What do I mean by the triumph of form over substance? Well, it typically means that content or the subject does not matter, what matters is how a thing looks. In other words the subject itself does not have to have any depth or true meaning it only has to look good and feel good.

I would argue that this current political cycle is a perfect example of form triumphing over substance. The rise of Donald Trump is the rise of form over substance. He merely taps into the mood of the people and says what he needs to say to get elected. He is an amalgam of our personality cult culture and business and now politics. This is the end result of a long process that could only truly find its successful conclusion with the rise of media and especially social media.

Now there have been notable people from the previous century that gives us clues as to how we got here. If we look at Hitler we see a man who could never have arisen without the aid of radio and the camera and of course circumstances. The circumstances are obvious. There was social unrest caused by a financial meltdown. This of course was severely aggravated with the rise of socialism and communism throughout the world. Given these fears and others, the people turned to someone who promised to make Germany great again. Someone who would face the problems of the day head on. Now they knew that he held extreme views but their fears for their present situation overcame any misgivings they may have had for him. The basic premise throughout the ruling classes was ” he would at least sort out the Communists,” which of course he did yet they had unleashed a monster.

Along with all those reasons, Hitler could still not have come to power without the aid of media. Radio of course was the social media of the day. People gathered in their living rooms and listened to his captivating speeches. They also went to the movies and saw such productions as ” Triumph of the Will.” A movie about the rise of the Nazi party that combined music and clippings of speeches and rallies. It is purported to be the greatest propaganda movie of all time and truly shows the power of media, form over substance, to move a whole nation. And of course that power has only increased exponentially over the last 80 years.

The first ever televised interview of two politicians debating was in 1960 and was between Nixon and Kennedy. Unbeknownst to Nixon, Kennedy had the heat turned way up in the studio because he knew Nixon had a tendency to sweat. When they both sat down to debate, Kennedy looked cool and collected while Nixon sweated badly. This had a great effect on the viewing audience. No matter what one of these men you liked, it could easily be argued that Kennedy knew the value of form over substance, it was less about what they were saying and more about how they were coming across to the audience.

In the church we are living, for the greater part, with the triumph of form over substance and the evidence of that is the depth or lack thereof of Christianity in our society. While we have had no Hitlers in the church(many mini ones) we have had many charlatans that used the power of the media and the rules of entertainment to water down the message while promoting themselves. Now three of four generations into an entertainment driven church we are left with a shallowness of showmanship that engages the ” audience.” Tozer writes “The church that can’t worship must be entertained. And men who can’t lead a church to worship must provide the entertainment.” I would argue that all across Christendom in the west we are seeing leaders who lead the people by providing entertainment.

Tragically we have seen that as the world goes so goes the church. Of course it should be the exact opposite, yet here we are. You will hear excuses about staying relevant and keeping up with technology and so on. I personally have nothing against technology but when it becomes an integral part of the “show” on a Sunday morning then you know that the plot has been lost. Today we are being driven by the form and not the substance. The cultural winds have simply taken a hold of the church and the church is being driven along by these winds towards what destination? What is the end for such a church? The complete amalgam of the world with the church. This is a tragedy. The church was supposed to be a counter-culture not a sub-culture.

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And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink. (Exo 2:2-3)

We see here a great story of faith and agony. Can you imagine that the law demanded that you kill your new-born child if he were a boy? Moses mother saw the beauty of her child and kept him hid. When she could hide him no more she made him an “ark of bulrushes,” and cast him out upon the waters. I cannot even begin to imagine the agony his mother must have suffered as she let go of that ark and let the current slowly carry her child away.

As Moses’ sister watched the ark, she saw the daughter of Pharoah arrive and discover the child. Pharoah’s daughters  heart is filled with compassion. Then with boldness, Moses’ sister steps out and tells Pharoah’s daughter that she knows someone who could nurse the child. Moses mother is soon reunited with her child and Moses lives. It’s an incredible story with much to learn from.

First we see that God’s children are being persecuted and now this incredibly evil law is enacted whereby every Hebrew male child is to be killed. If that was successful, then their heritage would die out. Satan was trying to destroy the Hebrews but God had a plan. We know that Moses had an older brother so the law must have been relatively new. It is very possible that even as the law was enacted, the solution was already taking shape in the womb of Moses mother.

Now many of you brothers and sisters are facing a trial in which there seems to be no way out. I want you to imagine the pain of Moses mother. For three long months as she nursed her precious child, not one day would have went by without her knowing that at best what she was doing was temporary. Many of you are living each day as it comes, it being just enough to get up each day and get through the day. I want to reassure you brothers and sisters,  God sees your affliction. Now Moses mother could never have imagined in her wildest dreams what would happen when she cast her child upon the waters. She must surely have spent the previous months agonizing over his certain death. Can you see that God can be already working on a solution to our problem long before that solution every comes to the light of day.

Sometimes we have to cast our cares upon the waters. It might be your child, your adult child, your husband or your wife. Can you let them go and allow God to take them? Believe me, I do not underestimate the agony of  letting go, especially for mothers. Yet sometimes if we do not let go it would mean certain death for all involved. Trusting God is no easy thing, it comes with a cost. The innermost flesh of your heart has to be torn, it is a rending of soul and spirit. Yet the Lord has asked us to trust Him and no where is this more important than with our loved ones.

Can you imagine the pain for Moses mother as she put this ark together? This is no simple thing. She is constructing an ark of faith, piece by piece, in order to allow her child to float away with the current. The fear that must have gripped her soul, the pain that must have coursed through her with every strand of that ark, with every application of that pitch. This would have been the same pain that Abraham faced as he climbed that hill with the necessary pieces for a sacrifice, his son being the sacrifice. Imagine that, This child that Abraham had waited for twenty-five years, this child of promise, this seed that would produce a multitude greater in number than the sands of the seashore or the stars in the night sky. And yet he is compelled to take his son up the hill. Yet God had a plan.

God sees your pain today brothers and sisters but I want to assure you that God has a plan. Despite the pain and the agony of your situation the Lord is calling for you to trust Him. Will you trust Him today? Will you cast you cares upon the waters? Will you allow your cares and your deepest fears to be carried away by an act of your will, by an exercise of your faith, trusting in Him? God bless you today as you walk through your valley of tears and yet remain steadfast. A steadfast heart still bleeds. It still weeps and feels the crushing weight of circumstances yet it endures and overcomes. You will endure brother, you will overcome sister. You will overcome because you stand in the shadow of the Almighty who walked this earth and overcame so that you too could overcome.You will overcome, stand fast in the beauty of His Holiness.

There will come a time soon when the Body of Christ corporately and individually will seem like they have been cast away. Yet God has made a way for His children for He is a Father to the fatherless and a lover of those who have been outcast, those who find themselves outside the established order of things. God will supply every need as we cast ourselves upon the waters and into His eternal plans. This is the agony and the glory of faith. This is where true peace is born. There is a peace that surpasses all understanding and it is forged in the crucible of the decision to trust in God. Nothing this glorious comes without a cost. There is a Jordan river to cross in our hearts. One side is the wilderness and the other side is the promised land of rest. There are rivers to cross and cities to encompass. Those who trust in God shall see a way through the raging waters of life and see the walls of opposition crumble as we stand fast and declare His glory with a shout.

We need to remember that God is allowing us to live on two planes at the same time. He lets us live on this religious plane where there are preachers and song-leaders and choirs and pianists and organists and editors and leaders and promoters and evangelists, and that is religion. That is religion in overalls-that is the external garb of religion and it has its own place in God’s work and plan. But, brethren, inside that and beyond that and above that and superior to all of the externals in our religious experience is the spiritual essence of it all- and it’s that spiritual essence for which I am pleading, and what I want to see enthroned in our communion and fellowship in the Church of Jesus Christ……If we do not see beyond the visible, and if we cannot touch that which is intangible, and if we cannot hear that which is not audible, and if we cannot know that which is beyond knowing-then I have serious doubts about the validity of our Christian experience ( Tozer)

If our Christianity is not supernatural then it is superficial ( David Legge)

At the beating heart of everything that we are and do must lie the Golden chalice of Christ Himself. Our relationship with Jesus quite apart from any religious externals must be the driving force of our lives. Externals can change and even fall away but our relationship with Jesus never changes. He walks with us daily, He comforts us hourly, He intercedes for us at all times. It is Jesus that is the centerpiece of who we are.

I know people, good people who will say things like, and with all sincerity, ” you must come to my church, you must hear my pastor, you must come and see our worship team,” and so on. I have said it before and I am sure many readers have heard it and said it before as well. What happens when your church fails, when your pastor falls, when your worship leader runs off with the youth pastor? Now hopefully that will never happen and I say it tongue in cheek but you get my point. Each one of us should have such a relationship with Jesus that if we ever happen to have an opportunity to speak to anyone about eternal life and eternal death matters then we should be able to talk about the Jesus we know.

I say that we are for the most part, a spiritually impotent generation. And let me say first and foremost that it is our own fault. Each of us who know Jesus have the ability to share with others. Remember that the steps of a righteous man and woman are ordered of God. If you ” happen,” to be speaking to someone and that conversation turns towards the spiritual then know that God knew that and the fact that you are speaking to that someone is no surprise to God who brings order to the universe. He knows that person and He knows you. He makes no mistakes.

Yet, the very overalls, the religious externals, have grown to discourage that kind of sharing. We have made professionals out of our churches whether it be our pastors or our worship leaders. Only they teach, only they lead, only they or something connected to them is ever shared from the pulpit. The dividing line between the clergy and the laity has fundamentally weakened Christendom. It has served to disenfranchise the believers and has turned most of them into pew warming spectating tithers whose main purpose is to pay the bills and play their part in a religious spectacle that typically serves to promote the professional pastor and the professional worship leader so that they can build their kingdoms and franchise their organisations. And since we now have the technology, when it is franchised then they can simply pipe in the original ” team,” into another location thus nullifying the prospect that anyone may rob them of any of the glory they have so dearly sought while typically hiding it under a mask of humility.

If our denominations and churches only exist on the plane of external religion, then how can they ever make any significant impact on our communities? If our communion, our fellowship, is not enthroned upon the Spiritual, if the central aspect of our gatherings is around anything other than a supernatural Jesus who gives sight to see that which is not visible and gives ears to hear that which is not audible then what do we have? If we are left only with the religion externals then all we have is religious entertainment of one sort or another, a building or an organisation that only truly exists to perpetuate itself and promote certain individuals. We must cry out for Jesus and for Him to once again be preeminent in our gatherings. If we make Jesus the centerpiece, if we allow Him through His Holy Spirit to be central in our gatherings then I believe we would then be truly equipping the saints to be witness to His glory in season and out of season and especially in this day which could very possibly be the end of the ages.

The man who has passed on into the divine presence is actual inner experience will not find many who understand him. A certain amount of social fellowship will of course be his as he mingles with the religious persons in the regular activities of the church, but true spiritual fellowship will be hard to find. But he should not expect things to be otherwise. After all, he is a stranger and a pilgrim, and the journey he takes is not on his feet but in his heart. He walks with God in the garden of his own soul-and who but God can walk there with him? He is of another spirit from the multitudes that tread the courts of the Lord’s house. He has seen that which they have only heard and he walks among them somewhat as Zacharias walked after his return from the altar when the people whispered ” He has seen a vision.” (Luke1:22) (Tozer)

Tozer rightfully identifies the loneliness of the walk of the saint who has stepped behind the veil so to speak. Certainly it has always been this way. Yet in these days this loneliness the saint feels, this isolation that plagues him can only get worse. For part of this loneliness has always been associated with separation down through corridors of time. In every age every group of saints has faced the challenge of their time and they faced it, for the most part alone or in smaller groups.

Now why do I say that it can only get worse? I believe that it will only get worse because this world is growing darker, darker than it ever has been before. There is coming a time such as has not been before. Before it is all over right will have become wrong, day will have become night and every saint who has walked in the garden of the Lord’s heart will be more isolated that any group of saints ever have been in the past. Can I suggest that when a saint is compelled deeper into the heart of God then that is a deep blessing. Yes in the natural sense of the Body of Christ we yearn for fellowship, deep genuine fellowship. Yet there is a an even more powerful force that grips us. This force lies at the center of who we are. If we were to drill into the center of who we are we would find this here. If we could see with spiritual eyes into the deepest parts of who we are we would see this. What is it? Its a gift that we received upon which everything stands. It is the Truth and our love for it.

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2Th 2:10-12)

It is such a serious thing is it not, the truth? By it we stand or fall. Those who receive the love of the truth are saved, those who do not, perish. Now, if you have received the love of the truth, nothing will compel you to give it up. You have received it as a gift from God Himself and it burns in your bones. This is why there is more loneliness ahead in this world for the saint. For the world and indeed much of Christendom has turned its back on the truth. They are willing to trade the truth for the love of man and the acceptance of the world. We know that perfect love casts out all fear. This love, which we saints have received will do its perfect work. It will keep us in power and give us a mind that is not shaken by circumstances, a heart and a mind that stands upon the unshakable Word of God. Yet not just the Word of God but the dynamic reality of the presence of God.

And that is the separation. Only in like-minded saints can we ever find fellowship. Only that kind of fellowship moving forward will be acceptable. The reality is that there is an ever-widening gap between those who call themselves followers of Jesus and those who, as Tozer would put it, have seen as opposed to heard.  On the road to Emmaeus two saints said ““Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” The Holy Spirit opens up the Word to His saints as they encounter the living God in their hearts. He leads them and He guides them and at the bottom of it all is Truth and the saints love for it. What is Truth? Jesus is Truth and in that Truth He give us life and that more abundantly and He shows us the way. If that way leads us down the dark and narrow road of circumstances and loneliness, then that will not stop us from going down that road.

And so the gap indeed widens for the genuine saint who has received the love of the truth. The world and all of its ways have forced itself into Christendom and demands allegiance. Not total  allegiance to begin with for that old serpent is far too wise for that. Just a foothold, juts a little foothold that’s all, today, but tomorrow comes the stronghold and then the stronghold becomes the base from which total dominance of all the land becomes a reality. The genuine saint flees away from all of that and will find less and less places of refuge until at last he has no where else to run. Yet the man or the woman of God has found a hiding place that can never be conquered or taken. It is the high tower of the Living God. It is the shadow underneath the wing of the most high. It is the secret garden of the heart of promise given to us. There we walk saints. It is a place where we know. It is common to us. I have met saints from all over the world who ” know,” this place. And my spirit witnesses with theirs and theirs with mine.

Before this dark old world is finished with us saints we will have gathered there as the reality of this present world comes. There are but two worlds, two realities. This world and the Kingdom of God. When the Lord returns, which world will He find  us in? Each world is exclusive and demands total loyalty. We are witnessing the stripping away of all of the pretense of this world. There is more stripping to come as the master of this world exposes himself for who and what he is. And antidote to this world and the father of lies is the Truth and our love for it. Let us stand fast in the coming days and follow the passion of our hearts no matter where it leads us.

Isa 51:1 Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.

There was a remnant of God living in Babylon just prior to their return to Jerusalem. Seventy long years and most of Israel that had been carried off were now completely consumed with the things of the world. Babylon offered some of the most modern living and comforts the world had to offer in those days. It seems that two-thirds of the Israelites, when given the opportunity, would not return to a broken down city with no walls. Much of that generation had never experienced what it had been like to live in Israel or worship in the temple.

And so the prophet has some advice for the remnant who still followed after righteousness even although they lived in a pagan world. He tells those who still sought after the Lord to lookback unto the rock from where they had been chiseled out and to the hole from where they had been dug up. He was telling God’s people to look back and remember what God had done for them, how they had been redeemed and called. Maybe as you look around and see the state of the world and the state of Christianity, you too are deeply discouraged. But I want you to remember your salvation, I want you to bring to your mind the darkness of sin that God called you out of into His marvelous light. I want you to think about all the trials and tribulations that the Lord has brought you through. I want you to consider your very sanity in a world gone mad, even the state of your mind is directly due to the God of our salvation, our heavenly Father. Praise God that we still stand.

Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him. For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.(Isa 51:2-3) Read the rest of this entry »