It’s time for a change, it’s time for a change
Its time to stop relying on programs and games
Its time for pastors and teachers to stop pursuing worldly fame
Its time for deacons and elders to stop pursing worldly gain
Because of these things, God’s people are maimed
Satan’s crept in unnoticed and has us all tamed
Ashamed to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ
But instead preaching things that can’t truly bring life
We have lost the power that can truly bring change,
Into the hearts of the lost, who remain dead empty frames
Its time for a change, its time to rearrange
The way we go about making known His Name
See there’s nothing wrong with running programs and games
But without the strength of God, all our labour`s in vain
He’s the King, the only One who has the power and reigns
Trying to do things apart from Him is pretty insane
Cuz its not by our power, it`s not by our might
But its by the mighty Spirit of God that we will win the fight
If we God`s people who are called by His Name
Would humble ourselves and repent of our shame
God promises to hear and come heal our land
and restore the wasted years we have spent in desert sand
So lets rend out hearts and not our garments
Going way back to the true heart of worship
No longer compromising with the ways of the world
No longer being something that makes Jesus want to hurl
But to turn and pursue God with all of our strength
Because He’s looking for hearts that are His, one hundred percent
Its time for a change, Its time to exchange
All of of our idols, programs and games
To solely rely on the power of Jesus’ Name
Monday, April 9, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Spiritual Bankruptcy!
Life Abundant
We often have a wrong view of the Christian life: we either see it as a path marked with intense persecution and suffering or as a mundane life filled with rules and regulations that one must religiously follow in order to “please God” and be a “good Christian.”
My dear friends, this is a LIE! If you think the above is true, then you have been tricked by the devil. He has told you something that is untrue in order to keep you satisfied with a lukewarm Christian life life—ensnared by the lusts of the world and enticed away from the glorious riches that we have in Christ Jesus! Yes, it is true, Jesus was a man of many griefs and sorrows, but He was also the most joyous person that walked the earth! It was for the JOY set before Him that He endured the cross, despising its shame (Heb 12:2). Even in His greatest hour of turmoil, He was filled with joy; a joy that comes only from the Father, a joy that is stronger and mightier than all the forces of hell; and this joy is ours in Christ! This same powerful joy overflowed into the lives of Paul and Silas despite the extreme persecution they faced as they sat in a dark and gloomy prison. While all the other prisoners in their cells were drowned in hopelessness and misery, Paul and Silas were filled with the glorious Light of the Father! In fact, this very joy, resulting in thanksgiving and praise, was what God used to break open the prison doors and set the captives free! Ultimately, this joy is a testimony in the life of every believer that Jesus Christ has been resurrected from the dead! Oh! This is a joy that can never be taken away from the believer; indeed, it grows in its breadth and depth for all eternity! Even in the darkest circumstances this eternal joy flows out of God’s people!
The devil steals and kills and destroys! But Jesus came that we may have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10). The devil knows that if he can trick a believer into thinking that the Christian life is boring, mundane and empty he would keep them ineffective for Christ!
What is this abundant life that Jesus speaks of? It is a life that is filled with meaning where a person is more than just satisfied, they are overflowing! Before we were saved, we were without God and without hope; we gave our attention to many vanities and frivolous things despite which our lives remained empty and without purpose. We did these things because we knew nothing better; we lived in darkness and had no idea of the glory of God. But, for those who know who God is, it is impossible to go back to these things: our eyes are opened to fact that God is far more worthy of our attention!
Jesus says that for those who believe in Him, streams of living water will well up in him into eternal life . Think of how a fountain of water starts off with small gushes, but eventually grows and grows until it cannot be contained and is literally shooting up out of the ground! This is how our Christian life should be like, a life overflowing with the spiritual riches of Heaven that can never be taken away that keeps increasing for all of eternity.
Spiritual Bankruptcy
If this is true, then there is a crisis in the Church today: we are spiritually bankrupt! The church should be a place filled with the glorious riches of Christ. A place filled with love, joy, peace, hope, righteousness and power filled the very presence of God Himself. A place where spiritually hungry people can come to taste and see that the Lord is good. In the Old Testament the manifest glory of God would rest of the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle and then when the temple was built the glory of God filled the temple so that the priests could not minister (1 Kings 8:10-11). When Christ died the veil covering the Holy of Holies in the temple was torn and now through Christ we become the temple of God and His presence dwells and flows out of us! However, it seems like the above is not true. We have a lot of things in church: we have nice buildings, we have nice programs, nice people, nice pastors, nice preaching and good food but we are lacking spiritual riches. Going to church is a routine—a mere chore—and services are dull and empty.
We have forgotten that the Kingdom of Heaven is not something that can be seen. Instead, it is a spiritual reality inside the life of every believer. Jesus says that “the Kingdom of heaven is within you.” (Luke 17:21) Moreover: “The Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17). In this passage, believers were judging other believers because of what they were doing outwardly. Paul wanted to point out that what is most important is not what you do outwardly (following rules and regulations) but the inner reality of divine joy, peace and righteousness flowing outward. This can only come from a true change wrought by the Holy Spirit and a believer continuing to abide in Him.
On the outside, we have the appearance of growth and life, but on the inside we are rotten and dead! We do not have the inward reality that Paul writes about in the letters; we do not have this life overflowing that Christ speaks of on the gospels! We try to shake it off and think that it is okay, reason with ourselves that we have it or try to produce it of our own effort, but the truth speaks: That in the midst of all the churchy things we do, all the programs and activities: we feel empty and have a desire for something more, for something deeper! For many believers, Jesus does not truly satisfy though we say He does. As a result we try to satisfy ourselves with the World thinking that this is all there is and fail miserably in convincing the World that Jesus saves. The worldly people wonder why they should go to church when the church is going to them!
This spiritual condition is the exact same description that Jesus gives the church of Sardis:
“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God” (Rev 3:1-2).
When we look at the letters to the seven churches in Revelation, is it important to understand that the Word of God is not limited to time but endures forever, even before they were written or revealed to us, they existed (just like before gravity was discovered, it existed). So, the letters to the seven churches are not just letters addressing these specific churches in Apostle John’s time, but also give us understanding to the spiritual conditions of the Church in the last days. The Church of Sardis had a name that they were alive, but were actually dead! On the outside, things look like they are going well: services occur regularly, prayer meetings are held, people are baptized…but the core of it was rotten and the lives of people are not changed! There is no love for God, but only empty action! Families are still broken, couples cold and indifferent and children are still rebellious, but, alas, everything is covered with a guise of religion. We are like spiritual zombies! On the outside they have all the characteristics of looking alive, they walk, move around and sometimes utter words, but they are dead on the inside; they have no heart! You can’t connect to them as you connect to living people. In the same way, a zombie church has not heart. They cannot connect with God’s heart, and yet this spiritual heart connection is critical for life! A person can make do without an arm or leg, but they cannot do without a heart. After all, a person with a beating heart who is unable to move is still better off than one who can move but is without a heart!
In fact, without a heart, the mind of a person, no matter how intelligent, becomes useless. A church or person may even know and speak the right things but still be dead. Many churches are like this. They know and speak correct doctrine and theology but lack the power to conform to it. They talk much, but cannot do much; in short, they have no power! People sit in church and hear the truths of God’s Word week after week, but it is powerless and has no changing effect on them. It is a dead word that falls on dead ears instead of a Living Word that brings a dead heart to life.
This preaching of truth without power falls short of the standard that God prescribes for His church! The church should give the world a picture of what the Kingdom of heaven is like. As 1 Corinthians 4:19-20 says, “The kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.” When someone speaks for the Kingdom of God as one called by and sent from God, there is power in their words! The power of Heaven is upon them; a power that reveals what is in a person’s heart and confronts them with the Truth, the very realities of God’s Word! A power that like Christ calls the dead man Lazarus out of the tomb or like Ezekiel prophecies the dry bones to life ! It stirs the hearts of lukewarm believers, encourages the hearts of faithful followers and convicts or provokes the heart of the unregenerate. When light shines in a dark place, there are only three reactions: flight, fight or life.
A powerless Church is a tragic thing! They cannot stand up against the forces of the World. They are laughed at and cannot fight back and, even worse, give in and compromise! The devil laughs at it, and it brings shame to God’s Holy Name.
So what is the solution to this spiritual problem? The answer lies simply in trusting in God and not ourselves! We trust in our programs, our logic, our preaching and even our friendliness to win someone over to Christ. We forget that we have nothing in ourselves, that we can give nothing to these people except for Christ alone. We have nothing to give because we have nothing, and we have nothing because we do not ask, and we do not ask because we do not see our need for it or turn a blind eye to it because of pride and so we continue in this poor pitiful state! Jeremiah 17:5 says, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the LORD.” Indeed I believe that a good portion of what is called the Church is under a curse because they trust in themselves over God and refuse to turn to Him! These churches will continue to fall into spiritual decay like the Israelites before the exile until they are destroyed or repent!
Many Christians today do not have spiritual eyes and are blinded by the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life. This causes many fights and quarrels within the Church as people compete and fight one another to advance their own selfish interests. When they pray, they pray with selfish motives. They ask God to prosper their own plans done in His Name. When we try to do God’s work our own way and get Him to endorse it, it will never succeed! God will not give His glory to another and will not be used or manipulated by Man’s selfish interests!
“What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures” (Jam 4:1-3).
Later on the same passage James gives us the solution to this problem:
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail” (Jam 4:7).
We must admit our spiritual bankruptcy, repent, submit and humble ourselves to ask for what we lack! Only then will we have spiritual eyes to see our spiritual need, and finally receive the joy, power and life Jesus promised.
Ask and You Will Receive
Asking with spiritual eyes is a key principal in God’s Kingdom! Jesus say ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full (John 16:24). Notice that the result is so that we may be FULL of joy in contrast to being empty! Asking is not a one time thing, but a continual thing. We must moment by moment go to God’s throne of grace in order to receive what we need to be sustained spiritually.
“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16)
Every moment of our lives is our time of need! Paul preaches that, “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). The reality is that we can only live in Him. Just like we must physically live in an atmosphere filled with oxygen, so we must live spiritually in God’s grace. Just like we breathe in air every second, we must breathe God’s grace every second. Think about it, when an astronaut goes to the moon he does not go anywhere without a suit that can supply him with oxygen, heat and protection in the darkness and desolation of the moon. He is from a different world and cannot survive in this one without a suit. In the same way, we are from the Heavenly Kingdom and cannot survive in a dark, fallen world without abiding in Christ and hiding ourselves in the Rock of our spiritual life support (salvation)! He was the only one who could take on the forces of darkness head on without protection, and so He sent us Himself, in the Holy Spirit, for us to abide in!
God wants a people who are dependent on Him. When He led the Israelites through the desert, He provided just enough food for them daily so that they would learn that “Man does not live on bread alone but on every Word that comes from the mouth of God” (Deut 8:3). If the Israelites collected too much manna it would go bad and become full of worms. This is the same for God’s people today; He gives us enough grace to live victoriously in Him day to day. That is why Jesus teaches His disciples to pray “gives us this day our daily bread.” This is not just true of physical bread, but so much truer for our spiritual bread which is Christ Himself. He is the Bread of Life.
Dependency was one of the main characteristics of Christ in that He was completely reliant on God the Father to provide and sustain Him both physically and spiritually! He came down as a helpless baby and left Himself in the protection and care of the Father in Heaven. He did nothing apart from the Father and lived second by second in that reality. We are to follow in His example!
The reason why we are lacking spiritual blessings is because we are too full of the World! We are too full of ourselves to receive from God. This is why the first beatitude is blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven! When we are poor in spirit and dependent on Him, then we can receive the riches of the Kingdom! However, we are so deceived with the blessings of material wealth that we do not see our need for spiritual wealth. Many of God’s people today are filled with too much self.
Self-sufficiency—
Self-righteousness—
Self-accomplishment—
But no self-denial.
People ask once from God and then go away thinking they are okay, but this is just not true. Just like you cannot survive with drinking one cup of water or breathing one breath of air your whole life, so going to God once will not be enough to sustain you. In the same way, many believers think that they are alright because they have repented once and received grace; they think that they are set for the rest of their lives! This is also not true. Paul specifically prayed prayers for each of the Churches to be given more from God.
“For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…” (Col 1:9-10)
“…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Eph 1:17-18).
If this was true for the early Church that stood in the face of brutal persecution and turned the entire ancient world upside down for Christ how much more now? Could it be that the reason why large parts of the Church today is not having as much of an impact on their generation as in generations past is because we simply have not asked God and our comfortable with our spiritual deficiencies? I believe one of the key reasons why the early church was so mightily used of God is because they were poor in spirit! They were a people dependent on Almighty God! When Peter and John were beaten and threatened for the gospel they got on their knees and prayed for power, prayed for boldness so much so that the place they prayed was SHAKING! When was the last time your church had a prayer meeting that shook the earth, opened the floodgates of heaven and sent an alarm through hell!
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:31)
There are many things in which a believer individual and the Church corporately must ask God for in order to receive! If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? (Luke 11:13)
The church is supposed to be a storehouse of spiritual riches where a world that is quickly decaying spiritually can go to be fed. Just as how God sent seven years of abundance and raised up Joseph in Egypt to supply food for all people during the following seven years of famine, so God prepared Christ and gave Him to His people, graciously bestowing on us the riches of Christ, that we may have an overflowing supply of grace and power for a hopeless world that is heading on a maddening course into eternal fire.
This is the verdict: the Church must go and approach the throne of God’s grace again both for themselves and for the dying world around them!
We often have a wrong view of the Christian life: we either see it as a path marked with intense persecution and suffering or as a mundane life filled with rules and regulations that one must religiously follow in order to “please God” and be a “good Christian.”
My dear friends, this is a LIE! If you think the above is true, then you have been tricked by the devil. He has told you something that is untrue in order to keep you satisfied with a lukewarm Christian life life—ensnared by the lusts of the world and enticed away from the glorious riches that we have in Christ Jesus! Yes, it is true, Jesus was a man of many griefs and sorrows, but He was also the most joyous person that walked the earth! It was for the JOY set before Him that He endured the cross, despising its shame (Heb 12:2). Even in His greatest hour of turmoil, He was filled with joy; a joy that comes only from the Father, a joy that is stronger and mightier than all the forces of hell; and this joy is ours in Christ! This same powerful joy overflowed into the lives of Paul and Silas despite the extreme persecution they faced as they sat in a dark and gloomy prison. While all the other prisoners in their cells were drowned in hopelessness and misery, Paul and Silas were filled with the glorious Light of the Father! In fact, this very joy, resulting in thanksgiving and praise, was what God used to break open the prison doors and set the captives free! Ultimately, this joy is a testimony in the life of every believer that Jesus Christ has been resurrected from the dead! Oh! This is a joy that can never be taken away from the believer; indeed, it grows in its breadth and depth for all eternity! Even in the darkest circumstances this eternal joy flows out of God’s people!
The devil steals and kills and destroys! But Jesus came that we may have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10). The devil knows that if he can trick a believer into thinking that the Christian life is boring, mundane and empty he would keep them ineffective for Christ!
What is this abundant life that Jesus speaks of? It is a life that is filled with meaning where a person is more than just satisfied, they are overflowing! Before we were saved, we were without God and without hope; we gave our attention to many vanities and frivolous things despite which our lives remained empty and without purpose. We did these things because we knew nothing better; we lived in darkness and had no idea of the glory of God. But, for those who know who God is, it is impossible to go back to these things: our eyes are opened to fact that God is far more worthy of our attention!
Jesus says that for those who believe in Him, streams of living water will well up in him into eternal life . Think of how a fountain of water starts off with small gushes, but eventually grows and grows until it cannot be contained and is literally shooting up out of the ground! This is how our Christian life should be like, a life overflowing with the spiritual riches of Heaven that can never be taken away that keeps increasing for all of eternity.
Spiritual Bankruptcy
If this is true, then there is a crisis in the Church today: we are spiritually bankrupt! The church should be a place filled with the glorious riches of Christ. A place filled with love, joy, peace, hope, righteousness and power filled the very presence of God Himself. A place where spiritually hungry people can come to taste and see that the Lord is good. In the Old Testament the manifest glory of God would rest of the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle and then when the temple was built the glory of God filled the temple so that the priests could not minister (1 Kings 8:10-11). When Christ died the veil covering the Holy of Holies in the temple was torn and now through Christ we become the temple of God and His presence dwells and flows out of us! However, it seems like the above is not true. We have a lot of things in church: we have nice buildings, we have nice programs, nice people, nice pastors, nice preaching and good food but we are lacking spiritual riches. Going to church is a routine—a mere chore—and services are dull and empty.
We have forgotten that the Kingdom of Heaven is not something that can be seen. Instead, it is a spiritual reality inside the life of every believer. Jesus says that “the Kingdom of heaven is within you.” (Luke 17:21) Moreover: “The Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17). In this passage, believers were judging other believers because of what they were doing outwardly. Paul wanted to point out that what is most important is not what you do outwardly (following rules and regulations) but the inner reality of divine joy, peace and righteousness flowing outward. This can only come from a true change wrought by the Holy Spirit and a believer continuing to abide in Him.
On the outside, we have the appearance of growth and life, but on the inside we are rotten and dead! We do not have the inward reality that Paul writes about in the letters; we do not have this life overflowing that Christ speaks of on the gospels! We try to shake it off and think that it is okay, reason with ourselves that we have it or try to produce it of our own effort, but the truth speaks: That in the midst of all the churchy things we do, all the programs and activities: we feel empty and have a desire for something more, for something deeper! For many believers, Jesus does not truly satisfy though we say He does. As a result we try to satisfy ourselves with the World thinking that this is all there is and fail miserably in convincing the World that Jesus saves. The worldly people wonder why they should go to church when the church is going to them!
This spiritual condition is the exact same description that Jesus gives the church of Sardis:
“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God” (Rev 3:1-2).
When we look at the letters to the seven churches in Revelation, is it important to understand that the Word of God is not limited to time but endures forever, even before they were written or revealed to us, they existed (just like before gravity was discovered, it existed). So, the letters to the seven churches are not just letters addressing these specific churches in Apostle John’s time, but also give us understanding to the spiritual conditions of the Church in the last days. The Church of Sardis had a name that they were alive, but were actually dead! On the outside, things look like they are going well: services occur regularly, prayer meetings are held, people are baptized…but the core of it was rotten and the lives of people are not changed! There is no love for God, but only empty action! Families are still broken, couples cold and indifferent and children are still rebellious, but, alas, everything is covered with a guise of religion. We are like spiritual zombies! On the outside they have all the characteristics of looking alive, they walk, move around and sometimes utter words, but they are dead on the inside; they have no heart! You can’t connect to them as you connect to living people. In the same way, a zombie church has not heart. They cannot connect with God’s heart, and yet this spiritual heart connection is critical for life! A person can make do without an arm or leg, but they cannot do without a heart. After all, a person with a beating heart who is unable to move is still better off than one who can move but is without a heart!
In fact, without a heart, the mind of a person, no matter how intelligent, becomes useless. A church or person may even know and speak the right things but still be dead. Many churches are like this. They know and speak correct doctrine and theology but lack the power to conform to it. They talk much, but cannot do much; in short, they have no power! People sit in church and hear the truths of God’s Word week after week, but it is powerless and has no changing effect on them. It is a dead word that falls on dead ears instead of a Living Word that brings a dead heart to life.
This preaching of truth without power falls short of the standard that God prescribes for His church! The church should give the world a picture of what the Kingdom of heaven is like. As 1 Corinthians 4:19-20 says, “The kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.” When someone speaks for the Kingdom of God as one called by and sent from God, there is power in their words! The power of Heaven is upon them; a power that reveals what is in a person’s heart and confronts them with the Truth, the very realities of God’s Word! A power that like Christ calls the dead man Lazarus out of the tomb or like Ezekiel prophecies the dry bones to life ! It stirs the hearts of lukewarm believers, encourages the hearts of faithful followers and convicts or provokes the heart of the unregenerate. When light shines in a dark place, there are only three reactions: flight, fight or life.
A powerless Church is a tragic thing! They cannot stand up against the forces of the World. They are laughed at and cannot fight back and, even worse, give in and compromise! The devil laughs at it, and it brings shame to God’s Holy Name.
So what is the solution to this spiritual problem? The answer lies simply in trusting in God and not ourselves! We trust in our programs, our logic, our preaching and even our friendliness to win someone over to Christ. We forget that we have nothing in ourselves, that we can give nothing to these people except for Christ alone. We have nothing to give because we have nothing, and we have nothing because we do not ask, and we do not ask because we do not see our need for it or turn a blind eye to it because of pride and so we continue in this poor pitiful state! Jeremiah 17:5 says, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the LORD.” Indeed I believe that a good portion of what is called the Church is under a curse because they trust in themselves over God and refuse to turn to Him! These churches will continue to fall into spiritual decay like the Israelites before the exile until they are destroyed or repent!
Many Christians today do not have spiritual eyes and are blinded by the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life. This causes many fights and quarrels within the Church as people compete and fight one another to advance their own selfish interests. When they pray, they pray with selfish motives. They ask God to prosper their own plans done in His Name. When we try to do God’s work our own way and get Him to endorse it, it will never succeed! God will not give His glory to another and will not be used or manipulated by Man’s selfish interests!
“What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures” (Jam 4:1-3).
Later on the same passage James gives us the solution to this problem:
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail” (Jam 4:7).
We must admit our spiritual bankruptcy, repent, submit and humble ourselves to ask for what we lack! Only then will we have spiritual eyes to see our spiritual need, and finally receive the joy, power and life Jesus promised.
Ask and You Will Receive
Asking with spiritual eyes is a key principal in God’s Kingdom! Jesus say ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full (John 16:24). Notice that the result is so that we may be FULL of joy in contrast to being empty! Asking is not a one time thing, but a continual thing. We must moment by moment go to God’s throne of grace in order to receive what we need to be sustained spiritually.
“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16)
Every moment of our lives is our time of need! Paul preaches that, “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). The reality is that we can only live in Him. Just like we must physically live in an atmosphere filled with oxygen, so we must live spiritually in God’s grace. Just like we breathe in air every second, we must breathe God’s grace every second. Think about it, when an astronaut goes to the moon he does not go anywhere without a suit that can supply him with oxygen, heat and protection in the darkness and desolation of the moon. He is from a different world and cannot survive in this one without a suit. In the same way, we are from the Heavenly Kingdom and cannot survive in a dark, fallen world without abiding in Christ and hiding ourselves in the Rock of our spiritual life support (salvation)! He was the only one who could take on the forces of darkness head on without protection, and so He sent us Himself, in the Holy Spirit, for us to abide in!
God wants a people who are dependent on Him. When He led the Israelites through the desert, He provided just enough food for them daily so that they would learn that “Man does not live on bread alone but on every Word that comes from the mouth of God” (Deut 8:3). If the Israelites collected too much manna it would go bad and become full of worms. This is the same for God’s people today; He gives us enough grace to live victoriously in Him day to day. That is why Jesus teaches His disciples to pray “gives us this day our daily bread.” This is not just true of physical bread, but so much truer for our spiritual bread which is Christ Himself. He is the Bread of Life.
Dependency was one of the main characteristics of Christ in that He was completely reliant on God the Father to provide and sustain Him both physically and spiritually! He came down as a helpless baby and left Himself in the protection and care of the Father in Heaven. He did nothing apart from the Father and lived second by second in that reality. We are to follow in His example!
The reason why we are lacking spiritual blessings is because we are too full of the World! We are too full of ourselves to receive from God. This is why the first beatitude is blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven! When we are poor in spirit and dependent on Him, then we can receive the riches of the Kingdom! However, we are so deceived with the blessings of material wealth that we do not see our need for spiritual wealth. Many of God’s people today are filled with too much self.
Self-sufficiency—
Self-righteousness—
Self-accomplishment—
But no self-denial.
People ask once from God and then go away thinking they are okay, but this is just not true. Just like you cannot survive with drinking one cup of water or breathing one breath of air your whole life, so going to God once will not be enough to sustain you. In the same way, many believers think that they are alright because they have repented once and received grace; they think that they are set for the rest of their lives! This is also not true. Paul specifically prayed prayers for each of the Churches to be given more from God.
“For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…” (Col 1:9-10)
“…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Eph 1:17-18).
If this was true for the early Church that stood in the face of brutal persecution and turned the entire ancient world upside down for Christ how much more now? Could it be that the reason why large parts of the Church today is not having as much of an impact on their generation as in generations past is because we simply have not asked God and our comfortable with our spiritual deficiencies? I believe one of the key reasons why the early church was so mightily used of God is because they were poor in spirit! They were a people dependent on Almighty God! When Peter and John were beaten and threatened for the gospel they got on their knees and prayed for power, prayed for boldness so much so that the place they prayed was SHAKING! When was the last time your church had a prayer meeting that shook the earth, opened the floodgates of heaven and sent an alarm through hell!
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:31)
There are many things in which a believer individual and the Church corporately must ask God for in order to receive! If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? (Luke 11:13)
The church is supposed to be a storehouse of spiritual riches where a world that is quickly decaying spiritually can go to be fed. Just as how God sent seven years of abundance and raised up Joseph in Egypt to supply food for all people during the following seven years of famine, so God prepared Christ and gave Him to His people, graciously bestowing on us the riches of Christ, that we may have an overflowing supply of grace and power for a hopeless world that is heading on a maddening course into eternal fire.
This is the verdict: the Church must go and approach the throne of God’s grace again both for themselves and for the dying world around them!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Encountering the Magnificence of Jesus
I. JESUS, OUR MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION
A. A magnificent obsession is an oxymoron (a contradiction of terms). Almost every obsession the human heart has is destructive. However, there is one obsession that liberates us and brings us into our destiny, fills us with spiritual pleasure, and crowns us with God’s glory (Heb. 2:7).
B. My basic premise is that there is no aspect of God’s grace that more powerfully transforms our emotions or satisfies our heart than when God, the Holy Spirit, reveals God to the human spirit. The most transforming, exhilarating, motivating reality in the kingdom is Jesus Himself!
C. Christianity is actively pursuing a Person and actively resisting sin, sickness, and Satan. It is more than escaping from hell, obeying a code of conduct and fulfilling a ministry assignment. Many live a “defensive Christianity;” they focus on sincerely resisting darkness, but do not aggressively pursue Jesus. This approach is weak and ineffective and does not change our heart.
D. Many in the Church think of Jesus mostly in terms of One who forgives them and “stamps their passport” so they can go to heaven. They only see One who heals, provides, directs, and blesses circumstances. He is much more. The best-kept secret in the Church is Jesus’ magnificence.
E. Paul gladly gave up everything as he saw the magnificence, the excellence, of Jesus! If we can see what Paul saw about Jesus then we can live like he lived. Paul gladly gave up everything to see more of Jesus’ magnificence, to feel the power of it and to be lost in wonder at who Jesus is. When we see who Jesus is it awakens love and drives out the spirit of weariness and depression.
8I count all things loss for the excellence [magnificence] of the knowledge of Christ Jesus… (Phil. 3:8)
F. The Spirit longs to be our escort into the treasure of the deep things of God’s heart. The Spirit is the only One able to escort us into the deep things of God, and He will only lead us on His terms.
10The Spirit searches…the deep things of God…12We have received…the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. (1 Cor. 2:10-12)
G. The Spirit came to glorify Jesus in our hearts by revealing as much of Jesus as we are hungry for. He gives based on our hunger. He will not force-feed us.
13The Spirit of truth…will guide [escort] you into all truth…14He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. (Jn. 16:13-14)
H. My goal for this series is to convince people that the knowledge of God is:
1. The most powerful and pleasurable reality anyone can experience.
2. The most costly treasure to pursue, but the most valuable and lasting one.
3. The most neglected issue in the kingdom (zeal for Jesus will seem like an error to many).
4. The most emphasized truth of the Holy Spirit in the generation in which the Lord returns.
II. THE FOUNDATION OF THE VICTORIOUS CHURCH: THE MAJESTY OF JESUS
A. Jesus’ first teaching and prophecy about the Church’s foundation, function, and sure victory (Mt. 16:13-19) was centered on the question of how the leaders viewed Him (Mt. 16:15). The Spirit is asking the leaders of the Church the same question today. No question is more important.
13Jesus…asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 14So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah…” 15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16Simon Peter…said, “You are the Christ [the Messiah], the Son of the living God.” 17Jesus answered…“Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father…18On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom…whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Mt. 16:13-19)
B. The people had many different views of Jesus just like the Church does today (v. 14).
1. John the Baptist: A holiness preacher with great dedication who fearlessly spoke the truth
2. Elijah: A prophet who confronted the powers of darkness with supernatural power
3. Jeremiah: The weeping prophet of compassion who tenderly cared for the people (Jn. 8)
C. A Church built on truth about Jesus (v. 15): To operate in power (v. 19) and victory (v. 18), the Church must be built on the “rock of truth” about Jesus (v. 18). The primary battlefront in the kingdom is the truth about Jesus. We must proclaim the Jesus of the Bible, not the counterfeit Jesus of American culture. Christ means “the anointed one,” “the messiah.” There are many implications associated with the Christ, the Messiah, as described in Old Testament prophecies.
D. A victorious Church (v. 18): Prevails over the gates, or authority, of hell on this earth. This includes victory over the darkness in the heart and body, and in every sphere of society. A powerful Church (v. 19): Releases God’s power to “bind” (stop) demonic influence and to “loose” (release) God’s blessing in prayer.
E. The most important question in your life is: what do you think of Jesus? (v. 15). Not, do you like Him? But, who do you imagine Him to be when you are quiet and alone? Our thoughts of Him are too few and too low. A low view of Jesus keeps believers in bondage with a dull spirit and trapped in spiritual boredom. The power of our Christian experience is found in interacting with the person Christ Jesus. Jesus is a glorious person, yet so many do not enjoy relating to Him.
F. We are to introduce people to the glory of Jesus and the adventure of discovering His splendor. The only way to keep from losing ground in our spiritual life is to gain new ground in our understanding and experience.
G. My youth leaders told me I could not be a mature Christian without growing in the knowledge of God. They told me to read The Knowledge of the Holy (by Tozer). Tozer taught that what we think about God is the most important thing about us. The most revealing thing about the Church is found in her ideas of Jesus. Her most significant message is what she says about Him or leaves unsaid. A hundred lesser evils are caused by this one great lack of the knowledge of God.
III. BEHOLDING THE GLORY OF JESUS
A. The “beholding and becoming” principle teaches us that whatever emotions we behold (by study and meditation) about God’s heart for us are imparted to our heart for God. When God wants to empower us to love Him, He reveals Himself as the One who loves us.
18Beholding…the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image… (2 Cor. 3:18)
B. God is raising up ministries to bring the Church to the knowledge of the deep things of Jesus. We must focus on the person of Jesus in our ministries. The most neglected subject in the kingdom of God is God Himself. Instead, we talk about relationship skills, leadership principles, economic principles, ministry skills, and how to be happy and to make life easier, etc.
8To me…grace was given that I should preach…the unsearchable riches of Christ… (Eph. 3:8)
IV. FIVE CONDITIONS FOR CULTIVATING THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD (PROV. 2:1-5)
A. In my early ministry, I was in anguish over my inability to grow in the knowledge of God. I determined not to be content to know a person who knew God, but to know God myself. I decided that I wanted to go deep in God, not just read biographies about others who did. As I pursued this new vision, I was confronted by the lack of the knowledge of God in my life.
B. While on a college ski trip on Jan. 2, 1975, a new believer asked me how to have a quiet time.
1If you receive My words, and treasure My commands within you, 2so that you incline your ear to wisdom…3If you cry out for discernment…4If you seek her as silver and…hidden treasures; 5then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. (Prov. 2:1-5)
C. Condition #1: We set our heart to walk in full obedience (if you will receive My words v. 1a). To receive His words means to obey them instead of refusing or neglecting them.
1If you will receive My words... (Prov. 2:1a)
D. Loving Jesus must be on His terms, including a spirit of obedience (Jn. 14:15). The Spirit is the only One who can reveal Jesus to us. If He is quenched, we will not grow in revelation of Jesus (Eph. 4:30; 1 Thes. 5:19). Prayer and fasting are not a substitute for obedience.
15If you love Me, keep My commandments. (Jn. 14:15)
E. Condition #2: We meditate on His Word (if you will treasure My commands, v. 1b). In the Old Testament, commands, statutes, and precepts are often other ways of referring to God’s Word. We treasure God’s commands by filling our mind with His Word.
1If you will...treasure My commands [Word] within you... (Prov. 2:1b)
F. We dialogue with Jesus as a person—we have conversation with Him—as we meditate on the Scriptures. It is not enough to study the Word—we must give our heart to God and receive from Him as we read it. Scripture gives us the “conversational material” for our prayer life.
G. Condition #3: We must have a teachable spirit and an open heart (if you incline your ear to wisdom, v. 2). This speaks of humbling our heart to learn from the Word instead of resisting its meaning or limiting it to one small facet of our understanding of the Word. The Lord can bring those who are humble into more truth about Him. Many who are zealous for God lack a teachable, humble spirit. We easily pick up biases from those we grow up with.
2If you…incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding... (Prov. 2:2)
H. Condition #4: We ask for more revelation of God (if you cry out for understanding, v. 3). We must actually pray for revelation of God (Mt. 7:7-8; Eph. 1:17).
3Yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding... (Prov. 2:3)
7Ask, and it will be given…seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened… (Mt. 7:7)
17That the…Father of glory may give…revelation in the knowledge of Him… (Eph. 1:17)
I. Condition #5: We are to be diligent in our pursuit of God (search for her as treasures, v. 4) and to pay any price in seeking for more of God. We must spend long hours in our search for God. There is a deep correlation between the amount of time we spend with Jesus and the measure of encounter that we have with Him.
4If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures... (Prov. 2:4)
J. Jesus is our greatest treasure, but is “hidden” until we seek for more of Him
with all our heart. The Spirit will escort us into the divine treasury of the magnificence and beauty of Jesus. Our life is to be a treasure hunt into the knowledge of God, which becomes our very gold.
2Attaining to all the riches of…of Christ, 3in whom are hidden all the treasures… (Col. 2:2-3)
24You will lay your gold in the dust…25Yes, the Almighty will be your gold… (Job 22:24-25)
18I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire… (Rev. 3:18)
K. A kingly spirit searches diligently and refuses to be denied. God draws out our love and hunger for Him by hiding. Searching for God includes prayerful study of the Word with fasting.
2It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter. (Prov. 25:2)
L. God’s promise: We will understand the fear of God and the knowledge of God (v. 5).
5Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. (Prov. 2:5)
Note: I recommend Corey Russell’s book Pursuit of the Holy which focuses on Proverbs 2:1-5
notes by Mike Bickle
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