WHY ARE WE NOT TOLD PLAINLY?
He charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead." Mark 9:9
Say nothing until the Son of man is risen in you - until the life of the risen Christ so dominates you that you understand what the historic Christ taught. When you get to the right state on the inside, the word which Jesus has spoken is so plain that you are amazed you did not see it before. You could not understand it before, you were not in the place in disposition where it could be borne.
Our Lord does not hide these things; they are unbearable until we get into a fit condition of spiritual life. "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." There must be communion with His risen life before a particular word can be borne by us. Do we know anything about the impartation of the risen life of Jesus? The evidence that we do is that His word is becoming interpretable to us. God cannot reveal anything to us if we have not His Spirit. An obstinate outlook will effectually hinder God from revealing anything to us. If we have made up our minds about a doctrine, the light of God will come no more to us on that line, we cannot get it. This obtuse stage will end immediately [when] His resurrection life has its way with us.
"Tell no man . . " - so many do tell what they saw on the mount of transfiguration. They have had the vision and they testify to it, but the life does not tally with it, the Son of man is not yet risen in them. I wonder when He is going to be formed in you and in me?
( April 7; My Utmost For His Highest, by Oswald Chambers)
There are some people who do not like me, who think I am arrogant, prideful, place myself above others etc. The trouble with this is, I have never said anything like that. They see the words I write and think they mean one thing and cannot understand them. The reason is because of what Oswald Chambers says at the end of the first and second paragraphs.
“. . . You could not understand it before, you were not in the place in disposition where it could be borne.”
And,
“. . . An obstinate outlook will effectually hinder God from revealing anything to us. If we have made up our minds about a doctrine, the light of God will come no more to us on that line, we cannot get it. This obtuse stage will end immediately [when] His resurrection life has its way with us.”
You see brothers and sisters these understandings ONLY come about by the Holy Spirit. They are SPIRITUALLY revealed. Have we not read what Paul says?>>>
1Co 2:12 Now we have not received the spirit [that belongs to] the world, but the [Holy] Spirit Who is from God, [given to us] that we might realize and comprehend and appreciate the gifts [of divine favor and blessing so freely and lavishly] bestowed on us by God.
1Co 2:13 And we are setting these truths forth in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the [Holy] Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual truths with spiritual language [to those who possess the Holy Spirit].
1Co 2:14 But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them [of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them] because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated.
1Co 2:15 But the spiritual man tries all things [he examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things], yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one [he can read the meaning of everything, but no one can properly discern or appraise or get an insight into him].
AND
Gal 1:11 For I want you to know, brethren, that the Gospel which was proclaimed and made known by me is not man's gospel [a human invention, according to or patterned after any human standard].
Gal 1:12 For indeed I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but [it came to me] through a [direct] revelation [given] by Jesus Christ (the Messiah).
If we have been taught by our own understanding, if we have been taught by man’s methods, by seminary, Bible school, etc, we have NOT been taught by the HOLY SPIRIT! These TRUTHS only come by revelation from the Holy Spirit. He will ONLY teach a vessel that is empty and willing to be molded into whatever HE desires.
As long as we are the ones who are directing our teaching, as long as we are listening to men, gathering data, learning as we learned in “secular” school, WE WILL NOT CLEARLY SEE HIS TRUTH! We are relying on our own understanding, NOT the Holy Spirit. We tear apart verses, use Greek and Hebrews dictionaries, lexicons to find out all the words used, use commentaries to tell us what God intended when He had this writer say thus and so, we deduce, use logic, use man’s ways of doing things, and let others tell us what the Lord is saying. Then even though the Bible says different, when we read whole chapters and books, we choose instead to believe what others have taught us and what our minds have been trained to understand.
We rely on ourselves and man’s ways to figure out God’s ways.
Friends, is that ANY DIFFERENT from what the Pharisees did? Please, do not say, “But we have the Holy Spirit!” Do we? Really? Who are we listening to? Have we done what Jesus said when He told us to DENY OURSELVES, Take up our cross DAILY (put everything we know and have of our own self to death and do not rely on it) and FOLLOW HIM? Do we obey the principle of the scriptures that says almost everywhere the same as it does in Proverbs?
Pro 3:5 Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
Pro 3:6 In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.
Pro 3:7 Be not wise in your own eyes; reverently fear and worship the Lord and turn [entirely] away from evil. [Prov. 8:13.]
Do we live in this manner or do we rely on our understanding, being wise in our own eyes, relying on our own insight? Which is it? What about what I have described above about Bible school and seminary, is that relying on GOD or on our own insight and understanding? Have we listened to MEN or to the Holy Spirit? Who has taught us? DO not think that just because we are Christians we cannot be deceived or that the HOLY SPIRIT MUST teach us. That would mean we cannot make a mistake. That would mean, all of those warnings about deception in the Bible are worthless.
If what we believe does NOT agree with the SCRIPTURES AS THEY ARE WRITTEN, then what we believe is a LIE! If our doctrine of salvation says, all we must do is believe and pray, does that doctrine include the commands from the Bible for repentance, submission, denial of ourselves, consecration (that means we are ONLY to be used by God, NOT OURSELVES) holiness and obedience? If our doctrine of salvation does NOT include these things, then our doctrine is FALSE!
The other trouble with all of this is how many of us wait to proclaim the truth until JESUS is formed in us? We will not understand His truths until we are truly beginning to walk JUST LIKE JESUS. I do not mean on purpose attempting to imitate His life. Rather, because we have spent time with Him in the scriptures and personally (if we cannot hear His voice we are NOT THERE yet) we naturally do and say the same types of things as He did. I will not argue with those who say we cannot walk like Jesus. The Bible says this is possible in several places and it is only man’s teaching/doctrines that say differently.
1Jn 2:6 Whoever says he abides in Him ought [as a personal debt] to walk and conduct himself in the same way in which He walked and conducted Himself.
My wife and I spent some time at a full gospel Bible school. We attended classes with all the kids, developed some very good friendships, and had our eyes opened by the Lord. I remember talking to my wife about a weekend conference we had with many full time ministers attending. The vast majority (at least 90%) had graduated from that school. We knew that at that time we were not ready to be full time ministers; yet what we saw in the lives of these ministers showed us that they were no different from us; they were just as unready to be ministers as we!
Christ Jesus had NOT been formed in their lives. They were mostly living lives of desperation, having the same troubles the world has in their personal lives. WE ARE NOT TO BE MERE MEN as CHRISTIANS, let alone as ministers. This was a grieving that the Lord laid on our hearts as we saw all of these things taking place. We finally realized what the major problem was>>>>
The school taught information but did not build maturity or Christians. On the basis of their diploma, they had been granted authority in the Church, yet their lives did not agree with what the scriptures say a minister is supposed to be. It is this, along with several other items that has brought the Modern Church to the terrible place it is in today! Divorce is more common in Christianity than OUTSIDE OF IT! (in America) We have all seen some of the major investigative reports and subsequent failures in the leadership of the Church in America. It will only get worse.
Part of the solution is returning to the biblical requirements for those in authority. People who live lives above reproach, who walk like Jesus because they abide in Christ Jesus (I John 2:6) This does not necessarily mean they perform all sorts of miracles, but that their lives are lived in a manner that is like the one Jesus lived.
Php 2:5 Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:]
Php 2:6 Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained,
Php 2:7 But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being.
Php 2:8 And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross!
Php 2:9 Therefore [because He stooped so low] God has highly exalted Him and has freely bestowed on Him the name that is above every name,
Php 2:10 That in (at) the name of Jesus every knee should (must) bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Php 2:11 And every tongue [frankly and openly] confess and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Php 2:12 Therefore, my dear ones, as you have always obeyed [my suggestions], so now, not only [with the enthusiasm you would show] in my presence but much more because I am absent, work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ).
Php 2:13 [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.
Php 2:14 Do all things without grumbling and faultfinding and complaining [against God] and questioning and doubting [among yourselves],
Php 2:15 That you may show yourselves to be blameless and guileless, innocent and uncontaminated, children of God without blemish (faultless, unrebukable) in the midst of a crooked and wicked generation [spiritually perverted and perverse], among whom you are seen as bright lights (stars or beacons shining out clearly) in the [dark] world,
This is how we are to live, and THIS is just a normal Christian, not anybody special! I wonder how many people who claim to be Christian can say in humility (because they KNOW that God made this happen in their lives) “This is my life in Christ Jesus”?
We are to be BRIGHT STARS on this earth. Did we forget about this in seminary and our Bible schools? Do we honestly think that data is all we need to have? As Paul writes in I Cor 13, no matter how many works you do, if you have no love, it is useless. But then, we mostly don’t know what love is anyway.
Forgive me for rambling.
We are to be JUST LIKE JESUS. If we are not, how can we even begin to think we can lead His people anywhere or be their teachers and guides?
If John the Baptist were preaching here, most of us would either leave or rant against him. If Jesus were preaching, it would be just as bad if not worse. I know, people will say, “OH NO, I would never do that!” But as soon as someone begins to proclaim the Sermon on the Mount as NORMAL CHRISTIANITY and Jesus’ admonition in Chapter 7 as a warning to all who do not do as HE says, there will be fireworks. If that was preached in the average congregation, there would be many frowns and they would most likely not ask you back to even complete the series you started.
It is NOT about how much we know, what we have learned, it is how much of HIS TRUTH DO WE LIVE! If we have a young adult who is walking like Christ, we would be far better to follow him/her than someone who has been a pastor for 30yrs with a BA, MA, & PhD who lives basically no different from his/her neighbor who is unsaved.
We do not need Eli’s, we need Samuels! Seminary does not make one prepared for the ministry. Bible school does not do it either. In today’s climate in America, we would do far better with one who had little or no Bible school but had been taught TRULY by the HOLY SPIRIT!
Jesus is formed in people like that. It is more than being moral. It is more than being nice. Love is not necessarily warm, fuzzy, comfortable, kind. Love gives us what we need when we need it. Love gives us our medicine, our correction, our discipline, and the scriptures tell us that is NOT pleasant. But if someone stands up and brings forth correction and discipline, so many today cry, “You are not loving, you are not walking like Christ, Jesus didn’t treat people like that,” and on and on, crying and whining because they have been whipped by the WORD of God who is Jesus Christ Himself living, breathing, and speaking through a person on the earth today.
Jesus and God do not give us what we want they give us what we need. If we have a rod up our back and refuse to back down, then He will be VERY HARD, even MEAN! (at least in our eyes) Tell me friends, how does the rebellious child look on discipline? How many have been rebellious as a child or teen and can remember what it feels like to be corrected, to be disciplined? Does it feel good?
We are wimps; we are undisciplined brats that need a good thrashing. We need someone to take us by the ear back to the wood shed and wale the daylights out of us; for NOTHING will get through that tough, hardheaded rebellion that is the NORM today in the Church!
We go to church, we like what the pastor says, we tell him on the way out and that is what we call meeting the Lord. There is NO CHANGE, there is no crying out for our sins, there is no repentance. Even salvation has been made sterile by the way we “bring people to the Lord.” How can anyone experience the depth of despair necessary to make a decision that will take one from death into life with a REAL TRANSFORMATION unless there is a real dealing with that rebellion? Rebellion is rampant even here. We want what we want. We have our nice houses, our cars, our lives. We have our hobbies, our recreations, we take our kids to soccer practice, ball games and potluck dinners, yum!
But where is God in our lives? How is our life different from our unsaved neighbor down the street? Don’t they do exactly the same things? The only difference between them and us is we go to Church a few times a week; other than that, we do exactly the same things. And we call this REAL Christianity! Who are we kidding?
Unless Christ be formed in us, our faith is worthless. If we are NOT living it DAILY, then we are living for ourselves. We have become complacent, uncaring, etc. Let me post the passage the specifically speaks of us.
2Ti 3:1 BUT UNDERSTAND this, that in the last days will come (set in) perilous times of great stress and trouble [hard to deal with and hard to bear].
2Ti 3:2 For people will be lovers of self and [utterly] self-centered, lovers of money and aroused by an inordinate [greedy] desire for wealth, proud and arrogant and contemptuous boasters. They will be abusive (blasphemous, scoffing), disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane.
2Ti 3:3 [They will be] without natural [human] affection (callous and inhuman), relentless (admitting of no truce or appeasement); [they will be] slanderers (false accusers, troublemakers), intemperate and loose in morals and conduct, uncontrolled and fierce, haters of good.
2Ti 3:4 [They will be] treacherous [betrayers], rash, [and] inflated with self-conceit. [They will be] lovers of sensual pleasures and vain amusements more than and rather than lovers of God.
2Ti 3:5 For [although] they hold a form of piety (true religion), they deny and reject and are strangers to the power of it [their conduct belies the genuineness of their profession]. Avoid [all] such people [turn away from them].
2Ti 3:6 For among them are those who worm their way into homes and captivate silly and weak-natured and spiritually dwarfed women, loaded down with [the burden of their] sins [and easily] swayed and led away by various evil desires and seductive impulses.
2Ti 3:7 [These weak women will listen to anybody who will teach them]; they are forever inquiring and getting information, but are never able to arrive at a recognition and knowledge of the Truth.
2Ti 3:8 Now just as Jannes and Jambres were hostile to and resisted Moses, so these men also are hostile to and oppose the Truth. They have depraved and distorted minds, and are reprobate and counterfeit and to be rejected as far as the faith is concerned. [Exod. 7:11.]
Do you not believe these verses speak even of the Church today? If you cannot see this, then you are blind, and you may be involved in the same lifestyle. At the very least, if you cannot see this, then you are deceived already and it is only a matter of time before this fruit will show itself.
Why do I preach to “Christians?” Because we are NOT living the way the Bible says. How do I know this? All you have to do is ask an unsaved person how a real Christian is supposed to live, and you will know. They can see the truth and those in the Church cannot! What does THAT say? Who is more deceived? At least those heading to perdition generally know that is where they are going.
We have almost no one who lives like Jesus. So few who are preaching and teaching live JUST LIKE JESUS. He is NOT formed in them. He does NOT live His life through them; AND THEY SHOULD NOT BE PREACHING AND TEACHING UNLESS HE CAN BE SEEN!
But those in rebellion will not see Him. All they recognize is the discipline, the chastisement and they HATE it. They rebel even against this as they did when they were young. They refuse to listen, they refuse to be taught, they are headed for perdition and don’t even have a clue. They think they are doing God’s work, caring for the unfortunate, walking in soft, soupy, peace at any cost “love.” But that love is not true love. It is the same morality that the Mormons and Buddhists have. Christians think they have a corner on niceness and forget about people like this. In fact, most of the time the followers of these false religions are not only nicer but MORE MORAL than the vast majority of Christians. Jesus REBUKED the Churches of Sardis and Laodicea; that was NOT NICE and kind. He told them they were going to be rejected and cast out. So, to those who do not like that kind of message, Jesus did the same thing and if HE was here today in person, HE WOULD REBUKE US IN THE SAME MANNER!
We do not want to face these things. We do not want them to be true. We claim we believe the Bible, but when our doctrines are HONESTLY put beside it, they just do not match up. We preach this “gospel” where all you have to do is say a prayer and you are saved. In a few places they actually put forth a little effort into confessing their sins; not repenting of them, mind you, but only confessing them. You see, they preach that we will get better and better the more we hang around Church people. That is actually controlled behavior, no different than how we train a dog. We show them what behavior is acceptable and what behavior is NOT acceptable. They are then told to only do the acceptable behavior. Most people can do quite a bit of this, thereby conforming their behavior with everyone else’s where they gather. But the INSIDE has NOT been changed. They still have all of those lusts, impulses, desires, etc. But they do not give in to them because they know there will be consequences. It is like driving. We have learned that it is fun to drive fast, but we also know that if we do, the police will give us a ticket and it will cost us money. The faster we go, the more it will cost and it will also cause our insurance to go up, costing more money. So even though we like going fast, we control our behavior and more or less, obey the speed limits. (just enough so we don’t get a ticket)
That is NOT Christianity! That is the same way natural people live.
REAL Christianity changes EVERYTHING, TRANSFORMS the person from the inside. The old desires ARE GONE, not suppressed. We have put the old way of living to DEATH; it has been buried; it no longer lives! We NOW have a NEW life that is inside of us hid in Christ Jesus. We now have HIS desires, His wants, His way of doing things. But we are children in this and must learn how to crawl, toddle, walk, and eventually run in Him. This is not preached. We preach, “Oh slowly, as you go on through your life, you will get better. The Word will do its work in you and you will be fine. When you sin, and you WILL SIN, just say your sorry and go on, God understands.”
Sorry, that is not in the Bible. The TRUE and LIVING Word is Jesus Christ and if HE lives in you, do you honestly think He will sin? It is NOT some book inside of you it is the VERY SON OF GOD! The Holy Spirit, God Himself teaches us and lives inside of us IF WE WILL ONLY CEASE RELYING ON OURSELVES AND RELY EXCLUSIVELY ON HIM!
But people want to be in control of their lives. They do not want to submit to God in that manner, for then they could NO LONGER run their life, do what they want to do. They would truly be transformed, and the world might begin to see some REAL LIGHT. But though they do not think these things consciously, they still love the dark and want to keep all of those hidden things still hidden. Christ is NOT formed in them; Christ does NOT KNOW them. Though they go to Church and everyone thinks they may even be spiritual giants, in reality, they are just controlling their behavior just like the world does and presenting a false face to those around them.
That, my friends, is a picture of the Church today. That is what the VAST MAJORITY of those who claim to be Christians actually live. They do not do this on purpose to deceive anyone. They have been taught these things and if one attempts to show them the truth they would deny it. They believe they have a real relationship with the Lord. But the inside has not been changed and it is these people for the most part who are in leadership positions in the Modern Church. It is this kind of person who is “teaching” those who go to Bible school and seminary, producing (what was it Jesus said),
Mat 23:15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you travel over sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes one [a proselyte], you make him doubly as much a child of hell (Gehenna) as you are.
So it gets worse and worse. The lives of professing Christians are continually growing more and more like the world. In many places, there is absolutely no difference at all, they do not even pretend to control how they live.
And we have grown more and more intolerant of those who proclaim the Truth. We do not want to hear them for whenever they preach, the words convict our hearts. We invent lies about them and twist their words, just so we do not have to listen; so we do not have to believe. And in doing this, we become more and more like II Tim 3, more like the world, and will welcome the man of perdition when he comes.
Does this message touch you? Has it made you angry? Do you think me daft or deceived? That is your affair and your choice. I have not condemned anyone with my words. I have spoken in generalities and have included myself as one who needs to hear this message. If this message infuriates you, have you considered that it is the Holy Spirit speaking to you? Maybe you should!
All of the Love of the Lord is here in this writing. I pray you will receive it.
A bondslave in Christ Jesus, Dirk
He charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead." Mark 9:9
Say nothing until the Son of man is risen in you - until the life of the risen Christ so dominates you that you understand what the historic Christ taught. When you get to the right state on the inside, the word which Jesus has spoken is so plain that you are amazed you did not see it before. You could not understand it before, you were not in the place in disposition where it could be borne.
Our Lord does not hide these things; they are unbearable until we get into a fit condition of spiritual life. "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." There must be communion with His risen life before a particular word can be borne by us. Do we know anything about the impartation of the risen life of Jesus? The evidence that we do is that His word is becoming interpretable to us. God cannot reveal anything to us if we have not His Spirit. An obstinate outlook will effectually hinder God from revealing anything to us. If we have made up our minds about a doctrine, the light of God will come no more to us on that line, we cannot get it. This obtuse stage will end immediately [when] His resurrection life has its way with us.
"Tell no man . . " - so many do tell what they saw on the mount of transfiguration. They have had the vision and they testify to it, but the life does not tally with it, the Son of man is not yet risen in them. I wonder when He is going to be formed in you and in me?
( April 7; My Utmost For His Highest, by Oswald Chambers)
There are some people who do not like me, who think I am arrogant, prideful, place myself above others etc. The trouble with this is, I have never said anything like that. They see the words I write and think they mean one thing and cannot understand them. The reason is because of what Oswald Chambers says at the end of the first and second paragraphs.
“. . . You could not understand it before, you were not in the place in disposition where it could be borne.”
And,
“. . . An obstinate outlook will effectually hinder God from revealing anything to us. If we have made up our minds about a doctrine, the light of God will come no more to us on that line, we cannot get it. This obtuse stage will end immediately [when] His resurrection life has its way with us.”
You see brothers and sisters these understandings ONLY come about by the Holy Spirit. They are SPIRITUALLY revealed. Have we not read what Paul says?>>>
1Co 2:12 Now we have not received the spirit [that belongs to] the world, but the [Holy] Spirit Who is from God, [given to us] that we might realize and comprehend and appreciate the gifts [of divine favor and blessing so freely and lavishly] bestowed on us by God.
1Co 2:13 And we are setting these truths forth in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the [Holy] Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual truths with spiritual language [to those who possess the Holy Spirit].
1Co 2:14 But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them [of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them] because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated.
1Co 2:15 But the spiritual man tries all things [he examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things], yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one [he can read the meaning of everything, but no one can properly discern or appraise or get an insight into him].
AND
Gal 1:11 For I want you to know, brethren, that the Gospel which was proclaimed and made known by me is not man's gospel [a human invention, according to or patterned after any human standard].
Gal 1:12 For indeed I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but [it came to me] through a [direct] revelation [given] by Jesus Christ (the Messiah).
If we have been taught by our own understanding, if we have been taught by man’s methods, by seminary, Bible school, etc, we have NOT been taught by the HOLY SPIRIT! These TRUTHS only come by revelation from the Holy Spirit. He will ONLY teach a vessel that is empty and willing to be molded into whatever HE desires.
As long as we are the ones who are directing our teaching, as long as we are listening to men, gathering data, learning as we learned in “secular” school, WE WILL NOT CLEARLY SEE HIS TRUTH! We are relying on our own understanding, NOT the Holy Spirit. We tear apart verses, use Greek and Hebrews dictionaries, lexicons to find out all the words used, use commentaries to tell us what God intended when He had this writer say thus and so, we deduce, use logic, use man’s ways of doing things, and let others tell us what the Lord is saying. Then even though the Bible says different, when we read whole chapters and books, we choose instead to believe what others have taught us and what our minds have been trained to understand.
We rely on ourselves and man’s ways to figure out God’s ways.
Friends, is that ANY DIFFERENT from what the Pharisees did? Please, do not say, “But we have the Holy Spirit!” Do we? Really? Who are we listening to? Have we done what Jesus said when He told us to DENY OURSELVES, Take up our cross DAILY (put everything we know and have of our own self to death and do not rely on it) and FOLLOW HIM? Do we obey the principle of the scriptures that says almost everywhere the same as it does in Proverbs?
Pro 3:5 Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
Pro 3:6 In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.
Pro 3:7 Be not wise in your own eyes; reverently fear and worship the Lord and turn [entirely] away from evil. [Prov. 8:13.]
Do we live in this manner or do we rely on our understanding, being wise in our own eyes, relying on our own insight? Which is it? What about what I have described above about Bible school and seminary, is that relying on GOD or on our own insight and understanding? Have we listened to MEN or to the Holy Spirit? Who has taught us? DO not think that just because we are Christians we cannot be deceived or that the HOLY SPIRIT MUST teach us. That would mean we cannot make a mistake. That would mean, all of those warnings about deception in the Bible are worthless.
If what we believe does NOT agree with the SCRIPTURES AS THEY ARE WRITTEN, then what we believe is a LIE! If our doctrine of salvation says, all we must do is believe and pray, does that doctrine include the commands from the Bible for repentance, submission, denial of ourselves, consecration (that means we are ONLY to be used by God, NOT OURSELVES) holiness and obedience? If our doctrine of salvation does NOT include these things, then our doctrine is FALSE!
The other trouble with all of this is how many of us wait to proclaim the truth until JESUS is formed in us? We will not understand His truths until we are truly beginning to walk JUST LIKE JESUS. I do not mean on purpose attempting to imitate His life. Rather, because we have spent time with Him in the scriptures and personally (if we cannot hear His voice we are NOT THERE yet) we naturally do and say the same types of things as He did. I will not argue with those who say we cannot walk like Jesus. The Bible says this is possible in several places and it is only man’s teaching/doctrines that say differently.
1Jn 2:6 Whoever says he abides in Him ought [as a personal debt] to walk and conduct himself in the same way in which He walked and conducted Himself.
My wife and I spent some time at a full gospel Bible school. We attended classes with all the kids, developed some very good friendships, and had our eyes opened by the Lord. I remember talking to my wife about a weekend conference we had with many full time ministers attending. The vast majority (at least 90%) had graduated from that school. We knew that at that time we were not ready to be full time ministers; yet what we saw in the lives of these ministers showed us that they were no different from us; they were just as unready to be ministers as we!
Christ Jesus had NOT been formed in their lives. They were mostly living lives of desperation, having the same troubles the world has in their personal lives. WE ARE NOT TO BE MERE MEN as CHRISTIANS, let alone as ministers. This was a grieving that the Lord laid on our hearts as we saw all of these things taking place. We finally realized what the major problem was>>>>
The school taught information but did not build maturity or Christians. On the basis of their diploma, they had been granted authority in the Church, yet their lives did not agree with what the scriptures say a minister is supposed to be. It is this, along with several other items that has brought the Modern Church to the terrible place it is in today! Divorce is more common in Christianity than OUTSIDE OF IT! (in America) We have all seen some of the major investigative reports and subsequent failures in the leadership of the Church in America. It will only get worse.
Part of the solution is returning to the biblical requirements for those in authority. People who live lives above reproach, who walk like Jesus because they abide in Christ Jesus (I John 2:6) This does not necessarily mean they perform all sorts of miracles, but that their lives are lived in a manner that is like the one Jesus lived.
Php 2:5 Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:]
Php 2:6 Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained,
Php 2:7 But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being.
Php 2:8 And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross!
Php 2:9 Therefore [because He stooped so low] God has highly exalted Him and has freely bestowed on Him the name that is above every name,
Php 2:10 That in (at) the name of Jesus every knee should (must) bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Php 2:11 And every tongue [frankly and openly] confess and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Php 2:12 Therefore, my dear ones, as you have always obeyed [my suggestions], so now, not only [with the enthusiasm you would show] in my presence but much more because I am absent, work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ).
Php 2:13 [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.
Php 2:14 Do all things without grumbling and faultfinding and complaining [against God] and questioning and doubting [among yourselves],
Php 2:15 That you may show yourselves to be blameless and guileless, innocent and uncontaminated, children of God without blemish (faultless, unrebukable) in the midst of a crooked and wicked generation [spiritually perverted and perverse], among whom you are seen as bright lights (stars or beacons shining out clearly) in the [dark] world,
This is how we are to live, and THIS is just a normal Christian, not anybody special! I wonder how many people who claim to be Christian can say in humility (because they KNOW that God made this happen in their lives) “This is my life in Christ Jesus”?
We are to be BRIGHT STARS on this earth. Did we forget about this in seminary and our Bible schools? Do we honestly think that data is all we need to have? As Paul writes in I Cor 13, no matter how many works you do, if you have no love, it is useless. But then, we mostly don’t know what love is anyway.
Forgive me for rambling.
We are to be JUST LIKE JESUS. If we are not, how can we even begin to think we can lead His people anywhere or be their teachers and guides?
If John the Baptist were preaching here, most of us would either leave or rant against him. If Jesus were preaching, it would be just as bad if not worse. I know, people will say, “OH NO, I would never do that!” But as soon as someone begins to proclaim the Sermon on the Mount as NORMAL CHRISTIANITY and Jesus’ admonition in Chapter 7 as a warning to all who do not do as HE says, there will be fireworks. If that was preached in the average congregation, there would be many frowns and they would most likely not ask you back to even complete the series you started.
It is NOT about how much we know, what we have learned, it is how much of HIS TRUTH DO WE LIVE! If we have a young adult who is walking like Christ, we would be far better to follow him/her than someone who has been a pastor for 30yrs with a BA, MA, & PhD who lives basically no different from his/her neighbor who is unsaved.
We do not need Eli’s, we need Samuels! Seminary does not make one prepared for the ministry. Bible school does not do it either. In today’s climate in America, we would do far better with one who had little or no Bible school but had been taught TRULY by the HOLY SPIRIT!
Jesus is formed in people like that. It is more than being moral. It is more than being nice. Love is not necessarily warm, fuzzy, comfortable, kind. Love gives us what we need when we need it. Love gives us our medicine, our correction, our discipline, and the scriptures tell us that is NOT pleasant. But if someone stands up and brings forth correction and discipline, so many today cry, “You are not loving, you are not walking like Christ, Jesus didn’t treat people like that,” and on and on, crying and whining because they have been whipped by the WORD of God who is Jesus Christ Himself living, breathing, and speaking through a person on the earth today.
Jesus and God do not give us what we want they give us what we need. If we have a rod up our back and refuse to back down, then He will be VERY HARD, even MEAN! (at least in our eyes) Tell me friends, how does the rebellious child look on discipline? How many have been rebellious as a child or teen and can remember what it feels like to be corrected, to be disciplined? Does it feel good?
We are wimps; we are undisciplined brats that need a good thrashing. We need someone to take us by the ear back to the wood shed and wale the daylights out of us; for NOTHING will get through that tough, hardheaded rebellion that is the NORM today in the Church!
We go to church, we like what the pastor says, we tell him on the way out and that is what we call meeting the Lord. There is NO CHANGE, there is no crying out for our sins, there is no repentance. Even salvation has been made sterile by the way we “bring people to the Lord.” How can anyone experience the depth of despair necessary to make a decision that will take one from death into life with a REAL TRANSFORMATION unless there is a real dealing with that rebellion? Rebellion is rampant even here. We want what we want. We have our nice houses, our cars, our lives. We have our hobbies, our recreations, we take our kids to soccer practice, ball games and potluck dinners, yum!
But where is God in our lives? How is our life different from our unsaved neighbor down the street? Don’t they do exactly the same things? The only difference between them and us is we go to Church a few times a week; other than that, we do exactly the same things. And we call this REAL Christianity! Who are we kidding?
Unless Christ be formed in us, our faith is worthless. If we are NOT living it DAILY, then we are living for ourselves. We have become complacent, uncaring, etc. Let me post the passage the specifically speaks of us.
2Ti 3:1 BUT UNDERSTAND this, that in the last days will come (set in) perilous times of great stress and trouble [hard to deal with and hard to bear].
2Ti 3:2 For people will be lovers of self and [utterly] self-centered, lovers of money and aroused by an inordinate [greedy] desire for wealth, proud and arrogant and contemptuous boasters. They will be abusive (blasphemous, scoffing), disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane.
2Ti 3:3 [They will be] without natural [human] affection (callous and inhuman), relentless (admitting of no truce or appeasement); [they will be] slanderers (false accusers, troublemakers), intemperate and loose in morals and conduct, uncontrolled and fierce, haters of good.
2Ti 3:4 [They will be] treacherous [betrayers], rash, [and] inflated with self-conceit. [They will be] lovers of sensual pleasures and vain amusements more than and rather than lovers of God.
2Ti 3:5 For [although] they hold a form of piety (true religion), they deny and reject and are strangers to the power of it [their conduct belies the genuineness of their profession]. Avoid [all] such people [turn away from them].
2Ti 3:6 For among them are those who worm their way into homes and captivate silly and weak-natured and spiritually dwarfed women, loaded down with [the burden of their] sins [and easily] swayed and led away by various evil desires and seductive impulses.
2Ti 3:7 [These weak women will listen to anybody who will teach them]; they are forever inquiring and getting information, but are never able to arrive at a recognition and knowledge of the Truth.
2Ti 3:8 Now just as Jannes and Jambres were hostile to and resisted Moses, so these men also are hostile to and oppose the Truth. They have depraved and distorted minds, and are reprobate and counterfeit and to be rejected as far as the faith is concerned. [Exod. 7:11.]
Do you not believe these verses speak even of the Church today? If you cannot see this, then you are blind, and you may be involved in the same lifestyle. At the very least, if you cannot see this, then you are deceived already and it is only a matter of time before this fruit will show itself.
Why do I preach to “Christians?” Because we are NOT living the way the Bible says. How do I know this? All you have to do is ask an unsaved person how a real Christian is supposed to live, and you will know. They can see the truth and those in the Church cannot! What does THAT say? Who is more deceived? At least those heading to perdition generally know that is where they are going.
We have almost no one who lives like Jesus. So few who are preaching and teaching live JUST LIKE JESUS. He is NOT formed in them. He does NOT live His life through them; AND THEY SHOULD NOT BE PREACHING AND TEACHING UNLESS HE CAN BE SEEN!
But those in rebellion will not see Him. All they recognize is the discipline, the chastisement and they HATE it. They rebel even against this as they did when they were young. They refuse to listen, they refuse to be taught, they are headed for perdition and don’t even have a clue. They think they are doing God’s work, caring for the unfortunate, walking in soft, soupy, peace at any cost “love.” But that love is not true love. It is the same morality that the Mormons and Buddhists have. Christians think they have a corner on niceness and forget about people like this. In fact, most of the time the followers of these false religions are not only nicer but MORE MORAL than the vast majority of Christians. Jesus REBUKED the Churches of Sardis and Laodicea; that was NOT NICE and kind. He told them they were going to be rejected and cast out. So, to those who do not like that kind of message, Jesus did the same thing and if HE was here today in person, HE WOULD REBUKE US IN THE SAME MANNER!
We do not want to face these things. We do not want them to be true. We claim we believe the Bible, but when our doctrines are HONESTLY put beside it, they just do not match up. We preach this “gospel” where all you have to do is say a prayer and you are saved. In a few places they actually put forth a little effort into confessing their sins; not repenting of them, mind you, but only confessing them. You see, they preach that we will get better and better the more we hang around Church people. That is actually controlled behavior, no different than how we train a dog. We show them what behavior is acceptable and what behavior is NOT acceptable. They are then told to only do the acceptable behavior. Most people can do quite a bit of this, thereby conforming their behavior with everyone else’s where they gather. But the INSIDE has NOT been changed. They still have all of those lusts, impulses, desires, etc. But they do not give in to them because they know there will be consequences. It is like driving. We have learned that it is fun to drive fast, but we also know that if we do, the police will give us a ticket and it will cost us money. The faster we go, the more it will cost and it will also cause our insurance to go up, costing more money. So even though we like going fast, we control our behavior and more or less, obey the speed limits. (just enough so we don’t get a ticket)
That is NOT Christianity! That is the same way natural people live.
REAL Christianity changes EVERYTHING, TRANSFORMS the person from the inside. The old desires ARE GONE, not suppressed. We have put the old way of living to DEATH; it has been buried; it no longer lives! We NOW have a NEW life that is inside of us hid in Christ Jesus. We now have HIS desires, His wants, His way of doing things. But we are children in this and must learn how to crawl, toddle, walk, and eventually run in Him. This is not preached. We preach, “Oh slowly, as you go on through your life, you will get better. The Word will do its work in you and you will be fine. When you sin, and you WILL SIN, just say your sorry and go on, God understands.”
Sorry, that is not in the Bible. The TRUE and LIVING Word is Jesus Christ and if HE lives in you, do you honestly think He will sin? It is NOT some book inside of you it is the VERY SON OF GOD! The Holy Spirit, God Himself teaches us and lives inside of us IF WE WILL ONLY CEASE RELYING ON OURSELVES AND RELY EXCLUSIVELY ON HIM!
But people want to be in control of their lives. They do not want to submit to God in that manner, for then they could NO LONGER run their life, do what they want to do. They would truly be transformed, and the world might begin to see some REAL LIGHT. But though they do not think these things consciously, they still love the dark and want to keep all of those hidden things still hidden. Christ is NOT formed in them; Christ does NOT KNOW them. Though they go to Church and everyone thinks they may even be spiritual giants, in reality, they are just controlling their behavior just like the world does and presenting a false face to those around them.
That, my friends, is a picture of the Church today. That is what the VAST MAJORITY of those who claim to be Christians actually live. They do not do this on purpose to deceive anyone. They have been taught these things and if one attempts to show them the truth they would deny it. They believe they have a real relationship with the Lord. But the inside has not been changed and it is these people for the most part who are in leadership positions in the Modern Church. It is this kind of person who is “teaching” those who go to Bible school and seminary, producing (what was it Jesus said),
Mat 23:15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you travel over sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes one [a proselyte], you make him doubly as much a child of hell (Gehenna) as you are.
So it gets worse and worse. The lives of professing Christians are continually growing more and more like the world. In many places, there is absolutely no difference at all, they do not even pretend to control how they live.
And we have grown more and more intolerant of those who proclaim the Truth. We do not want to hear them for whenever they preach, the words convict our hearts. We invent lies about them and twist their words, just so we do not have to listen; so we do not have to believe. And in doing this, we become more and more like II Tim 3, more like the world, and will welcome the man of perdition when he comes.
Does this message touch you? Has it made you angry? Do you think me daft or deceived? That is your affair and your choice. I have not condemned anyone with my words. I have spoken in generalities and have included myself as one who needs to hear this message. If this message infuriates you, have you considered that it is the Holy Spirit speaking to you? Maybe you should!
All of the Love of the Lord is here in this writing. I pray you will receive it.
A bondslave in Christ Jesus, Dirk
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