It is said that as Martin Luther King was giving his famous speech that Mahalia Jackson shouted to him from the podium
“tell them about the dream Martin.” If you watch his famous speech, the first 12 minutes were excellent. The words were marvelously written and with great skill they were delivered. Yet when he hears Mahalia Jackson shout “tell them about the dream Martin,” he slides the speech over and begins to speak extemporaneously (without his notes) He begins to tell the crowd about his dream. The speech becomes noticeably less political and takes the tone of an impassioned sermon, as one caught up in the Spirit, the words go from tremendous to lofty and soaring. The sentiment becomes one of unity. That black people and white people would one day sit down with one another, that black children would one day be judged, not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. That was his dream, and even although he returns to the speech with the magnificent phrase of “let freedom ring,’ it will be forever known as the “I have a dream,” speech.

When we go of script and allow God to move in us brothers and sisters, the Spirit of God begins to rise up in us. When it is He alone who speaks and we are but carried along in the updrafts of His presence or by the waters of His current then we truly begin to speak life into a dying world. When Peter began to speak at Pentecost and the power of God began to rise up in him and the deluge of the Holy Spirit began to fall down and engulf the hearts of the hearers. then, and only then, they cried out “what must we do to be saved?” This is how the world is moved, this is how the world is turned upside down, by the Spirit of the Living God flowing through us, unencumbered by our own efforts.

Oh that we would step aside. Oh that we would lay down what we know and lift up who we know. If we begin to simply tell the world about the Jesus that we know, if we begin to lift up the risen Christ, then The Spirit of God would rend the heavens and come down, down upon the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. He would flow down from the mighty mountains of New York. He would rise up to the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. He would melt the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.The freedom wrought for us at Calvary would ring out from the curvaceous slopes of California. And from atop Stone mountain of Georgia and Lookout mountain of Tennessee glory would rain down and flood the land.

It is not only wrong to worry, it is real infidelity-because it means we do no believe God can look after the little practical details of our lives. Notice what Jesus said would choke the Word He puts in us. The devil? No, cares of this world. That is how infidelity begins. It is the “little foxes that spoil the vines,” always the little worries. The great cure for infidelity is obedience to the Spirit of God. Refuse to be swamped by the cares of this world, cut out non-essentials and continually revise your relationship to God and see that you are concentrated absolutely on Him (Oswald Chambers)

Notice how Chambers uses the word infidelity? Adultery by any other name. It is offensive is it not to think that not trusting God in the little things are the first steps of unfaithfulness? If I smile at a woman in my office and the smile leads to small talk and the small talk leads to deeper talks which leads to lunch and then in the moment of “weakness,” or “crisis,’ it leads to the bedroom, then the adultery is complete. Adultery has to start somewhere. And without a doubt there is a still small voice saying “do not go down this road.”

So, if a smile can lead to adultery ( I am not advocating not smiling or talking to people) can we see that to be anxious, to worry about the little things are the first steps in the building blocks of unfaithfulness? Jesus Himself says through the Word that we are to be “anxious for nothing.’ Think about that. Not a suggestion but a command. Does it stagger your mind that it is possible to be “anxious for nothing?” And what are we told to do instead of being anxious? “But in everything (note that word everything) by prayer and supplication and thanksgiving, make your requests known to God, and the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.” (Php 4:6)

All of what we are commanded to do is predicated upon thanksgiving. In that state of thanksgiving as we come before the Lord, as we walk down the narrow path of this life with our Glorious companion, we can walk in a peace that surpasses understanding. This place must be “entered in.” This gift of peace must be possessed. This possession can only truly be grasped by those who seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all those “other things,” are the little foxes that spoil the vine. Foxes are sneaky and stealthy, they move quietly among the tall grass as they hone in on their target. Not a big predator by any means, but a spoiler of the “vines, for our vines have tender grapes.” (Song of Solomon 2:15)

We are the vines in this example brothers and sisters. And our grapes are tender, our faith, not yet fully established. Would you like to be anxious free? Then the little worries must be dealt with. We must see them for what they are. We must not normalize them or rationalize them. We do that, don’t we? We hang onto them. Dare I say that we embrace them as our own. Any notion of putting them away is usually met by scoffing and scorn, and that typically from our own hearts. The first step towards possessing this peace is to recognize out little worries as infidelity. We cannot move on until we see that. Once we see it, once it is brought into the light of our minds then there is no question about it, it must go.

There is a place where we have ceased from our own works and entered into His rest. Let us lay hold of it. An eternal sabbath day. Rest, to lay down in the palm of His hand. To be anxious for nothing. To the heavy laden Jesus says “I will give you rest.” Do you have that rest? Have you reached out and received that rest? It awaits thee brothers and sisters at the hand of God. Be faithful to Him in the little things, meaning trust Him in the little things, the little worries, commit yourself to Him in all these little things and you shall serve only one Master. Be faithful to Jesus, everything else is infidelity.

When you are trying to find out the condition of a church, do not just inquire whether it is evangelical. Ask whether it is an Evangelical rationalistic church that says “The test is enough,” or whether it is a church that believes that the test plus the Holy Spirit is enough. I would rather be part of a small group with inner knowledge than part of a vast group with only intellectual knowledge. In the great day of Christ’s coming, all that will matter is whether or not I have been inwardly illuminated, inwardly regenerated, inwardly purified( A.W.Tozer)

Brother Tozer in so much of his writings talks about this “inner knowledge,” as opposed to intellectual knowledge. Whenever one speaks of this it can arouse great passions in people. In fact, if you are anything of a church historian you will know that over the last 2000 years, this has been exactly the issue. Typically those burned at the stake were those who made such claims and it aroused violent murderous hatred. I would argue that every single man who ever burned another human being or gave assent to men being burned were those of the “intellectual knowledge,” class. If Saul was jealous of David, and he was, and it caused him to lose his mind and it did, then the same spirit exists in our day as it has always done.

The two groups that Tozer identified, the small group with inner knowledge and the vast majority of those with mere intellectual knowledge of the Word still exist. And this inner knowledge is not some special knowledge that only a small group know, it is simply Biblical knowledge illuminated by the Holy Spirit. And the fruit of that illumination leads to men and women who are inwardly regenerated which leads to a purity that is Spirit driven. Inside out. Changed at the core of our beings and the fruit of those changes being on display for all to see. You will know a man by his fruit and by his love for one another. Imagine such a man or woman burning to death another human being, impossible.

Now, those with an intellectual knowledge of the Bible understand that it teaches about purity and change and being a new creature in Christ. If they have no actual inner knowledge, meaning the Holy Spirit does not reside within them, then the changes must come from the outside in. The outward appearance. Aesthetics. How we dress, strict adherence to religious observance, a focus on the things we do not do, or what we are against, as opposed to who we are in Christ and what we are for. All of these things and more mark the man or woman who is trying to create a holiness and a purity by the work of their own righteousness. It is an age old trap. It cannot work.

The simplest way to illustrate the difference between the two groups would be this. Imagine a vast forest, thick and dense with no trails through it. Yet right through the middle of it runs a mighty river. The river leads to the ocean and this is the stated objective of the two groups. The river is wild and deep and its current is fierce. One group commits itself to the river. Not ankle deep or knee deep nor even waist deep but fully immersed in the depths of the river so that the current takes you where it will.

The other group cannot make such a commitment to abandon themselves to the river and allow the river to simply take them. No, they want to be in charge of their progress. So they begin the hopeless and backbreaking task of hacking their way through the vast forest in a effort to reach the ocean which they shall never reach. Yet they commend themselves on the hard work they undertake. The work itself becomes the virtue. They measure their progress by the fruitless and frenetic work that they undertake.

One group will arrive at its destination and will never be able to commend themselves, for the river did all the work, their only role was to abandon themselves to the river and go with the flow. The other group will never reach the ocean, they will merely pass the axe to each proceeding generation. They will worship the axe and build great monuments to it. To what group do you belong?

The question is “what hill will you die on?” In every battle in life whether in war or in our own personal lives there is one side holding the ground and the opposing side is attempting to take that ground. Could be a hill, a castle, a city, a town or a bridge. It could be a million things in our personal lives. Your flesh versus your spirit for example. No matter, in these battles there is the one holding on and the one attempting to displace and take.

Now, it does not really matter what position you are in, the fundamentals are the same whether you are holding the line or attempting to take a stronghold. For instance, if you are defending a village then you have a line and you are holding the line.It is very important that you hold the line. When the enemy is advancing and your line begins to break then you would scatter and retreat in chaos and the enemy advances and takes his objective.

Now, if you were attacking, attempting to take the position, the principal would be that you have to keep moving forward and put your enemy back on his heels. If you do not keep moving forward as an attacking force and get bogged down in an open position, then the defenders will be able to zero in on your position, rain fire down upon you and you have to scatter and retreat in chaos and the enemy comes out of his defensive position and comes after your retreating forces and cuts you down.

Now these principals work. Hold the line, hold the objective. Move forward and keep moving forward and take the objective. Yet like everything in life they are not hard and fast. For any plan to go awry the battle must merely commence. Once the battle begins, you have to be able to adapt to the changing conditions on the ground. The great leaders of every battle can see the battle-field and can adjust as the circumstance warrant. So, although the principle of keep moving forward is a good one, sometimes we may have underestimated the enemies strength and depth of forces. Under those circumstances do we keep moving forward?

What about holding the line? Perhaps you have a limited amount of men and ammunition and the force that is attacking you is just too great and if you continue to try and hold the line the you will be overrun and wiped out. In each case strategic withdrawals are warranted. The man who would die on every hill may have some momentary zeal and glory, but he will die and he will likely get everyone else killed. So the wise man knows when to stop, retreat, regroup and reconsider his options. Whether defending or attacking the wise man, if the situation warrants it shall sound the retreat, then regroup and the reconsider. The unwise man is not capable of this.

In the Christian world we need to understand the battles that we are involved in. Is this a hill we are going to die on? Can I suggest that we as Christians are involved in a constant war that rages on many fronts. We have been called to the battle-field not the play ground. And in the midst of these battles we already have a commander in chief who directs the battle. It is vital that we have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. We can know our war manual back to front but if we cannot be directed in the heat of the battle in real time, since almost every single situation unique to you, then we shall be defeated.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a hill out there with your name on it, maybe more than one and these hills were built for us to stand or die while never retreating. But we must be led by the Word of God and His holy Spirit and not by the zeal and the passion that arises from our own desires and wisdom. So, the Holy Spirit will give you the wisdom on when to hold the line or when to retreat, regroup and reconsider your strategy.

There are the big battles in our lives and there is also the every day battles with our flesh and with our sanctification. The principles from above may be real war battles from battle-fields but they apply to our spiritual lives as well. You must have a trustworthy commander. You must be able to fight as a unit. You must be able to hear your commander so that you are able to respond to His directions. Obedience is key. Whether we understand or not is not the issue, it is whether we can hear and whether when we hear we shall obey.

This is how we win the battles whatever position we are in. Taking down strongholds or holding the line, if we follow these fundamental we shall glorify the the Lord on the field of battle. Warriors for Christ, soldiers of the cross, desiring to fight and die for the glorious cause of Christ.

Can the spirit of man fellowship with the Spirit of God? A rhetorical question of course. One is enmity to the other. Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? (2Co 6:14) Some may argue that all men and woman who gather together in churches are believers. Yet in John 8 we see that Jesus tells those who identify as “believers,” that their father is the devil. These “believers,” took up stones to kill Jesus. Its not the name that you call yourself that counts, its the Spirit of God that is either in a man or it is not that counts. While it is clear that it has never been acceptable for the righteous to fellowship with the unrighteous and indeed has caused almost all of the problems that we see in Christendom down through the ages, it gets more and more dangerous to do so as the ages draw to a close. The Holy Spirit is very deliberately exposing what is and what is not, do not get in the way of the Holy Spirit.

Listen to what Tozer says………… The spiritual man has treasures this world discounts. He has a mystic wisdom of the Holy Spirit, but the world has no way to receive this. Jesus said the world cannot receive Him “because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him.” (John 14:17) Just as a deaf man has no sensory organ to receive music, and just as a blind man has no organ to receive light, so a worldly man has no organ to receive the treasure of God’s mystic knowledge by the Holy Spirit. And of course, if the Christian says that he has and is sure of himself, the world is angry with him, even the religious world. They say he is a bigot, he thinks too much of himself. The Christian man has the Holy Spirit, invisible and from God, whom the world cannot receive. The Christian has heard a voice, seen the light and been able to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, while the world is just religious (A.W.Tozer-A disruptive faith)

Tozer is right, isn’t he? The world and the religious men are always angry with the man who can say with a certainty “God said to me.” They say that he is arrogant and unbending. Yet what they do not realize is that the man who has heard from God, who has stood in His temple and been surrounded by His glory and transformed forever by His magnificent presence, minds the things of God and not the things of man. He understands the vastness of God and by comparison, how small man is. Who is he going to listen to? Who is he going to be moved by? God alone. And this infuriates man and brings the man or woman of God into direct conflict with the spirit of man, the spirit of the age. Be ready saints, for the spirit of the end of the ages is strong and vicious. Be prepared and count the cost and stand upon the truth. There is a glorious reward that awaits the saint who refuses to compromise, who overcomes, who endures till the end. Find saints and fellowship with them. Be deliberate in who you fellowship with, and all the more as you see that day approaching. Do not be unequally yoked.

As I was walking my dog the other day, there was a younger man in front of me coming onto the trail. He was running with a backpack on and he had a dog with him. The dog was off leash which always makes me a wee bit bit nervous, especially if its a big dog because my dog is smallish. It’s ironic that it makes me nervous because I walk my dog without a leash. I always have with my dogs over the years. This young man was shouting at his dog every 30 seconds. He was shouting as loud as he could “back.” Even when he was way ahead of me and I could not see him anymore I could still hear him shouting “back,’ and the anger level was noticeably increasing.

It made me think about how I communicate with my own dog. I never really speak to her at all when we are walking. She understands my “expectations.” It rarely has to be communicated by words. If I speak at all I get her immediate attention because its not typical for me to have to speak to her. We have an understanding. Now, that did not happen overnight. It took a significant portion of her younger life for her will to bend to my expectations. I was unmovable so if something was going to change it was going to be her. She had to understand her place.

When she finally yielded to my expectations then everything changed. Her life got a lot less complicated. Her freedom increased dramatically and her anxiety level was dramatically reduced. She had found her place in life. She understands my expectations without me having to speak. I know what God expects of me. I know His expectations. Not just through the written word but also through His Spirit. The older I got and the more I yielded the less He had to “speak to me,” in a sense. I never want to disappoint my Lord. I love Him and I desire to please Him.

When my dog displeases me her world is not right until she makes it right with me. She will come to me again and again and nuzzle into me. She has to know that things are right between us. she will not settle down until she senses that we are good. Us being “good,” is the foundation of her life. She knows my expectations and we know the Lord’s expectations for our lives.

We do not have a God who keeps shouting and screaming at us. He is not trying to dominate us, He is looking for cooperation with His expectations for us and love is the glue that holds it all together. I always want to be right with my Lord because I love Him and the last thing I want to do is disappoint Him. It makes me come to Him again and again with a broken and a contrite heart until I “know,” that we “are good.’ The young man who was screaming at his dog represents religion and its efforts to control people. The Lord who shares His expectations with us in love represents relationship.