lord is in the process of “removing” everything from our lives that we depend on and replacing them with Christ.
We can only learn dependence on Him when we are at the end of all our resources. The Lord knows that many of us want to live in Christ; we want to know what that means. He also knows that to get us there we must experience the failure of all that is not Christ. If this is to be personal for us, not just Christian techniques or ten-steps-to-victory programs; if you and I are going to find our life exclusively in Christ, we must come up against what only Christ can overcome. Then we learn what both faith and the presence of Christ in us are all about. One speaker I heard once said that faith doesn’t even begin until we end.
God must remove the temporal, the seen and replace it with the eternal, the unseen:
Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working in us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the thing which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)
Put simply, God will see to it, by the intensity of our circumstances, that anything in our lives that is temporal or carnal will be removed and replaced by that which is spiritual and eternal in nature. There must be an intensifying of this process which places us in complete dependency of faith and humility before God, having no confidence in ourselves and absolute confidence in the Lord.
This is a focused characteristic of the final generation.
Satan’s time is short and his wrath great. The war is consummating and we, as God’s people, are the targets of the enemy’s anger and desperation. In times like these our vision must be greater than simply going through the motions of Christianity. We must both see and draw from the life of Christ in us. We must know Him deeply in real and practical experience.
As Major Ian Thomas once wrote,
To be entirely honest, I know of nothing quite so boring as Christianity without Christ. Countless people have stopped going to a place of worship simply because they are sick of going through the motions of a dead religion. . . What a pity that there are not more people around to show them that Jesus Christ is alive.
Christ is alive in us. Do we know that beyond the theology of it?
Another author wrote,
How necessary it is for there to be more than an ordinary abandonment to the Lord – coming to the place where his master and Lord in truth, and where we are utterly subject to Him. If we can at all discern the signs of this time, both as to the world and the coming phase of things, as well as in our own spiritual experience, let us see that they are of tremendous meaning. The eternal counsels of God, comprehending all ages and realms, so vast in their importance. So much of a deepening work in us must be done to bring about a corresponding vision is us of ultimate intention for our lives.
Have you had an experience of waiting, longing, praying, and feeling and then the Lord brings you in touch with something that is original; something that is very uniquely of Him in relation to you? You have sensed a deep need for something more and found that this need can only be met in Christ in a personal way? This is where the Lord would have us; seeking Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Seeking and finding. Christ is so vast, so incomprehensible, that when we have pursued and gained an increasing knowledge of Him, we will have only scratched the surface.
We are coming to the time when a great many changes are going to take place in the system of Christianity. God desires to have a people who are in tune with His fuller purpose in Christ. For many of us, there is coming a point in time, soon, when all that is temporal, impersonal, or organizational is going to be forced by world conditions to give way to a spiritual ground; where our entire focus will have to shift from earth to heaven – from Christianity to Christ. It will not be possible to simply carry on as usual. We are being forced into a fuller measure of spiritual life and vision where our interests and God’s interests become the same.
It’s not simply a question of what we have been taught in church services, seminaries and conferences, but of what has really been revealed in us of Christ Himself. No one can take away from us what God personally reveals to us; nothing can destroy that; it becomes a part of who we are. That is the crucial issue at the end of this age. We must be able to recognize the changing direction of things, and we must be able to move with God and distinguish what is of Christ and what is of man. We must move further and higher than we have ever gone in Him to see the destiny and purpose of God in the church.
If we do press forward we will be resisted and we may feel very alone, but the things God will show us will make everything that is less than God’s intention empty and dissatisfying. We will hunger with a spiritual hunger for that which is real and eternal.
Let me close with this comment by T. Austin Sparks,
It is true that the true children of God are going through a time of intense trial and testing spiritually in these last days; everywhere it is so. The Lord must have something against which hell is impotent and by which He demonstrates to the universe that strength of His might which causes to stand and withstand, having done all to stand. If one were asked what the last issue for the church in this age is, I would say that it stands, and that is saying a tremendous thing. The intensification of the conflict will be so overwhelming that the church will have its work cut out in the end just to stand, but its standing will be its victory. Just to be able, through testing, trial, when everything is blowing round you like a blizzard; when everything is dark, mysterious, and even God seems far away and unreal, and faith is tested and you are being assailed on the right hand and on the left, and there is every reason outwardly for giving up, falling down, surrendering, lowering your standard. Just to stand and not be moved in your faith is the greatest possible victory in the final generation.
Let’s make sure we are in that company of overcomers when our Lord returns to take us home and free us from the war we find ourselves in.
Things become very strange and very difficult; everything seems to be thrown into a state of disturbance, upheaval, intense pressure and conflict. The great conflicting forces in this universe register very terribly and intensely upon that which is of God and upon those who are of account to Him, so that there often arises the sense that this is an actual end, and a question as to what more is possible. Inwardly we feel that the way is becoming exceedingly hedged up: 'frustration' is the word which seems to prevail, and outwardly everything is in a state of serious and great question as to the future. Indeed, it becomes more persistently the experience of the true people of God that they could give up and abandon everything. The ways in which this works out are numerous, but the whole effect is to paralyze and put out of commission that which is of God and bring it to a complete standstill.
This is a time of increased intensity in spiritual conflict. Life can’t simply be approached business-as-usual any longer. We can’t just go through the motions week after week as if things will continue status quo forever. We are now at a time in history when the Lord is bringing an awakening in the knowledge of Christ to those in His church who want His best – who are in pursuit of Christ. And that desire to know the Lord in fullness is being resisted with great intensity by our enemy.
In a very practical way, God is reducing all of us to Christ. Meaning that everything we thought would carry us through; everything we thought would sustain us and provide life and security is being stripped away. As Paul told the Corinthians, We had the sentence of death in ourselves so that we would learn to not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.
We can no longer rely on a second-hand knowledge of the Lord. Things must become very personal and very real for us to survive spiritually. The reason for this is simple: Christ must become our life not merely our religion. In Philippians 1:21 Paul told them, For me to live is Christ. . . He wasn’t being poetic. Paul knew that Christ (not Paul, not Christianity) – Christ was the direct, intimate source of Paul’s life.
In Hebrews 12:27 we read, And this word, Yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. The Lord is in the process of “removing” everything from our lives that we depend on and replacing them with Christ.
We can only learn dependence on Him when we are at the end of all our resources. The Lord knows that many of us want to live in Christ; we want to know what that means. He also knows that to get us there we must experience the failure of all that is not Christ. If this is to be personal for us, not just Christian techniques or ten-steps-to-victory programs; if you and I are going to find our life exclusively in Christ, we must come up against what only Christ can overcome. Then we learn what both faith and the presence of Christ in us are all about. One speaker I heard once said that faith doesn’t even begin until we end.
God must remove the temporal, the seen and replace it with the eternal, the unseen:
Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working in us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the thing which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)
Put simply, God will see to it, by the intensity of our circumstances, that anything in our lives that is temporal or carnal will be removed and replaced by that which is spiritual and eternal in nature. There must be an intensifying of this process which places us in complete dependency of faith and humility before God, having no confidence in ourselves and absolute confidence in the Lord.
This is a focused characteristic of the final generation.
Satan’s time is short and his wrath great. The war is consummating and we, as God’s people, are the targets of the enemy’s anger and desperation. In times like these our vision must be greater than simply going through the motions of Christianity. We must both see and draw from the life of Christ in us. We must know Him deeply in real and practical experience.
As Major Ian Thomas once wrote,
To be entirely honest, I know of nothing quite so boring as Christianity without Christ. Countless people have stopped going to a place of worship simply because they are sick of going through the motions of a dead religion. . . What a pity that there are not more people around to show them that Jesus Christ is alive.
Christ is alive in us. Do we know that beyond the theology of it?
Another author wrote,
How necessary it is for there to be more than an ordinary abandonment to the Lord – coming to the place where his master and Lord in truth, and where we are utterly subject to Him. If we can at all discern the signs of this time, both as to the world and the coming phase of things, as well as in our own spiritual experience, let us see that they are of tremendous meaning. The eternal counsels of God, comprehending all ages and realms, so vast in their importance. So much of a deepening work in us must be done to bring about a corresponding vision is us of ultimate intention for our lives.
Have you had an experience of waiting, longing, praying, and feeling and then the Lord brings you in touch with something that is original; something that is very uniquely of Him in relation to you? You have sensed a deep need for something more and found that this need can only be met in Christ in a personal way? This is where the Lord would have us; seeking Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Seeking and finding. Christ is so vast, so incomprehensible, that when we have pursued and gained an increasing knowledge of Him, we will have only scratched the surface.
We are coming to the time when a great many changes are going to take place in the system of Christianity. God desires to have a people who are in tune with His fuller purpose in Christ. For many of us, there is coming a point in time, soon, when all that is temporal, impersonal, or organizational is going to be forced by world conditions to give way to a spiritual ground; where our entire focus will have to shift from earth to heaven – from Christianity to Christ. It will not be possible to simply carry on as usual. We are being forced into a fuller measure of spiritual life and vision where our interests and God’s interests become the same.
It’s not simply a question of what we have been taught in church services, seminaries and conferences, but of what has really been revealed in us of Christ Himself. No one can take away from us what God personally reveals to us; nothing can destroy that; it becomes a part of who we are. That is the crucial issue at the end of this age. We must be able to recognize the changing direction of things, and we must be able to move with God and distinguish what is of Christ and what is of man. We must move further and higher than we have ever gone in Him to see the destiny and purpose of God in the church.
If we do press forward we will be resisted and we may feel very alone, but the things God will show us will make everything that is less than God’s intention empty and dissatisfying. We will hunger with a spiritual hunger for that which is real and eternal.
Let me close with this comment by T. Austin Sparks,
It is true that the true children of God are going through a time of intense trial and testing spiritually in these last days; everywhere it is so. The Lord must have something against which hell is impotent and by which He demonstrates to the universe that strength of His might which causes to stand and withstand, having done all to stand. If one were asked what the last issue for the church in this age is, I would say that it stands, and that is saying a tremendous thing. The intensification of the conflict will be so overwhelming that the church will have its work cut out in the end just to stand, but its standing will be its victory. Just to be able, through testing, trial, when everything is blowing round you like a blizzard; when everything is dark, mysterious, and even God seems far away and unreal, and faith is tested and you are being assailed on the right hand and on the left, and there is every reason outwardly for giving up, falling down, surrendering, lowering your standard. Just to stand and not be moved in your faith is the greatest possible victory in the final generation.
Let’s make sure we are in that company of overcomers when our Lord returns to take us home and free us from the war we find ourselves in.
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