The New Bereans

And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Mark 10:17-31

In the story of the “Rich Young Ruler” it is easy to miss the main point, I did for years. The young man asks Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus tells him to sell everything, give to the poor, and follow him. He did not do this, and we can draw the false conclusion that, because he wouldn’t sell his stuff he couldn’t go to heaven, but if he could have done this he would have been able to get in.

This conclusion is wrong. Jesus never told him that selling his stuff would reserve a spot in heaven, he told him to sell his stuff and follow. Jesus did not give a direct answer to his question because there is no good deed one can do to earn a place in heaven. His issue was not materialism, the issue is unbelief. He was told to leave behind his stuff, and believe that God had rewards for him which far exceeded what he was called to leave behind. The young ruler wanted to add one more good work to his life, and Jesus told him to loose his life. He wanted spirituality not suffering, position not persecution, honor not humility.

We mistakenly focus on his sin of materialism but this is peripheral, the core sin for him was unbelief.

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6

But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you . . . for I have no man like minded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.  ₁

But when he (Jesus) saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. ₂

Truly those who want to care for the sheep purely out of compassion, without self interest are quite rare.  For most of my walk I have struggled with this very issue, having a motive to do God’s work partially to gain approval from others.  It is totally biblical to do things for God to be seen by him, and be rewarded by him for it i.e. the Sermon on the Mount; but the exact same verses condemn doing the same things to be seen by men.  On the face of it, the situation can seem hopeless, is it possible to purify our motives?  We find that “The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it?” ₃ Is there someone, or something else that can purify our hearts?

Proverbs tells us the refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the LORD tests the hearts. ₄ In the same way that gold and silver are purified, our hearts can be purified, but instead of being melted in a hot furnace or crucible, they are refined by God himself.  He does the work of purifying.  How does he do it?  The answer is found in scripture once again.  You have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, [being] much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ₅ The scripture declares that God refines and purifies us through trials.

God often gives young believers a vision for serving God, before they have the character necessary to do it faithfully; then God begins leading them through trials and testing so that the dross of self interest is gradually removed, our hearts begin to resemble his, and we begin to find ourselves motivated by compassion rather than ego.

1. Philippians 2:19-21

2. Matthew 9:36

3. Jeremiah 17:9

4. Proverbs 17:3

5. I Peter 1:6-7

“In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.  Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you which is your glory. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in you hearts by faith; that ye being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.  Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us.  Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus through out all ages, world without end.  Amen.”

-Ephesians 3:12-21

Having been given unrestricted access to the throne-room of God, through the confidence of faith in Christ, Paul prays a prayer that proves he is being conformed to the mind of Christ.  This is not a Diet Prayer, nor is it Christianity light.  This prayer is thick with the sentiment of the Apostles greatest understanding, thicker than the thumb of Rehoboam’s wrath, and higher in spiritual stature than the cedars of Lebanon.   Paul’s prayer transcends pathetic human felt need.  His prayer is a rock to climb on, a runway to land on, a sail with which to catch all the wind of the Pacific.

Tapping into the greatest wealth of resources known to man (i.e. the glory of God) Paul does not pray for the healing of physical maladies in the church, he does even pray that the church at Ephesus would experience great growth, and flourishing discipleship, neither does Paul pray that the Temple of Diana would fall over, or that the body in Ephesus would receive enough financial backing for their next big ministry idea.

No, that would all be too carnal, too earthy, to much out on the limb so to speak, and not enough down in the nutrients of the earth.  I think Paul prayed for the greatest possible thing he could.  He prays for the roots of the tree, to be first nourished with an understanding of love.  This was an understanding to be comprehended.  We must think about, and attempt by the Spirit of His might, to get it.

God I pray you would make us, your current living pilgrims, root-fertilizer’s in prayer.  It does me little good to pray for others that fruit would burst forth from trees that could not support your bounty.  Lord grant us, I beg, deep strong gnarly roots flourishing in the soil of your love, that a mighty tree would burst forth, salient to the principalities, spreading leaf and limb as broad, deep, and tall as the understanding you grant us.  May these branches be filled with all thy fullness in order to display your capacity for your glory.  May this be the affect upon all the saints today.

“Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.  Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are children of Abraham.”

-Galatians 3:6-7

Who was the hero of Abrahams terrifying sacrifice?  Was it willing Isaac?  So supple, so submissive to his Father’s purpose?  He so willingly ascended that mountain of fire and death.  Each step was one closer towards his inevitable doom.  The heart of this young man must have been sublimely terrorized, yet his heart failed him not.  The trust Isaac had in his father is absolutely irreconcilable to my fallen mind.  I am therefore tempted to tip my hat to Isaac, and proclaim him to be the hero.

I would be doing Father Abraham a very serious injustice were I to exclude his side of the account.  How is it possible that God could work so much through a man that he would be willing to plunge a dagger into the heart of his laughter?  Isaac was that life, that joy, the bright beginning to his every morning.  He had been the cheer of promise whence comfort nursed his heart upon every setting of the sun! What color is the blood of laughter?  What would be the scent and fragrance of its burning upon Gods required altar?   This is resolve, this is tenacity…I can imagine the sweat of purpose and effort dripped from the tip of the blade as it hung precariously over the heart of his joy.  This sweat must not be perceived to be induced by fear, but rather the sweat of effort.  The fragrance of which must have been tinged with trust.

With blade raised, ancient muscles were taught, burning and flexing with the fire of submission.  This old mans eyes focused intensely upon the destination of his resolve.  No mechanical device of death would have sufficed.  Visceral contact with the subject of promise was essential.  The hand that was to deal laughter’s death blow, was required to feel the blade extract the life from his most cherished hope.  The heroism, the passion, the zealous affection, the power of this moment in history is only rivaled by what this story was intended to foreshadow.

This same faith whence Abraham was declared righteous dwells in us if we are in Christ.  How is that working itself out?  The fact of this whole matter is…God was the hero because He led these men to this point.  Are we trusting Him to perform His radical authorship in our lives?  Or are we so self absorbed that we just don’t care?

At my first defense no one stood with me . . . But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me;    -II Timothy 4:16-17

There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24

At the time of trial we all want to have friends around us, to back us up, to support us.  No one wishes to be alone in their darkest hour.  Yet this is where the great apostle found himself, in the olive press utterly alone; well almost. . . When all the men fled, someone did stand with Paul, someone who understood what it was to be totally alone, someone whose disciples forsook him and fled, and someone whose own father turned his back on him in his darkest hour.  When all others fled, Christ stood with Paul.  What a comfort!  When it seems the whole world has turned against you, who else would you want by your side?  An angel? A mere man?  Or the sovereign Lord of the universe?

The author of Hebrews tells us that the Father put all things in subjection under Christ’s feet.1 When I’m in over my head, who better to have on my side, than he who is above all things.  Christ himself said I will never leave you nor forsake you.2  I remember years ago leaving my home town and taking a job as a truck driver.  I was amazed when I discovered that thousands of miles from friends, family, and fellowship; God was still there.  In fact, many of my most precious moments with God, have been in the midst of crushing trials, when I was completely alone with Him.  No darkness can overcome His light.  This is one of the reasons we can rejoice in trials, they bring an intimacy into our walk with God that can be achieved by no other means.

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:38-39

1. Hebrews 2:8

2. Hebrews 13:5

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things and by him all things consist.  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.”

-Colossians 1:16-18

If we do not apply this understanding to our theology, our foundation will always be slightly askew.  If the house is just crooked enough to be perceived, we may wonder why it is so displeasing to the eye.  Or we may marvel at how ramshackle it is.  For without a high view of God, there is not a glimmer of hope that our lives can manifest His true glory.   It is a familiar temptation for me to jump to the physical implications of this passage and miss the yawning chasm of deep soaking truth.  We and every other bit of matter, right down to the up-quark and charm-quark are made by Him, and for Him.   This means that we are here for His pleasure and His alone.  We may find deep satisfaction in giving our souls over to His Lordship; however we must never forget that His glory is the ultimate purpose for each breath escaping our lips.

This means we must look at every intrusion of God into history, and recognize that every grace and judgment he presents to Eve’s children, are for the purpose of Him getting the glory He deserves.   The death and resurrection of Christ, while for your salvation, and redemption, is under the umbrella of Gods ultimate purpose of glorifying His name.   This is so that He, the Son of God, will receive the every last concentrated ounce of preeminence.

The Messiah was God come in the flesh to be seen by human kind.  The Messiah was man subjected completely to God.  The two coalesced into one as they were on display for the world to see.  If God was one cord, the Man was another, and the manifestation of the combination was a third cord, then how surely that three-fold cord cannot be broken.  When the Messiah prayed, “Father, glorify thy name,” earth and its denizens hung from the very heights of heaven, and the three fold cord grew taut with all the weight and tension of the universe in between the two.  Then, through the thick of it all, the voice of the Father ripped the heavens asunder with more power than all the dynamite that has ever been ignited.  “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”  I imagine that heaven here erupted with all the elegant thunder of Cherub praise, the elders would not be able to prevent the chorus of worship exploding within their breast; the Seraph’s wings would cover weeping eyes in complete deference.   The three-fold cord was not broken, it was sure and it was strong and it was decided to be sufficient for the glorification of the Father.

Would be to God that we as those who take the name of Jesus, hopefully not in vain, upon ourselves, could get an inkling of understanding about this divine communique.   Within this conversation is a galactic nuclear powerhouse of sin-wrecking, blood pumping, cross-bearing, gate of Hades crushing, impermeable truth.

Cast your spiritual pride to the four winds.  Crush, by the power of the Spirit, any doubt that Christ is incapable of accomplishing His sanctification in your life.  Do not think, even for a moment that Christ’s work was inadequate for your deliverance from besetting sin.  If none of these things are being accomplished in your life as a Christian than you may need to take another look at Calvary.  If the Messiah cannot deliver you from your addiction then he died in vain.  For within these few words exchanged between the Elohim of creation, we find that Gods purpose in you is His glory, your part is to simply yield, bend, and decrease that He might increase.

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

-Galatians 5:6

I have one question; please consider it for a few moments before you proceed in reading this post.  What exactly does it mean to, “Walk in the Spirit?”

At one point in my walk I would have given some sort of amorphous response like, well…uh, I guess that means I should listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling me to do in my heart.  Unfortunately through this method, I found that the decisions I made were often poor decisions; I frequently made really bad ones as a matter of fact.  I played some strange form of spiritual roulette which proved to lead nowhere fast.

The Bible tells us that our hearts are deceitfully wicked; and our consciences can be seared.  If our conscience were enough to guide us, then what would be the point of Jesus suffering the wrath of his Almighty Father?  Our inner conscience is only capable of moving us so far; that being said, how in the world would anyone ever be able to differentiate between a lackluster conscience, and some sort of inner voice leading us in our walks? Not that the Holy Spirit cannot or does not direct our steps, His primary job, however, is conviction of sin and righteousness.

The answer is astonishingly simple; the Spirit guiding us in our walks is synonymous with convicting the world of sin, and righteousness, not just to guide us in all sorts of extra biblical manifestations, or fantastic directions.  How can we expect the Spirit to guide us in our decisions about work, ministry, or life in general, while we are living a life that is fulfilling our fleshly lusts?  Are we seeking first His kingdom, or are we seeking first our kingdom?  And by seeking first his kingdom, I don’t mean spending two minutes in the morning choking down a pop-tart while reading a proverb.

Am I just redefining this to fit my theology?  No, read the next verse, “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other and ye cannot do the things that ye would.  But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.”  The act of walking in the Spirit is in opposition to me, to my way, to self as well as opposition to the burdens of law.  If you read Romans chapter eight you will find that this is a requirement of Christianity.  There is no gray area when Paul says, “So then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God.  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.  Now if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.”

So, if you have a compulsion to do something exemplifying the life of Christ, this is God, proving his capability of transforming you into a new creation, thus showing what it means to walk in the Spirit.  Walking in the Spirit is living a life that conforms to Christ’s character: not Luke Skywalker using The Force by following his feelings.  Remember, the contrast to walking in the Spirit, is fulfilling fleshly lusts.

Addendum: I am not trying to negate the Spirit leading us in a supernatural fashion; I am saying that it is not the primary function of walking in the Spirit.

Dedicated to R.C. Sproul who mentioned this concept in the following quotation. . .

- “Perhaps what is even more alarming is that even within churches and organizations that still profess a high view of Scripture, there is an alarming ignorance of the content of Scripture.  For many, being “led by the Spirit,” means being led by some inner light or impulse rather than by the Spirit’s testimony to the written Word of God.  Edwards says, ‘And accordingly we see it common in enthusiasts who oppose Christ that they depreciate this written rule and set up the light within their souls or some other rule above it.’”  The Spirit of Revival: Discerning the Wisdom of Jonathan Edwards by R.C. Sproul and Archie Parrish

“Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up; and he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee.  And I said, should such a man as I flee?  And who is there that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life?  I will not go in.  And, lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.  Therefore was he hired that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me. My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets that would have put me in fear. So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.”  Nehemiah 6:10-15

This prayer has multiple noteworthy elements contained within it.  Nehemiah here is far from using supercilious piety, instead he expresses shameless honesty before the Lord.  Tobiah and Sanballat had been up to their old games, and rather than finding consolation or pity from people, Nehemiah jumps from his account about what they had just done to him into a simple stun gun of a prayer.  (Highlighted above in blue.)

Nehemiah’s detractors had just attempted to use fear to drive him to a decision lacking moral integrity, which was to enter the temple for selfish reasons motivated by fear.  This would have put a stain upon his reputation in the long run and would have discredited what he was doing.  Somehow this charlatan Noadiah was in on the whole thing.  She must have somehow known that to enter the temple was wrong, so for hire she conspired against the Lord’s chosen leader.  How did she know?  Her name is Jewish in every sense and the proper enunciation of her name is No-ad-yah, which means convened of the Lord.  Not only was she a false prophetess, but also a traitor to her own people.  Apparently she had a coven of co-conspirators and lackeys known infamously as, “the rest of the prophets.”  This tactic, by the way, is often one of Satan’s main modus operandi.  Discredit, disqualify, and dismember Christians reputations limb by limb until they are unable to consciously represent their Lord any more.  We must not be ignorant of his devices.

What motivates people like Noadiah and her cronies?  Peter tells us (2 Peter 2:1-3) that false prophets operate out of a few basic moral principles: covetousness, sneakiness, denial of God, and hypocritically deceitful conversation.  He warned that they had harassed the children of Israel and they would also heckle the church.  These were the types of impish individuals Sanballat and Tobiah worked with to try to topple the pillars of Nehemiah’s character.

Nehemiah simply prays that God would think upon these people according to their works.  We must read between the lines to recognize the depth of humility and the prevalence of faith in Nehemiah.  He recognizes who it is that can really deal with wickedness.  Rather than take these people to Artaxerxes’ court and sue them over an attempt at defamation of character, or whine incessantly about how provocative it was that someone thought they could pull the wool over his eyes.  He simply turns to God and asks him to deal with them.  Nehemiah also had expressed great discernment in figuring out that they were trying to deceive him.  This was a man of much character.  I could only hope to be a sliver of this mans tree. His prayer was also an efficient way of dealing with the hecklers.  Nehemiah could have wasted inordinate amounts of time trying to shoo them away, but prays instead and just gets back to work.  Also, Nehemiah had the wisdom to recognize the enemy had cornered him by trying to get him to make a rash decision based on fear.  As a general rule, fear is never a good emotion upon which to make most decisions in life.  Nehemiah had the discernment to recognize this fear for what it was…a bald faced lie!

Finally what Nehemiah actually asks God to do is revealing about Nehemiah’s trust in God’s absolutely perfect judgment.  We ought to pray like this, succinctly, confidently, and trustingly.  God knows if we have integrity or not, so if we have integrity we can pray from that integrity, and ask God to be the judge about our provocateurs.  There could be nothing more nettling than for saints to pray that God would deal with our, and ultimately His enemies, according to their works.  For what judgment is more perfect than that of the perfect judge?

God the Builder

Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honor than the house. For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. Hebrews 3:1-4

God is a builder. He has not only built galaxies, stars, planets, oceans, trees, plants, and animals . . . but also man. I’m not sure if he is still building other universes somewhere, but apparently he is still building men. In American Christianity with its highly Armenian tendencies, we view Godly men, with impressive achievements, as being somewhat self made. Due to their self control, biblical knowledge or innate goodness, they got somewhere, or achieved something grand. But this verse in Hebrews totally disassembles that theory.

When I first noticed this verse and was telling a friend about it, his first reaction was to take notice of the obvious point “God made everything, so God is great”, but in this instance, regarding this discussion, my focus is on the easily missed, initial point of the verse “God built Moses”! I’m not just saying God picked his eye and hair color, or decided on a height for him; I’m saying the abilities he had, the personality he had, the trials he faced, everything he was, was all due to God’s sovereign determination. God built Moses! Therefore God get’s all the credit for everything Moses achieved. Truly Moses did obey God and submit to Him, but it was God who gave him this ability and desire. God prepared good works for Moses to walk in. This is why we are to pray Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,* we want his will in our lives. And we should have great humility concerning any good thing that comes into and through our lives.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

* Matthew 6:10