And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand. And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. (1Sa 18:10-11)
Jealousy and envy lie at the heart of many a murder or a murderous spirit. Once it is given in to then they are given over to a spirit far worse. Murder rises from the darkness of our hearts and meets a spirit willing and able to take us down roads we would normally never go down. It becomes cold and calculating quite apart from the heat of passion. Saul knows fine well he is going to murder David and he sets about lulling him into a fall sense of security by “prophesying,” out of his distress. He is speaking, not on behalf of God but rather he is speaking from a place of jealous rage. It is so well controlled and so religious in nature that David takes up his lyre and begins to worship God having no idea what lurks in the heart of his his king. Then Saul, with all of his might mind you, with everything that is in him, unleashes the javelin in an attempt to not just injure him, but to run him through and pin David to the wall.
This spirit has manifested itself down through the ages. Jealousy and insecurity has been its primary motivator. How the Pharisees must have bristled by the multitude that followed after Jesus and would make Him their king. Murder rises in their hearts while all the time portraying themselves as men of God. And in every century since Jesus arose, religious men, men, jealous of those who actually know Jesus, who actually have a relationship with God, who actually enter into worship with Him, plot their downfall. Hangings, stonings, dismemberment, torture and vicious treatment all in the name of God, all flowing from the distress in their hearts when they encounter a man or a woman who actually know God. Even today we see the same spirit at work. The once born man becomes the all out enemy of the twice born man and often times all done under the same roof and under the name of God.
David’s attitude towards his primary enemy is outstanding. Jesus’ love for His enemies is the reason we now live. He forgave the ones who cruelly and with malice aforethought designed His downfall. Stephen cries out the same message while he is in the midst of being stoned to death. It breaks the chains of hell. One of the audience that very day at the stoning of Stephen would go on and write two thirds of the New Testament. And all down through the following 2000 years, men and women of God would face the same enemies with the same spirit and they would follow the dictates of the most High God. They would speak the truth in love. They would never relent, never capitulate yet never render hatred for hatred. They would stand strong in the worship of God and that worship would be first measured by their lives. Let us stand strong brothers and sisters in a day and age where tolerance is worshiped as a virtue but never actually lived out. Our enemies design is to pin us to the wall and do it all in the name of something that sounds very religious, tolerance. We know better, therefore we are to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves.
Mat 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
This is a very well known passage from the sermon on the mount. Upon reading it in my study from Matt 5 something occurred to me that made me think about it in a different light. I looked up the meaning of the phrase ” have lost its flavor.” in the Greek, it is “moraino.” It means to become insipid. So I looked up the definition of the word insipid. It is “without distinctive, interesting or stimulating qualities. Without sufficient taste to be pleasing as food or drink, bland.” For most of my Christian life I have heard men preach on this in regard to preservation. How salt preserves food. Yet the word is clearly flavor. I would imagine that almost every household in America has salt in it. We use it, not to preserve anything but to flavor it. If it did not flavor it then we would not buy it, what good would it be?
Have we, Christians, become “insipid.” Are we “without distinction,” in the world? Have we ceased to stimulate society but rather do we strive to simply blend in? For much of Christendoms it is almost entirely impossible to tell us apart from the world. If that is indeed the case then what are we good for? Are we not called to be distinct? A people clearly called out from the world? A people that would, by our lives and by our words, stimulate and convict and interest the people around us with our Godlike qualities? The definition of the phrase “have lost its flavor,” goes on ………From G3474; to become insipid; figuratively to make (passively act) as a simpleton: – become fool, make foolish, lose savour. And the word G347 is “moros.” Here is the definition of that word is …..”dull or stupid, absurd or foolish.” In a world of foolishness, foolishness meaning that they have rejected God, are we any good to anyone if we simply just blend in with the world? Are we then “good for nothing,” have we also become like fools?
In the context of this scripture salt has a purpose as does light. We are salt and light. Light brings illumination to darkness, but if we cover up the light that is in us, then what purposes do we have? Light is likened to a city set upon a hill. A lamp that is put on a lamp-stand that lights the whole room. If it is covered up then what purpose do we serve? We have been called to let our lights so shine before men that they may see the works of God in us. We have been called to be salt in every situation we find ourselves in, family, neighbors, workplace. We should stimulate people by our words and by our deeds. We should be clearly distinct in a world that is more and more walking in lockstep, allowing for no distinction. And our distinction should be in no way contrived. I’m not talking about wearing a cross, I’m talking about changing the very atmosphere around us by the power of the light that dwells in us. Do you change the atmosphere that surrounds you or are you simply swallowed up by it?
1Sa 14:6 And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.
Here was a real declaration of faith! It is so simple yet so utterly profound. Jonathan quite simply believed. He completely understood who God was and how great He was and how nothing is too difficult for God. He could destroy the Philistines by a single man, by an army or all by Himself. That day Jonathan’s enemy held the high ground and Jonathan “climbed up on his hands and knees,” and his enemies fell before him. Two men killed twenty men in an are less than half an acre and it put the fear of God into the enemies camp. When God moves, the world notices and His enemies notice and the principalities and powers shake and tremble. He is the same God today as He was then. When God moves in your circumstances, against all odds and against nature itself, the world notices.
Now, compare Jonathan to his father Saul, the classic religious man. A man who does not have the Spirit of God but rather a troubling spirit. He does not have the same faith as his son therefore he has to make his own plans, he has to try and do it in his own strength and without the council of God. His directions cause chaos in the ranks. He refuses to allow them to eat honey that is literally dripping from the trees to such and extent that it is piling up on the ground all around them. The religious man refuses to allow the Holy Spirit in his midst. He would watch the people starve and be terribly weakened rather that go back on his traditions and his own ordinances. Think about the extent of Saul’s reasoning, he was ready to kill his own son, the very son who God had worked through that day to give them the victory that they wanted.
God alone works His works. The battle belongs to God. He will not share His glory with anyone and He certainly does not need the council or the wisdom of men. The wisest man in the world is as a fool unto God. When God gives you resources you must take them. True spiritual strength comes from being endued with power from on high. We are edified by the gifts and the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. In no other way are we edified. We must have His wisdom. We must have His strength. We must have His glory. We must see His majesty. We must yield to Him in everything. Traditions must fall by the wayside if they get in His road. The vain works of men must cease and we must be about His works. Imagine a starving people being ordered to ignore the food that God has so clearly provided. Its almost as mad as the Philistines turning on their own and destroying themselves.
1Sa 8:1 And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel………………….And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.
Is it not an incredible thing that Samuel’s sons turned out to be corrupt? After everything Samuel saw in the family of Eli he now faces much the same issues. It seems that while his sons were under his influence and had no official capacity, they did well. Yet as soon as they get out from under the influence of Samuel and are given positions, their true nature comes forth. The second generation of anyone is never guaranteed. We are told that around 80% of young adults “lose,” their faith when they go to college. Yet, it seems clear that when these young people move away from their parents Godly influence their true nature comes forth. They are corrupted by a world they are drawn to, whatever their vice is. Bonhoeffer tells us in his book “The Cost of Discipleship,” that just one generation removed from the founders of the Lutheran church, cheap grace had taken hold.
Now, rather than dramatic conversions, there was mental assents to abstract truths. If their children could tick boxes one through seven and say yes to these truths, then they were counted as saved. The fire was gone, the glory had departed so to speak. The world had invaded and the “ark,” was captured. Ichabod was on the move. The second generation is often a pale imitation of the first. They are given positions as gatekeepers of the status quo by their parents and the main objective becomes keeping their positions. They create sacraments and traditions that are self-serving. These sacraments and traditions become the pillars that hold aloft the very structures of their denominations and organizations. Men who come along and challenge the status quo and speak the truth become enemies because the truth threatens to tear down the very pillars that hold it all together.
The only solution to all of this is the new birth. The genuine conversion of men and woman. Men and women who actually encounter God and are captivated by the truth that they find in the Scriptures. That truth burns in their veins like molten lava. It courses through every part of them and they are simply compelled to speak the truth no matter the cost. And the cost, for much of the last 2000 years, has been death through martyrdom. Has been rejection by their peers. They have been shunned and ridiculed and scorned by those who have but a mental assent to the truth. Why did Saul hate David so much even although David loved him very much? Jealousy. Jealous of the relationship David had with God. Some things never change. The heart of the merely religious man is fundamentally jealous of the heart of the man who is intimate with God. And just like the flesh wars against the spirit, then the once born man wars and rages against the twice born man. There can be no other way as there is enmity between the two.
The gifts of the Spirit in the church today are not only desirable but absolutely imperative. It is extremely necessary that we should have the gifts of the Spirit in the church and let me show you why…….Un-gifted men can do religious work, but it is only the human mind doing a human work. Mortality is written all over the church of Christ today because men are trying to do in the power of their own genius , what only the Holy Spirit can do. Genius cannot do immortal work, genius can only do mortal work…often talent alone runs the church today not the gifts of the Holy Spirit as intended (A,W.Tozer)
When we have a corrupted priesthood, it leads to the birth of Ichabod. If indeed God has departed then what do men do? They keep on going in their own strength. They cannot acknowledge their own corruptions, they cannot give up the power and the prestige they so desire but at the same time they cannot have God in their midst. So, the anointed is replaced by the appointed. In the absence of God we appoint men and women of talent. We try to recreate the giftings and the moving of the Holy Spirit. It never occurs to men to simply fall back on the Word of God. We are several generations into appointed men in leadership, men who are appointed by other men and not anointed of God. Men and women of talent. They have the gift or oratory, in fact it was a required qualification. They can sing like angels, in fact it was required of them before they were appointed. They can take the Word of God and teach it, for they were taught how to do this very thing in their Bible schools and seminaries.
All day long the Sauls of this world rise in our churches and the Davids are left in the fields. They are tall and handsome, they are beautiful and talented just like the world and that is what they wanted. They are appointed men and they have not the anointing of God. And without the anointing it can only ever be a house of talent and not a house of victory. The giants of this world are left to roar at us and mock us and come against us for we lack the David spirit. The appointed try to figure out how to survive with the least amount of damage as the Philistines roar. The anointed run to the battle and care not whether they live or die for they are full of the Spirit of God. The appointed worry about offending the people because they were appointed by the people and in order to keep their position they must please the people. The anointed speak as they are moved to speak by the Holy Spirit. They are not hirelings and they do not run from the wolves and the bears.
The appointed employ all the ways of the world in order to “build,” their own kingdoms. What else could they do? They use talented people, they use pop psychology and business methods. They employ sales techniques. And the latest addition to the appointed is technology. Dimmed lights, blackened walls, smoke machines, theatre seating and concert style worship. The anointed may not have any oratory skills at all. They may not be able to fit into skinny jeans. They may not be the most confident people. They may not desire to have any position at all. Yet it is God who does the anointing. He chooses whom He will use and He builds His church not on methods of the world but by the gifts and the power of the Holy Spirit and upon the Word of God. The appointed must rip out whole chapters of the Bible in order to survive and the anointed simply stand upon the Word, even if it means a congregation of twelve.
Men always appoint men who will serve their purposes. God anoints those who will serve His purposes. In order not to share His glory with anyone He raises up paupers to walk with princes. He takes the teenage shepherd boy to replace the peoples choice. He takes the weak and the lowly, the contrite and the broken and He raises them up to high and lofty places to dwell and to fellowship with Him. The anointed walk, not in their human talents and genius, rather they walk in the anointing. In the power of the Holy Spirit. In the giftings of God that do not come through natural birth but rather come from the second birth. And by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. How can we tell an anointed church from an appointed church? You will see the gifts of the Holy Spirit in operation in Gods anointed. Could it be that simple? Is the word of God difficult to understand? Does it all come down to that in the end, obedience to the Word? It always does, whether in our personal lives or our corporate gatherings. There is life in the anointing. There is activity in the appointed. While there can be activity in the anointed, there can never be life in the merely appointed when the appointment is of men.
Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Having heard all the magnificent stories of the faithful saints down through the ages, the author then turns to us and says, “what about you?” Are you not part of this precious group of faith? And if you are then shall you not lay aside “every weight.” What is this weight? Every burden, every hindrance, everything external that would keep you from your reasonable service to God and your reasonable service to God is everything. Your life is not your own, it was bought with a price. It is no longer you that live but rather it is Christ that lives in you. You are a special person, a called out one, a royal priest. You have a duty that is higher than any other duty, that is to serve the King. This you must pursue no matter the cost.
Internally you have the sin that so easily captures you. It might be your temperament, crucify it. It might be your politics, leave that to the world. It might be the personal bias that you grew up with, kill it by the cross upon your back.You would train night and day if you were an Olympic athlete. While others slept, you would be up before the sun. When others were eating anyway they pleased, you would be following a strict diet. You would not be smoking or drinking and in some cases just prior to your race you would refrain from lying with your spouse.The sacrifices we are willing to make in order to get a gold medal, to get fame and fortune in this world are without limit. Isn’t your calling to God so much higher than any athlete?
Are you not running the race of eternal life for a crown that will not perish? A crown that you will cast down before the Lord’s feet because He deserves all the glory!How can we do all of this brothers and sisters? How can we be sold out to God in our lives? “Looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith.” His testimony was that for the joy of serving His Father and fulfilling His will, He willingly endured the cross, despising the shame and then sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Are we willing to endure? Are we willing to accept the discipline of the Lord? Jesus shall be our strength, the Holy Spirit shall be our guide. He shall be the lifter of our heads. He shall convict us and He shall give us the strength to follow Him, if it is our heart to follow Him. If it is our heart to run the race. If it is our heart to endure. If it is our heart to overcome. If these are our desires, He shall give them to us.
1Ti 1:5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of sincere faith.
Love is the fulfilling of the law (Rom 13:8-10) The whole purpose and fulfillment of the law was found in Christ! So why then was there so much trouble at Ephesus? Why would young Timothy be under pressure and from whom? The same old suspects, the Judaizers and those who desired to be teachers. Teaching their own ideas of what the Law was and what it meant and what its purpose was. A myriad of teachings that were from their own vain imaginations, causing disputes rather than causing unity in Christ. Desiring to be a class of teachers, priests, rabbis. A clergy class. Desiring to be supported because of their “knowledge.” And yet this desire to be teachers of the law, when they had no real understanding of the fulfillment of the law (if they did they would desire to be servants, as Paul was, working with his own hands)
We know from Scripture that those who knew Jesus, the fulfillment of the law, walked in love from a pure heart, from a good conscience and from a sincere faith. And those who did not know Jesus in this way, turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers and lacking understanding. In America today, there are roughly 30,000 salaried “pastors.” That is 15,000 “pastors for every state. My brothers, let there not be many teachers, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation (Jas 3:1) The clergy/laity divide has only served to increase the desire to be teachers. There is not the same desire to be servants of all. Jesus washed the feet of servants, do clergy, for the main part wash feet? Ever notice in the sacramental systems of denominations, there is no feet washing? You will not find it in non-denominations either.
Timothy is exhorted by Paul to fight the good fight. Paul knew, from sore experience, just how difficult it was to deal with those who considered themselves teachers. This is why he prayed so fervently for Timothy. He likened it to waging warfare. The same warfare has been waged by the remnant saints down through the ages. The Hymenaeus’s and Alexanders have always been entrenched in religious activities much like Diotrephes. Men who love the preeminence. Men who know nothing of the fulfillment of the Law but rather became laws unto themselves, passing themselves of as teachers of the law and becoming the deadliest enemies of the twice born man. Brothers and sisters let us walk in love with a pure heart from a good conscience and from a sincere faith. Trusting in God and His Word and having discernment to identify those who simply desire to be teachers, who desire to be kept, who will not work with their own hands. We shall know men by their fruit. Do men serve or do men desire to be served?
1Th 5:5 Ye are all sons of light, and sons of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
Praise the Lord we are children of the light, not of the darkness and not of the night. While the world sleeps in darkness, the sons and daughters of the Lord are vigilant. Even now the world is being swamped with darkness and yet it is entirely unaware. Place a frog in tepid waters and it will be quite comfortable, then slowly turn up the heat and it will allow itself to be boiled to death. The world is at ease in Babylon yet quite suddenly, destruction will begin to rain down upon it and increase dramatically like “labor pains upon a pregnant woman.” It is pregnant with sin and its time is at hand. Yet we are told in the Scriptures that by virtue of the light that we walk in that none of these things shall overtake the children of God. We shall not be surprised when we see the destruction unfold because we can “see,” these things by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We know that whether we live or whether we die that we shall eternally be with our Lord. This is the comfort that Paul speaks of to the Thessalonians. No matter what kind of persecution we face, no matter how hard the trials or how great the suffering and tribulation, we walk in the light as He is in the light and we have fellowship one with another. This is our strength, this is our peace, this is our comfort when all hell breaks loose. Hell may break loose but praise the Lord we have been delivered from hell. Let us test all things and hold fast to what is good. And may the God of peace Himself sanctify us completely and may our whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ for He alone is faithful. (1Thess 5:23-24) Let us pray without ceasing.
1Th 3:3 That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed to this.
We are indeed appointed to afflictions. Just like Paul, just like the Thessalonians and all the saints down through the last 2000 years. All of us who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus will walk the narrow path that the saints walked before us. When Paul realized what was happening to the Thessalonians, that they were suffering for Jesus, he could not endure it any longer and sent Timothy to see how they were doing. God will always send you something or someone in the midst of your trials and tribulations. You will not be left as orphans. The Holy Spirit will see to that. You will be encouraged. You will be strengthened and lifted up. Even reading this may be an encouragement to you. The Lord cares for all of His sons and daughters, we are the sons and daughters of His love. Sometimes we can lose sight of that at the height or in the depths of the battle, especially when it rages all around. Yet even in the terrible fiery furnace that the Hebrew children endured, Jesus was with them in the midst of it all. He is in the midst of it with you.
What thanks Paul gave to God when he heard how the Thessalonians stood. He thanked the Lord that He was establishing their hearts to be “blameless in holiness.” He thanked God that despite their persecutions they abounded in love. Glory to God. Holiness, thankfulness, abiding in love and to be found blameless in the sight of God just like Job. There are riches to be found in the depths of tribulations saints. Treasures that are found in the darkness of our situations. The light that never shines brighter, the love that never feels stronger, the glory that is never so surely seen, as when we suffer for the sake of Jesus. The comfort we receive from the hand of God, broken like the loaves and the fishes, many shall be fed by it. Glory to God. Standing fast in the Lord and in the power of His might, whether in the heat of the day or the blackness of the night, there shall never be a more glorious sight, than His glory that fills the temple and that fills you and I.
1Th 2:4 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 tests our hearts.
We have been entrusted with the Gospel. We must speak the truth and in no way desire to please men. We are not called to flatter anyone. Flatterers do so to gain something. It is a tool, a weapon of the enemy to gain access into the hearts and minds and oftentimes beds and pockets of foolish and vulnerable people. Men who use the Gospel are seeking glory for themselves. They desire to be lifted up, to be sought after, to gain the preeminence. The man of God makes no such demands upon people, he does not seek after his own. Rather He is strong and gentle among the saints. He has deep affection and love for his brothers and his sisters. He will impart not only the gospel to the hearers but also his whole life shall be laid down. Rather than take, Paul and those with him worked and toiled night and day so that he would not be a burden to anyone. How this flies in the face of self named “clergy.”
Paul suffered so much, therefore when he comes upon a people who would suffer similarly for the cause of Christ he pours out his heart in love and thanksgiving for such a people as the Thessalonians.He loves them as a father loves his own children. He desires to be with them and it is interesting that “Satan hindered,” him from coming to them. These people, and all people who suffer for the cause of Christ cause real damage to the kingdom of darkness. They have pierced the darkness with their light and the enemy tries to snuff out such light. Perhaps you suffer for the Lord today? All those who desire to live Godly in the Lord Jesus shall be persecuted and that persecution comes in a thousand different ways. You are just as much a threat to the enemies kingdom as the Thessalonians were. Yet as much as Paul loved these saints, your heavenly Father loves you more. He sees you suffer. He sees your pain. Yet you are His glory and joy. You are His very own. And in the day of the coming of the Lord you shall be, as Paul puts it, His joy and His crown of rejoicing. Soon the night shall pass brothers and sisters and in the morning of His coming, great joy shall fill the universe, and your work on earth shall be done.
Col 2:9 For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
And this Scripture goes on to say that ” you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” The scripture here quoted. comes from a chapter that is warning us about the dangers of religion. There is fullness in Christ alone. Only in Christ alone can we walk this narrow path. Only in Christ alone can we ever live to serve Him. It is He who is above all things and it is in Him that we find our place in the Body. It has nothing to do with “your church.” It is quite apart from the traditions of your fathers and the commandments and doctrines of men which appear to be wise and humble, but which have no affect whatsoever in your ongoing walk and battle that you have been called to.
We have been called into this fullness, into the depths of the Fathers heart wherein lie the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The treasures of a burning heart that is set on fire by the all consuming love of the Lord Jesus Christ which is manifested by the Holy Spirit. We are called to live an abundant life in Christ, which comes from a life rooted and built up in Him where the fruit of our lips is the praise of God and where thanksgiving is the seat of all our affections. We were buried with the Lord Jesus Christ in baptism and we were raised with Him by grace, through faith in the living God. We are now dead to the world and the life we used to live and alive together with Him because He wiped out all our previous debts, having nailed them to the cross. We are, quite simply, debt free. Praise Jesus. Those principalities and powers that laid claim to us through sin, the Lord Jesus Christ triumphed over them. He disarmed them and humiliated them by His very own willing sacrifice.
(Col 1:19-20) For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell; and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven having made peace through the Blood of the Cross.
And it pleased the Father that we should be reconciled to Him by the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We who were once enemies of the cross and alienated from God have been reconciled, praise the Living God! We have been presented to the Father, holy and blameless and above reproach by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. This is where we stand. This is how we stand. This is how the Father sees us. This is indeed, our position and will remains so. Now, I could stop right there and most preachers do. Most teachers do. You will get a thousand amens when you preach this and leave out the word that immediately follows. IF!!!! We all know what the word means. It means “unless,” or “if indeed.” And so we see that Paul tells the sainst’s that this position is conditional.
What are the conditions he states……..1. If indeed you continue in the faith. Meaning? If you continue to trust God and walk with Him. 2. If you continue to be grounded and steadfast. Meaning? Grounded means to consolidate. Consolidate as a verb means to bring together into a single or unified whole and as an adjective it means to solidify, form or coherent. So, to be one in Christ and go in the faith, becoming sons and daughters as opposed to babes in Christ. To continue on to maturity 3. Not moved away from the hope of the Gospel. Meaning? To be heavenly minded, to find joy not only on the mountaintops but also in the depths of the valleys. To be able to rejoice in the midst of your sufferings and trials. To be drawn ever closer to the Lord by your tribulations.
This is pleasing to the Lord. He takes no pleasure in those who draw back. To continue in the faith is oftentimes to endure. To continue in the faith is oftentimes overcoming. To continue in the faith is get down on our knees, with Job, after great loss, and worship the Lord still and cry out “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” Will you continue in the faith? Have you continued in the faith? Paul says ” Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” Warning and teaching brothers and sisters, they go hand in glove.And Paul has of course done both in this very chapter. For we are handling riches. The pearl of great price. We direct the souls of men towards the heart of God which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is priceless, and we must treat it as such.
Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
In all things Jesus might have the preeminence. In all things brothers and sisters. And for this purpose we read in the earlier verses of this chapter that ” you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Increasing in the knowledge of God and the knowledge of His will is the work of the Holy Spirit in you. And as this occurs then Jesus is elevated, Jesus is lifted up, Jesus becomes first and last in all things, He indeed becomes your grand obsession and in this God is glorified. It was Christ who delivered us from the powers of darkness. It was God who transferred us, we were translated into the Kingdom of “The Son of His love.” How beautiful is that phrase ” The Son of His Love.” We, by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ become the sons and the daughters of His love!
Jesus is the image of the invisible God. Jesus is the Word made flesh. Jesus in Immanuel. He walks among us and is in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. By Jesus all things were created that are in heaven and in earth. Thrones, dominions and principalities and powers, all things were created by Jesus for the glory of God the Father. He is before all things and by Him all things exist. He is the head of the Body, the Church, and He is the firstborn from the dead and in all these things He has the preeminence. It is the devils task to tear Jesus down in the minds of men in a futile effort to dethrone Him. He detests the fact that Jesus Christ is the Son of His love. He is insanely jealous of Jesus and wants to replace Him which is why he is anti-christ. By removing the preeminence of Jesus from our gatherings he has went a long way in an inevitably futile task. How tragic that Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior has been sidelined and relegated in the hearts of millions of professing saints around the world in their hearts and in their gatherings.
Yet praise the Lord Jesus rules and reigns supreme in the hearts of His very own, no matter how much of the world has flooded into what we call churches. Jesus is and always will be higher than the highest heavens. One day the Lord will rend the heavens and His glory will flow down the mountains and fill every valley with His majesty. The seas will flee at His presence, the mountains will humbly bow and say ” Glory , glory to the risen King.” The sun will turn its face away in shame for it is outshone by the brilliance of His illumination. The moon and the stars will cry out ” Holy, Holy is He who was and is and forever shall be.” And every voice from every tongue will say “Jesus,” and acknowledge the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And the beasts of the earth will fall down and cover their faces and then the lion will rise up and approach the lamb and they will lay down together.
And every knee shall bow in every tribe and in every nation and even the hordes of hell will fall silent as He approaches. The earth itself will grow silent and shall be still and then a glorious noise will begin to rise and will fill the earth, it will fill the sea it will fill the night skies it will fill the whole universe and all that will be heard will be the choirs of angels, that heavenly choir and the glory of God will not only cover the earth but will fill up everything that there is or has ever been. God’s saints, the children of His love will rise on this glorious symphony, they will arise in the updrafts of His glory and majesty and it will carry them into the heart of God. And those who rejected this magnificent glory will fall and their cries will be heard as they fall into the depths of darkness, for what eyes can ever see light again that were not sanctified eyes. And He will reign forever.
(Php 2:20-21) For I have no man likeminded, who will sincerely care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.
This is such a powerful and bold statement! Imagine this brothers and sisters, as early as Paul’s day there was no one like-minded, who would sincerely care for the flock, apart from a few, like Timothy and Epaphroditus, whom we are told almost died for the cause of Christ. Most, and we are talking about Christian ministers here, looked out for themselves and cared rather for the things of this world and not the things of Christ. Was Paul too harsh? How would that kind of statement be met today? Can you not hear the howls of protest even now if one were to level the same criticism against that majority of today’s ministers. In the end it was all about mindset. We are told at the beginning of chapter two that we were to have the mind of Christ. To be sacrificial. Paul said that he was being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of their faith and was glad in it and rejoiced.
As ministers of the gospel we are called to have a certain state of mind. The seat of all our affections must be found in Christ. We are called to have a shepherd’s heart, willing to lay down our lives for the sheep. This was Paul, this was Timothy, this was Epaphroditus. How about you? How about me? Paul warned us, in very strong language to beware of those who only live to serve themselves. They call themselves ministers yet Paul called them dogs. He called them evil workers, those who continued to preach the law and elevate themselves. Their God is their belly and the glory they believe themselves to have is in fact their shame. Paul did not measure himself by his earthly status, nor his place in the traditions of men. In fact it was quite the opposite. His standing was measured by what he had lost to this world. His only desire was to gain Christ and be found in Him. Let this be our mindset brothers and sisters. Let us desire to gain Christ and be found in Him. And if we are to be poured out as a drink offering, then let us rejoice in the Lord, and again I say rejoice.
Php 2:12b … work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Oh the trouble this little portion of Scripture has caused! The word “work,” tends to have caused the most trouble. Of course its not the word work but rather the phrase “work out.” Which simply means to finish. When you were born again by the grace of God through faith, and not of works, lest any man should boast, a work was begun in you. Begun mind you. Something had been initiated, and that something was new life. God gave you something that He had promised, just like when God gave the promised land to the Israelites. And just as they had to possess the land then you too must possess that which was given to you. There remains the battle between the flesh and the spirit, actually its a war.
Will you fight the good fight? Will you resist the devil? Will you humble yourself? Will you forgive? Will you love your enemies? Will you draw near to God? Will you turn the other cheek? Will you refuse to seek revenge? Obedience versus disobedience. That is your work and God will not do it for you. No one can do it for you. And for those who have encountered God, you know that the greatest love story ever told was unleashed into your very being. Imagine disappointing the one who is your grand obsession? Are you not fearful of that? Does that not make you tremble? Fear and trembling not because of any dread or any fear of hell or what will happen to you, bur rather a very real fear that you would disappoint the lover of your soul. It is our lives work to be “imitators of God as dear children.” And we strive towards that place by obedience and yielding. No genuine saint willy nilly disobeys his or her Lord. Therein lies our “working out.” The lazy disobedient scoundrel who says that God has done it all and there is no part for us to play will sink down into the morass of dead orthodoxy and be left with nothing more than a mental assent to an abstract truth.
Eph 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
In Paul’s final words to the Ephesians, he addresses all the different groups that he had spoken life into. He had instructed them in ways that they could only carry out by the power of the Holy Spirit. Whether that was Husbands to wives, wives to husbands, children to parents and parents to children, bond-servants to masters and masters to bond-servants, if they were to walk in Christ and be obedient to Him they must walk in the Spirit. This was not just good “how to,’ advice from a life coach or a marriage counsellor, this was instructions from God that could only be carried out by His spiritual children. Now the question was “will you walk in obedience to these instructions?” Will you “put off,” and “put on,” the things aforementioned? If you are willing to do these things then finally brothers and sisters, you must be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. Your obedience to God qualifies you to put on the whole armor of God. Do not be fooled, no disobedient servant shall put on this armor.
For this is a spiritual battle of unseen forces and this is where the victory will lie. As the days of this world wind down then the principalities and powers will rise up. The rulers of the darkness of this age and the spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places shall come forward will great rage and boldness. They will attack truth from every imaginable angle and to the saints it will seem that we are being swamped and over run by the forces of darkness. It is, in effect, a last stand. Therefore saints, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand in the coming evil day and having done all-to stand. Truth will be your core, it shall be fastened to you at the very center of who you are. The righteousness of Christ shall be your breastplate. It shall guard your heart against the darkness of unrighteousness. Your feet shall be secure as it stands upon the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ of which we are not ashamed. Our trust in God shall protect us from the lies of Satan and his hordes, his threats shall not penetrate our hearts. And with our minds protected by our salvation and a sword in our hands then we shall hold our ground. We shall not move. We shall be an army of warriors who march upon our knees in prayer and supplication to the glory of God.
This stand, by the power of the Holy Spirit will fill us with boldness. We shall be bolder than we ever imagined. We shall be ambassadors for Christ even as we are shackled by the fleshly chains of men. Chained, perhaps, in this world, but free Sons and daughters of the world to come. This stand will of course, enrage the enemies of our souls. Think of the three Hebrew children. They may perish in the fire kindled by the hatred of men, but they would never bow down to the gods of this world. As we make out stand, as we refuse to bow down to the gods of this world, then we must expect the fire to come. Yet look again into the depths of the flames that surrounded the Hebrew children …….look…. can you see? The Son of man and the fellowship of the flames. We who worship Christ shall not burn, but rather we shall live forever in the glorious presence of our Lord and God. So brothers and sisters, lay down and put off that which hinders you from this fight and take up your cross. Put on the righteousness of Christ and the full armor of God and let us stand together. Back to back, side to side, lets us surround ourselves with our fellow saints and the Holy Spirit and let the battle of the ages begin, for Christ has already won the war!
Eph 5:1-2 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children and walk in love.
How astonishing that we have been called to imitate God and walk in love as Christ also loved us. We are to love as we are loved. God never calls His children to do what they cannot. He has empowered us, enabled us and equipped us to imitate Him in being a sweet sacrifice to God, a sweet smelling aroma. The Love of Jesus was measured by His sacrifice. Calvary is the measure of Gods love. If God called His Son to sacrifice for us, then He is calling His children to imitate Jesus. Not that we are saviors of the world but rather we represent and manifest the living Christ in us to a dark and broken world. When you measure yourself, you must measure yourself against the Lord. Not your pastor or your dear Godly grand father, no, you must measure yourself and your faith against that which is perfect. It is a high calling no doubt. He is our High calling. He is our North star, and just because popular culture would say “what would Jesus do,’ does not make that wrong. Only remember this, we do not have to wonder what Jesus would do, for Jesus dwells within us by the power of the Holy Spirit and has given us His word to lead us and guide us.
And so we are called to walk in love with the same love that Christ loves us with. Walking in love empowered with the truth causes us to walk in light, the very light that shatters the darkness. We know that darkness very well, for we once walked in it. The fruit of the Spirit in us is grounded in goodness and righteousness and truth. These are our weapons, this is the armor we are called to put on. No longer can we walk according to the unfruitful works of darkness, they must have no place in us. We are to put away the former things and rather, put on the fruitful works of the new man. He has filled us with the treasures of heaven in these earthen vessels. He has commanded light to shine out of what was formerly darkness. And the very first place we see the fruits of this light is in our relationships with our wives and husbands. Wives shall submit to their own husbands as unto the Lord and husbands shall love their wives as Jesus loved the Church. Both of these positions are almost always an anathema to the flesh. Whether it is submitting to or loving someone to the point o sacrifice and death, only in Christ and by the power of the Spirit can these attitudes be “put on.” And by the same power the old attitudes must be put away. In all things saints, imitate God and walk in the love of Christ and all its many manifestations.
I believe God will ignore most of the Evangelical churches standing today. They have what they want, they are satisfied with what they have, and there is no room in their program for the Holy Spirit to do His thing…………………to go forward requires that we go backward to rediscover and reclaim our spiritual roots. We have abandoned our roots and are wandering helplessly in a spiritual desert………what is happening across the board cannot be salvaged from a spiritual standpoint, and the chances are pretty high that God may have to start all over again,my prayer is that it happens quickly…..I am not sure this can begin in todays church. I am absolutely sure it cannot begin in most denominations (Tozer- Alive in the Spirit)
Now can I suggest that since this was written over fifty years ago, brother Tozer could be even more emphatic than his above statements. In Psalm 11 David asks “What can the righteous do in the foundations are destroyed?” What will happen when the average Evangelical church has exactly what it wants but is given over to leanness? ( psalm 106 13-15) Can dimmed lights replace leanness? How about musical concerts? Smoke machines? What disaster has befallen us? We are exceedingly lean people wandering lost in a desert of our own request and all we have to encourage ourselves is crowds? Somehow, if we have many folks walking through the doors and three services on a Sunday then maybe no one will notice the leanness? If they do we just need to make it darker or increase the entertainment value. Lets start to teach them how to live and somehow ignore the fact that the Holy Scriptures first teach us how to die.
Our spiritual roots which Tozer advises us to go back to can only be found in the Scriptures. If the programs have become the service then the service has to end until the only program available is the Holy Spirit’s program. What? If we shut down the programs who is going to pay the light bills and the staff’s salary. Someone might whisper “maybe we could just meet in our homes,” and upon overhearing this the professionals howled in protest. Now if we are to return to our spiritual roots where would a man give a word of wisdom? Where would a woman give a tongue? Where would one give a prophecy? Obviously not in the professional gatherings, only the ordained experts and trained worship leaders can be heard there. No scripture for that but lets not let that get in the way of the fact that this is how we have always done it for decades and centuries. Tozer goes on to say ” the next generation or two will face a challenge that cannot be overcome in the natural. Throughout history God has selected certain people to come out of the established church and start over again using biblical authority. What is happening across the board cannot be salvaged from a spiritual standpoint.”
Tozer gave a dire report on the state of the Evangelical church and its denominational counterparts fifty years ago, since then they have plunged down into the depths of leanness and depravity. One could only imagine the horror of men like Tozer and Ravenhill and even Wilkerson if they saw the depths to which the established church has fallen. Lean churches produce lean leaders who produce lean converts and that’s the best of them. The others will cross land and sea to make one convert and make them twice the child of hell than themselves. What can we do if the foundations are destroyed? We must discover anew the proper foundation that is laid down in Christ and the Apostles and the prophets. We must raise spiritual walls using only the Word of God. We must be found in these days of danger in our high towers. The righteous run into to it and they are safe. The high tower, the fortress, the deliverer, my shield in whom I trust. Upon Christ alone and upon His word we must go forward, baptized in the Holy Spirit that emboldens us to stand in such a day. This is our spiritual roots.
Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
There is a King and His name is Jesus, and His name is above all names. He holds my heart and in the depths of who I am, He reigns. He holds the fabric of my life together, He’s the smile you’ll see upon my face. And even now in the depths of winter He is my everlasting warm embrace. The truth is high and lifted up and when it is spoken in love the whole world shakes. It puts to flight all lies and cuts through the darkness. Shall we not be filled with this love and speak the Truth? In doing so we grow in all things related to our Lord. And when everyone of us begin to move, when the whole Body moves together then the earth begins to tremble for the army of the Lord is on the march. If we shall grow, individually and corporately we must speak the truth in love. If we shall rise up and go deeper into the Father’s heart, we must speak the truth in love and walk there in. If we shall be one even as He and the Father are one it can only happen in truth and in love. They go together, no one can separate Christ into individual parts.
“The whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does it share, causes growth of the body, for the edifying of itself in love.” (Eph 4:16) This is an explosive scripture. The Body is knit together by what every joint supplies. It is only effective when every part does its share. This is the only way for growth. Despite what charlatans and hirelings and wolves might tell you, adding numbers to a gathering is not growth. Speaking the truth in love is growth. Edification and discipleship is growth. Fruits of the Spirit is growth. Sanctification is growth. When we have put off our former conduct, that is growth. Growth is about the inner man, not how many services you have. Growth is about endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Only in Christ who is truth can there be unity, can there be one body and one Spirit. One hope, one faith, one baptism one God and Father who is above all and who is preeminent in our hearts and in our minds and our gatherings. We can grow in the desert. We can grow in the depths of a dungeon. We can grow on the mountaintops. We can grow in poverty and we can grow in sickness. Growth is not determined by our circumstances, it is determined by our desire to follow the Lord and His word, wherever that narrow road will take us.
What does it mean to be delivered? What does it look like for God to take full possession of us? Did He not purchase us? Did He not redeem us? He surely did and He will have all of us. One Wednesday night many many years ago at a church I used to attend, I was ministering to a young man in his 20s. He had been in the army. As I prayed for him I heard myself telling him that this was a battle. He had to fight his way to the very center of all of the madness and take this flag that had been planted in the depths of his heart and break it over his knee. “This is what victory looks like to you,” I told him. As I was driving home the Holy Spirit spoke to me very clearly clearly. “That was a good prayer…. how about you?……what about your battle?” And in that way that only God can do, I heard Him speak without speaking. I had a flag planted in the depths of my heart. It was planted there when I was a child. The devil himself, through my earthly father had planted a flag in my heart and it denoted ownership. There was a part of my heart that I could not have articulated to you. Oh I knew I had anger. I knew there was rage in me still, even after coming to the Lord, but it was buried deep. It would come out in flashes and would shock me.
As I continued driving home in the midst of this revelation, the Holy Spirit told me to go home, go to the basement where my father would be, he was visiting from Scotland. Turn of the television and look him right in the eyes and say to him “I am going to tell you something and I do not want you to interrupt me. I love you dad. As far as I am concerned there is no past between us, there is only now and I forgive you.” And when the Holy Spirit was finished speaking to me I was totally horrified. There was an inner scream in me. I was supposed to say this to the man who crushed my heart and broke my spirit? I would rather be roasted over hot coals. Its not that I did not want to say it to him, its that I simply could not. That was a bridge too far. And in my thoughts I screamed “I could never do this.” And immediately, the Holy Spirit very firmly said to me, out of my own mouth no less, in a way that could not be argued with “yes you can.” And so I drove home, trembling. Fear rose up in me. A fear I had not felt since I was a child dealing with the rage of a drunken father who hated God. I was literally drowning in my fear. There was no place to run and no place to hide. There was a flag planted in the depths of my heart and this very night God was going to tear it down.
I arrived home. I asked my wife where my dad was. I was half hoping he was not in the basement. Maybe I could convince myself it was not God that spoke. “He’s in the basement watching TV. ” I approached the stairs like a man walking towards his own funeral. Thoughts and memories rushing through my mind, memories I had suppressed all of my adult life. With every stair I went down I could hear the insults. “Fucking idiot.” Another stair, “You useless piece of shite.” Another stair “stick that fucking knife in me right now.” Another stair “go on you fucking poof.” I was descending back into a hell I had long since left behind. And there he was. And there I was. The man that had crushed my heart and broken my spirit and robbed me of my childhood, and had never been confronted in any way. The giant that ruled over my childhood land with ruthless domination. All of a sudden, there I was, speaking word for word what the Holy Spirit had told me to say. And the flag was uprooted and broken in two. The stronghold fell. I hugged my father and wept on his shoulder. And when it was over it was over. I would like to tell you that it had a fairy tale ending. That we had this marvelous relationship after that. We did not. Yet, the power had been broken. The work had been done. Listen brothers, listen sisters. God wants all of you. He knows the very depths of your heart. He knows you better than you know yourself. He will do a work in you. He will take what is His. He will shape you and mold you. Never fight it. God bless you in your journey.
A Call To The Remnant 