Matthew 11:12, “From the
days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and
violent men take it by force.
At a recent meeting of Iwo
Jima one of our beloved members was confronted about a perceived attitude which
in fact turned out to be nothing more than apathy. Perhaps the apathy was
created in part by seeing the hypocrisy of self and men, perhaps a flight from
the fight that rages inside of each of us. But whatever the reason, the discussion
charged Jim Spivey who asked with red face, “Don’t you know you are in a war?”
I for one know that I am in
a war. But I asked Jim, what is the war?
His response was, “Jeff you
of all people I expect to know what the war is.”
For me the war is with
myself. For me the war is the violent way the kingdom expands inside me forcing
out all that is self, demanding I crucify those things, those thoughts, that
character that is not Christ, or to be crushed under the weight and storm of
the expanding kingdom. Some days I war against apathy like our friend. Some
days I war against greed, or lust, or power, or control. Some days I war
against the war itself. But the truth is the war within is a battle we must all
fight, all of the time for it is this violence; it is violently fighting for
surrender that we experience and take the kingdom of God.
Of the experience Jim
wrote, “I battled yesterday, again, in a battle that couldn't be won, unless,
of course, I could choose to lose. The battle was not external.
This is an inner revolution. The battle was and is to be ALL of me - as He
made me, which ultimately is His Son at the very core - in the face of the
world’s required and relentless resistance. It is a losing proposition,
either until victory (through choosing defeat) or death (through avoiding
it). Through “pushing against the rock,” as we’ve been told (because we
all have our immovable rocks), we grow and mature.”
We have another friend that
feels like he is supposed to sell everything, buy some sort of RV and spend a
year traveling the country with his wife and two children. The caveat is that
selling everything probably means having enough money for the RV, and a tank of
gas, not the money to travel worry free. He shared the fear he has in obeying
this godly compulsion.
The first thing that popped
into my mind was, “what will he do for God as He travels?” And then as suddenly
as my flesh asked the question the Spirit says, “what does that matter if I
have told him to go?” If he does nothing but travel nothing matters if it is in
obedience to God. Because the journey is the point. The battle is inside him,
there is nothing “out there” to go and do. There is no more important fight for
God than our own daily fight to bring our soul in alignment with the Spirit of
God. So to our friend I say, “God Bless you.” Even to have the thought is more faith
than I have.
All of which gives new
meaning to what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 10:5, “We are destroying
speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and
we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,” Where is your
knowledge of God? Where are your thoughts? That is where the war is. Won’t you
join us in the battle?
Luke 7:47, “For this reason I
say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much;
but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
I think this is a pretty
simple truth, and paradoxically the reason God is not completely repulsed by
mankind. He knows that the more of His forgiveness we taste, the more we love
Him.
Take this same thought
another direction and those who realize and understand just how much of their past,
present, and ongoing sin has, is, and will be forgiven… those folks love God
much. Perhaps this is why Paul set the world on fire, while enduring fire for
Christ. Perhaps Paul’s love for Jesus was fueled in this understanding of forgiveness,
and that is why he wrote to Timothy, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving
full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among
whom I am foremost of all.”
Paul, the founder of the
church for gentiles, beaten, shipwrecked, snake bit for Jesus is the foremost
of sinners? It is his recognition that he is a sinner, it is his honesty with
himself, it is his acceptance of God’s love and forgiveness in spite of it all
that allowed him to love so much that he laid down his life for Christ. Not the
opposite.
Christ did not say those who
have overcome the most love the most. He did not say those that can keep the
law the best love the most. He did not say that those who can be the holiest on
their own love the most. Those that have been forgiven much love much.
I dare say that if you do not
love God much, then you are unaware of how much you have been forgiven and how
sinful you really are. I am adding this after publishing the original, but we love as a result of being forgiven and we also show mercy where we have been shown mercy. In what you condemn, you admit there is no mercy for in your life. In what you judge you say that you are willing to be judged for it as well. How often is the loudest critic just as guilty of the sin. "You who is without sin cast the first stone." Christ said. For the rest of us He said, "Love your neighbor as yourself."
Romans 7:22-
8:6 ,”For I joyfully concur with the law
of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body,
waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of
sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from
the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So
then, on the one hand I myself with my
mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.
Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the
law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin
of death… (v6)… but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace…”
This is such a wonderful
passage of scripture. Here the apostle Paul at the end of his ministry is
getting honest and in shameless surrender talking about how he continues to
struggle with sin, but that even as his flesh struggles he still is able to practice
the presence of God. He is still able to be aware of God’s presence when he
‘sets his mind on the Spirit.’
I have someone in my
life that is really struggling right now with the schizophrenic life we all
live as Christians. We are all so capable on a moment’s notice of great sin
even though we love God. For me, I think the bi-polar-ness of a sinful life in
a Christian is exacerbated by teachings that speak of a need for repentance, or
sinlessness, or holiness, or whatever man-made righteousness can be concocted in
order to experience the presence of God.
This is poppycock in the
sense that it is putting the cart before the horse. If we will set our mind on
the Spirit, if we will practice His presence, if we will stop and quite our
minds so that our spirit/soul can be aware of the presence of God, aware of
Christ in us, aware of His kingdom in us… then all the other stuff will take
care of itself. Sin will disappear in God's timing. Holiness will only be
because of the increasing awareness of Christ and His kingdom in us. Focusing
on Christ, coming to Him even in our sin and guilt will cause knew vision and
understanding of how we are both sinner, and the temple of the Holy Spirit
simultaneously.
THERE IS NO CONDEMNATION
IN CHRIST! Go to Him in your greatest struggle. Go to Him in your greatest sin,
and understand that He is going to be there when you do. The sin, the anger,
the lust, the greed all of it can’t separate you from God. Nothing
"will separate us from the love of God." (Rom 8:39)
God cannot look upon sin, and that is why when He sees the Christian He does
not see the sin, but He sees the atoning blood of Christ.
It is very true that
when you set your mind on the Spirit that there may very well be conviction.
And if so then the response is repentance. But there will also be love. There
will also be peace, there will be joy, there will be patience, even if it is
only with yourself.
Jesus said, “The kingdom
of God is at hand.” He said, “the kingdom of God is inside you.” (Luke 17:21)
It does not come and go with your sin. It is safely protected inside you from
the sin because it is housed in a reborn spirit. The schizophrenia, the
bi-polar struggle of sin and Spirit is the spirit and flesh struggle for the
soul. Stop and allow your soul to be aware of the Spirit, of Christ in you.
When you do, you will have the experience Paul shamelessly wrote for us all.
You will discover a great truth about the kingdom of God, and you will
overcome, and overcome, and overcome.
Romans 6:5, “For
if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, so that as
Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too
might walk in newness of life.”
I have this
murmuration occurring around me at the moment. On the one hand Pastor Chris
Saye of Ecclesia Church posted on Facebook, “’(You) shall know them by their fruits’
(Matt 7:20) isn’t permission to slip to judge sincerity of others faith – it’s
a warning about false prophets. Context Matters.” On the other hand Jim Spivey reposts
the pendulum photo of this post.
What do
these have to do with one another you might ask?
They have to
do with one another because I think where we are in the pendulum swing of our
flesh reflects into our spiritual beliefs or excuses.
Let me
expound. Why would we judge when Jesus clearly said do not judge?
The ego
centered self causes us to justify ourselves with this scripture. We justify
our position by quoting this scripture as proof we are “fruit inspectors,” when
reality is we are only to use it as a tool in who influences us, versus going
around condemning anyone.
Likewise the
wounded self would use the scripture to justify the pain in their life. They
might take on the judgment of themselves because there is no perceived fruit in
their life, or because they continue to struggle in their sins.
Spiritual
reality is the truth lies in the arms of Christ. But the only way to get to
truth is to crucify both the wounded self, and the ego centered self.
Do you want
to know what the cross Christ spoke of is about… this is it. This is the death
of self. It is a spiritual exercise not a physical one. For that matter being a
spiritual exercise it is not even a mental one, but one of the soul and
character.
Think about
other areas of our spiritual relationship to Christ that are similarly
affected.
Do you see
the devil around every turn trying to destroy you? This is the wounded self.
Do you see yourself
as this powerful overcomer of the devil? That you wealth, or fame, or power is
because you have in some way earned it? This is your ego self.
If you are
in Christ you see that Satan is already defeated. You see that he is not omnipotent
and not on a personal vendetta against you though he is real and at work
starting many many chain reactions around the world.
Here is
another classic scripture. In Matthew 8:24-26 Jesus is asleep when the boat
encounters a storm. The disciples wake up Jesus and He first rebukes them, then
calms the storm. How would you respond? Why do you think Christ rebuked them?
Why do you think Christ calmed the storm?
If you think
the devil was out to kill them then you are interpreting out of ego. If you
would be scared (and who wouldn’t) in the situation you are operating out of
wounded self. If you think Christ rebuked them because they themselves couldn’t
calm the storm then you are in ego. If you think their “little faith” was their
own inadequacies then you are wounded. If you think Christ calmed the storm to
prove Himself, this is ego. If you think His calming the storm highlights the disciples
and your inability then you are in wounded self.
I believe
that those who are in Christ see it something like this. First they would not
even know the storm was there because they would be asleep like Jesus (united
in His death), trusting their Father to seem the to the very end of their mission.
I think the rebuke of little faith was for not sleeping, and the calming of the
storm was to quiet their little faith. Oh there would be more storms on the
horizon for them to sleep through, but from this one they got relief.
Jesus was
showing us all just how so absolutely other He is from ourselves. How we have
to crucify the swings of self from ego and wounded self and throw ourselves
into the arms of Christ.
I will leave you with a couple more examples.
If you think God needs you or wants you to save the world. - ego
If you think God can't use you at all. - wounded self
If you just want to be with Jesus doing whatever He wants. - In Christ.
Hebrews
10:26, “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the
truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,”
1 John 3:8, “the
one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the
beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of
the devil.”
Grace is one of those
spiritual truths that, like all spiritual truths swings out of the middle of
God’s will, plan, and purpose to the left as justification for all manner of
behavior, and to the right as bearing too little importance as it relates to
sin. But grace as the unmerited, undeserved favor of God is an essential
component in Christian salvation. As well, this grace does not end at the
moment of salvation. Grace is there from before our existence into eternity
allowing Christ's blood to atone for ALL of our sins past, present, and future.
Yet even though we are
already forgiven of future sins, it does not allow us to go about “willfully”
sinning. Grace is not an entitlement to “practice” greed, lust, gluttony,
laziness, anger, pride, or envy. That does not mean that when we as Christians,
when we are on a path pursuing Christ stumble and fall that we fall under
condemnation. Because there is no condemnation in Christ. Grace is what allows
us to fall into sin, to pick ourselves up, and to once again approach the
throne of God.
Let’s face it. We are
sinners. Every human being ever born sins, and it is impossible for us to stop
sinning in some facet. If it were possible for a human to stop sinning, then
God would have no need to send Christ. Instead stop sinning would be the standard,
but it is not. Christ is the standard, and that is grace. I believe what God is
saying is that there is a difference between the Christian who pursues Christ
and falls from time to time, even daily; and the person who is a Christian in
name only. A person that in their heart uses their faith as a stepping stool
perhaps, or club membership, but that continues in the life and lifestyle they
had prior to encountering and choosing to follow Christ. The Christian must
struggle, must strive against the world in their heart, and if there is this
struggle then there is also the assurance of grace.
Why must men make lists of
sin? Jesus when questioned about the commandments and which is greatest said,
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all you mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second
is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Hello? Who is not guilty
of violating this every day of their life. You say you love God with all your
heart, soul, and mind but I promise you that if you will become aware of His
presence, that and that alone will show you how incompletely you are loving Him
and what is your heart stands between you and God. Love you neighbor as
yourself? Just drive in Houston traffic for a few minutes and see if that’s
true. And yet men make lists of sins to condemn others with. List and doctrine
like drinking, music, movies, tv. Folks there is a much bigger sin we are all
guilty of… failing to love as Christ loved. This is no something learned in
church, this is experienced in relationship to Him. This understanding of your
own sin is a consequence of being aware of His presence. Of practicing His
presence.
So we depend on this grace,
knowing we are going to sin, but all the while striving to know Christ, and to
allow Him to move in us. And this is the key between sin and grace… the key is
Jesus.
We have got to be aware of
His presence. In this awareness the sin falls to the side. If we will not focus
on sin, and focus on Christ the sin will take care of itself through the Holy
Spirit. Relationship with Jesus will change your character inch by inch.
Struggles of yesterday will fade painlessly, and today’s struggles will be as
new as the image He presents of Himself today. We come to Christ and discover
what today’s, this week's, this year’s surrender is to be. And patiently He
accompanies us on the path. But we must rely on grace to keep coming to Him
even in our failures.
If you are in Christ,
walking the path of surrender to perfect love, then you are not of the
devil. You are not “practicing” sin when you stumble. You are simply
being human. Stop thinking in terms of tomorrow, and start thinking in terms of
today. Christ came to destroy the works of the devil, and that is done,
complete, finished, not tomorrow, not after Armageddon, but right here, right
now. Armageddon is the beginning of Satan’s judgment as the battle is already
won. Sin and death were defeated when Christ rose from the dead. The kingdom of
God is not to come… it is here inside of you for those who are in Christ. Allow
grace to allow you to be aware of it. Stop condemning yourselves and others and
go to God.
Jesus did not come
condemning the sinner. He dined with the sinner, He forgave the sinner, He had
compassion for the sinner, He healed the sinner. But Jesus did condemn the
religious, the Pharisees. He condemned the group that held everyone accountable
to a list, yet in their heart had no relationship with God. Their god was the
list of sins. Will we be like the Pharisees and join the choruses calling for
the adulterer to be stoned, or will we join Jesus and draw in the sand waiting
for the judges, the jury, and the executioners to walk away in their own
judgment of themselves.
Matthew
23:25, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the
outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and
self-indulgence.”
1
Corinthians 6:19, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy
Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?”
Luke 17:21, “nor
will they say, ‘Look, here it is! Or, ‘There it is! For behold, the kingdom of
God is in your midst.” (Literally inside you.)
Randy Clark
whom I have had the pleasure of spending a day with, and whom I believe is a
genuine Christian and godly man, and who happens to have a globally recognized
healing ministry posted on his Facebook wall the other day the following:
He wrote, “It's the hardness of men's hearts and not the sovereignty of
God that stops revival.”
Now to me “revival” is when there is a significant presence
of God in a corporate environment, often accompanied by signs and wonders. But
where my opinion differs from Randy’s and many other charismatic, full gospel,
evangelical ministers is that I believe the famous revivals like Azusa Street,
Pensacola, Welsh revival and so many more were absolutely 100% the sovereign
move of God. I do not think the piety nor prayers of the revivalists like Booth,
Hill, Wesley, Whitefield or any other commanded the presence and move of God.
Likewise I do not believe the hardness of heart ended them.
Rather the “revival”-- that uncontrolled,
unorchestrated manifestation of the presence of God -- is simply a casting of the
net into the sea. It is a picking of the crops of the harvest and as such must
come to an end. Think of the story of Peter’s calling. It was prophetic of
Christ’ ministry on earth. They fished all night and caught nothing, then Jesus
comes along, they cast on the other side of the boat and the nets are full to
overflowing. Did they keep fishing?
Think of Pentecost, the original revival. They waited
and waited, then for one night the presence of God manifest. It did not become
some long lived service complete with music and preaching. In fact the
preaching was “this is that the prophet Isaiah spoke of.” Nothing more.
How about the feeding of the 5000? This was a revival
as the masses gathered to hear Christ, and after a couple of days He feed them
miraculously. But Jesus didn't say, ‘let’s camp here, and have service eternally, and let me feed you constantly.’ To the contrary when they followed Him He sent
them away.
So what is the purpose of this manifested sovereign
presence of God?
It is a taste of what every moment of every day can be
like. It is a taste of what Christ lived with and by while on the earth.
We taste the presence of God in the corporate worship
of our churches because there is a style of music or a flavor of teaching that
allows us to put down the rest of life and focus in on God. The presence of God
is there because Christ said, “For where two or three have gathered in My name,
I am there in their midst (the middle of them)” So the corporate enables our
awareness of Christ presence… it is there whether we are aware or not. It is
not a song, it is not a leader, it is spiritual fact. The songs, the leaders,
the preaching just enables us to be aware. But the design is so that we will
seek Him at all times. The design is that we begin to and grow in the awareness
that His presence and His kingdom is inside us.
Look at the three passages above. Jesus criticizes the
religious leaders for using an external system of church as spiritual
justification without cleaning up their own heart, without acknowledging the
evil that is in them.
In the second passage Paul is asking, ‘don’t you know
the presence of God is inside you?’ It was not the condemnation of outwardly
acts, but an astonishment that they didn’t get it, and their outwardly acts
showed they did not understand or experience that presence.
Finally the third passage is Christ saying to not go
from place to place, service to service, conference to conference looking for
the presence of God. His kingdom is inside you and anything you can “do” or any
place you can “go” is not going to compare to becoming aware of this fact, and
living in it daily. Nor will it compare to what follows this awareness, which
is growing in it daily.
None of which is saying stop going to church. But it
is to say that when you connect with this presence through awareness, then life
will become suddenly clearer. The peace that passes all understanding will
manifest. Joy in unfortunately circumstance will appear. And so very much more.
Listen to what Jesus said as pointed out to me by T
Austin-Sparks, “Christ is the new dispensation. ‘I am here,’ He said. You go
through that Gospel of John. He is centering everything in Himself. ‘I am the
Way (not church); I am the Truth (not doctrine); I am the Life (not money,
fame, power, or position); I am the Shepherd (not spouse, pastor, counselor, or
parent); I am the Vine (your source); I am the Resurrection (the truth that
follows surrender).’ It is a Person. It is that which lies behind everything.
(and in everything). Christianity is Christ. Christ is Christianity. That is
where it all begins and it never departs from HIM.”
I will add that He is in you if you are in Him. There
is a place in this awareness of His presence that you have beheld enough of His
magnificence that you give up trying to understand because He is
incomprehensible. You stop trying to explain, because He is unexplained You
have no advice for others because you see you own insignificance next to Him.
And yet in it all you feel His love, and His love begins to flow out of you because
it is the only thing that is right and good. Life becomes about surrender and
obedience, not because you fear hell, but because you have tasted heaven. No
one can take you to a place in the Presence of God because you can live there
anytime you choose to be aware.
I have to wonder what would happen to church if all of
Christianity became aware of and started to grow in this presence of God. I
dare say those built on a human model of business would fail rapidly, and those
built on Christ would see some truly glorious revival.
If you do not truly understand what I am talking about
then I encourage you to taste and see that the Lord is good. Stop, close your
eyes, quite your mind. When you can stare into the back of your eyelids and see
only the dark, when you can contemplate only that it is dark, then in that
place cry out to God. Ask Him, where are You? Ask Him to reveal His presence?
With time you awareness will be as simple as closing
your eyes. With more time you won’t need to close your eyes at all, just stop. With
more time you will abide in the awareness of His presence. (at least that is
what I believe and hope though not there yet).
There is no longing for Christ to come, He is here. There is not waiting for the next service, or next anointed song... His presence has never left.
Leviticus
15: 16 & 18, “Now if a man has a seminal emission, he shall bathe all his
body in water and be unclean until evening. If a man lies with a woman so that
there is a seminal emission, they shall both bathe in water and be unclean
until evening.”
I have
noticed something very different about the 20 something generation from mine.
That is they have forthrightness about their propensities to masturbate. Not
that every generation has not, and does not continue to do it… masturbate that
is… not forthrightness. Just that this younger generation is honest about it.
For me I
encounter this honesty in my travels as men much younger than myself suffer
with the moral issues of masturbation and pornography, and beautifully express
this struggle. And why not? Recently Montreal University tried to study porn’s
effects on young adults but according to the article http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1232787/Pornography-study-doomed-fail-scientists-single-man-hadnt-viewed-x-rated-material.html
“Scientists studying... fell at the first hurdle – after failing to find a man
who had not viewed X-rated material.”
Yet no one talks
about it. Masturbation… masturbation… masturbation… say it with me. Ministers
don’t address it, even though the bible clearly did. And if it is address by
the “church” it is condemned as evil, sinful, lustful, and even classified by
some as fornication. But in my opinion, and as Paul would say, I have the Holy
Spirit… it is not sin, nor evil, nor any different that actually having intercourse
with your spouse. Isn’t that what Moses’ law says? If you have intercourse with
a woman (lie) and an organism… then you are unclean until you have washed and
evening has come. And if you are a man alone and have an orgasm, then you too
are unclean until you have washed and evening has come.
You do not
know this, but I have debated this very scripture in a public forum. One
gentleman tried to argue that Lev 15:16 was only there to cover wet dreams.
This is ridiculousness. Other’s argued that masturbation as it involves fantasy
was a sin because of what Jesus said in Matt 5:28, “… that EVERYONE who looks
at a woman with lust for her has ALREADY committed adultery with her in his
heart.” And we are all sinners without Christ. And we will always be a sinner,
never achieving any time without sin while alive on earth. That to me is the
point of what Jesus said… that perfection is in Him and only Him. He was not
making a commentary on masturbation.
Certainly
without argument porn is evil. But for me and in my opinion, masturbation is
not in any way evil, and I do not think we as Christians, or a society should
condemn men and women for its practice.
I saw a
recent map of the STD epidemic in the United States. Red marked the highest
areas of outbreaks. Did you know the red on the map also marked what is
commonly known as the Bible Belt? Why is that?
Does the
church putting masturbation on the same level as adultery or fornication make
the first less appealing? Do people reason with themselves that if having sex
and masturbation are sins, then why not have sex? If so the results of
rampantly spreading STD’s is not surprising.
And what of
the stories of your palms turning hairy. I can find 100 articles of health
benefits derived from the practice for every hairy palm myth claiming
negativity. Benefits like improved sperm quality, prostate health, less STD’s…
and on and on and on.
Point is
that I just don’t see where my God condemns masturbation. We are required to “bring
all thoughts into subjection to Christ.” But having the thoughts, having the
natural desires in and of themselves are not sin, and masturbation in its
purest form is not a sin either. At least that’s how I read God’s word in
Leviticus. Forgetting God’s grace and the forgiving power of the blood of
Jesus.
To those young men who feel the need to share with me your struggles. I do not believe it is a struggle at all. I just think it's part of being human. I don't need to hear your perceived problems. Porn... not that's a whole other issue. For that focus on Christ, starring at the sin, avoiding the sin, is never the answer, it just leads to more. But then again, if you need to talk about it... do... I will try not to be embarrassed, to giggle, or succumb to socio-religious beliefs imposed by others. But rather being as un-condemning as Christ.
