Where is the real battle?
The recent ruling to uphold the band on gay marriage in California should be a reminder of many things. This conservative victory in the most morally liberal state of the union is a reminder that the majority of the people in the U.S. do not support gay marriage; however, it is also a reminder of how irrelevant this fact is to the persistence of those pursuing the gay agenda. It is a reminder that when traditional families speak up, victory is assured, yet it is a reminder of how often those who oppose traditional moral values are willing to stand for immorality. It is a reminder that the struggle is constant, and also it is a reminder of how consistently the adversaries of Christianity strive to promote evil. While a reminder that victory is possible, the ever narrowing victory in California is also a reminder of how much more methodical the enemies of righteousness are. These facts beg the question, “where is the real battle?”
The reality is that Christians often are attempting to fight a world war, when the dominant issue is a civil war. The battle is much less against gay-marriage proponents than it is against the church’s apathy. It has been truly stated that evil prospers when good men do nothing. Many have wisely described the church as a “sleeping giant.” While pulpit after pulpit rhetorically proclaims us to be on the verge of revival, anything but revival is occurring. This is because optimism is not the answer to apathy. We may look at the proverbial glass as half full rather than half empty; however, that is futile when the water is being drained from the glass.
Among Christians who are actively fighting is the tendency to assume that the church is not fighting hard enough; however, the truth is when the church is faithful and pure in her disposition walls will come tumbling down with little human effort. The battle with the world is never our battle, it’s the Lord’s; however, our battle is to maintain our own personal and social faith and purity in the context of the church.
The church must become radically unique in her position, spiritual violent in her method, and mystically unpredictable in her response to sin. This must occur first in-house and then it will irresistibly spread abroad. We must remember the God’s thoughts and ways are not in concert with the ways of men. The church is guilty of attempting to eradicate sin from her mist with grace rather than law. She seeks to operate in sentimental wisdom that is carnal and unbiblical. This is nothing less than a misapplication of grace; actually, it is a perversion of grace, creating a license for lasciviousness. In the Old Testament the law demanded that the sinner be put to death. This was punitive, purifying, and preventative in affect. While death was literal in the Old Testament, it is symbolically accomplished in the New Testament through excommunication.
The Reformers defined a true church by three signs: 1) the true gospel is preached, 2) the observation of the sacraments, and 3) church discipline. The lack of this last sign in the church today is very revealing. The Old Testament nation of Israel’s bondage was always a result of abandoning the discipline of the law.
Simply put, the church cannot be tolerant of homosexuality and expect to triumph against the world. There are clear instructions in the scripture as to how [all] sin in the camp must be dealt with in order to maintain God’s favor. When the church is ineffective in battle, it is never the world’s fault; there is sin in the camp and we have become Achan’s Army. Our leaders, like Moses, are unable to hold their arms up and the people are defeated antinomians.
It is high time that the church concentrate on the in-house war more so than the worldly distractions that Satan has used to infiltrate the church and sow tares while believers slept. Only then will we become manifestly the church over which the gates of Hell cannot prevail.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Make Full Proof of Thy Ministry
But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry (2Timothy 4:5)
An encouragement and a warning to a young preacher/pastor, don’t get preoccupied cursing the darkness; rather, be busy shining the light. How often a man’s ministry is hindered by distractions. This must be, as I consider my own history at times, Satan’s number one tool. If our foot is not threatened by the prosperity of the wicked, then it is the apathy of the saints that puts us in danger of slippage. Here the temptation is for Timothy to be halted by the refusal of church folk to hear what is sound and true.
And isn’t it more than not that young preachers fail to heed this warning, even the scriptures, that the called to ministry comes with severe testing. The preacher/pastor is in the people business, and people will drive you crazy unless you stay focused. And I’ve been there; I was so angry and for whatever reason, I mentioned to my very own Pastor that I was going to manhandle this fellow, but in wisdom he said to me, “Don’t be distracted.” And that is what Paul is telling this young preacher, “You have a calling from God and don’t turn to the left or right glaring and staring at preachers who won’t preach, deacons who won’t serve, and saints who act like “aints”. Instead prove to all that your call is an effectual calling from the almighty God. The apostle said to Timothy, if these will no longer hear you, and in fact turn against you, “Do the work of an evangelist”; go get you some more people. Don’t talk about them; go get you some more people. Don’t stare at them; go get you some more people. Don’t fight them; go get you some more people. Do the work Timothy, do the work! Watch vigilantly and avoid some distractions. With determination endure painful distractions, but most of all keep working, thereby proving your ministry bears the mandate of heaven.
The preaching call is a burden that the truly called preacher must carry out at all cost. That burden is not to prove that he can compel or constraint any particular group of people, but that if he keeps on preaching and ignores the distractions all that God gave to him will come to him. I conclude with a word for the distracted from the old hymnologist, Charles Wesley:
A charge to keep I have,
A God to glorify,
A never-dying soul to save,
And fit it for the sky.
To serve the present age,
My calling to fulfill:
O may it all my powers engage
To do my Master's will!
An encouragement and a warning to a young preacher/pastor, don’t get preoccupied cursing the darkness; rather, be busy shining the light. How often a man’s ministry is hindered by distractions. This must be, as I consider my own history at times, Satan’s number one tool. If our foot is not threatened by the prosperity of the wicked, then it is the apathy of the saints that puts us in danger of slippage. Here the temptation is for Timothy to be halted by the refusal of church folk to hear what is sound and true.
And isn’t it more than not that young preachers fail to heed this warning, even the scriptures, that the called to ministry comes with severe testing. The preacher/pastor is in the people business, and people will drive you crazy unless you stay focused. And I’ve been there; I was so angry and for whatever reason, I mentioned to my very own Pastor that I was going to manhandle this fellow, but in wisdom he said to me, “Don’t be distracted.” And that is what Paul is telling this young preacher, “You have a calling from God and don’t turn to the left or right glaring and staring at preachers who won’t preach, deacons who won’t serve, and saints who act like “aints”. Instead prove to all that your call is an effectual calling from the almighty God. The apostle said to Timothy, if these will no longer hear you, and in fact turn against you, “Do the work of an evangelist”; go get you some more people. Don’t talk about them; go get you some more people. Don’t stare at them; go get you some more people. Don’t fight them; go get you some more people. Do the work Timothy, do the work! Watch vigilantly and avoid some distractions. With determination endure painful distractions, but most of all keep working, thereby proving your ministry bears the mandate of heaven.
The preaching call is a burden that the truly called preacher must carry out at all cost. That burden is not to prove that he can compel or constraint any particular group of people, but that if he keeps on preaching and ignores the distractions all that God gave to him will come to him. I conclude with a word for the distracted from the old hymnologist, Charles Wesley:
A charge to keep I have,
A God to glorify,
A never-dying soul to save,
And fit it for the sky.
To serve the present age,
My calling to fulfill:
O may it all my powers engage
To do my Master's will!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
They Shall Be My People, and I Will Be Their God
That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God (Ezekiel 11:20).
Not in position only, but in practice. The world will look at us and our true identity will be undeniable. Not because of what we have done, but because of what He has done. Daddy would say "Boy when you leave this house, you will act like you are a Solomon; folk will know you are my son." And that is in affect what God is saying here.
Israel is being chastened through exile from the land for their abominable and detestable practices. Ezekiel asked God if He will destroy them. Yet in the mist of their rebellion, God details His faithful intentions for Israel. God said: I will give them one heart; I will give them a new spirit; I will take out the stony heart; I will give them a heart of flesh. Notice the personal pronoun "I".
Just as He cannot save us without faith in His Son, He cannot bless us without conformity to the likeness of His Son. Yet He places both responsibilities squarely on His own shoulders. The one who justifies is in fact the same one who sanctifies. As Paul wrote, "He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil 1:6). He pushes, pulls, puts us out to bring us in. He molds, makes, and shapes us into that which brings Him eternal pleasure.
And that is the beauty of our redemption; we have been saved to the utmost. In spite of our present condition: abominable and detestable, we have been declared to be His people by His immutable voice. We will be indwelled with a passion for Him by His unquenchable love. We will be made His people by His unstoppable hand.
We may go willingly like Enoch or we may go kicking and screaming all the way like Samson, but our destiny is certain and sure; we will be His people and He will be our God. As William Cowper wrote in his hymn, "The Contrite Heart",
The Lord will happiness divine
On contrite hearts bestow;
Then tell me, gracious God, is mine
A contrite heart or no?
Oh make this heart rejoice or ache;
Decide this doubt for me;
And if it be not broken, break,
And heal it, if it be.
Not in position only, but in practice. The world will look at us and our true identity will be undeniable. Not because of what we have done, but because of what He has done. Daddy would say "Boy when you leave this house, you will act like you are a Solomon; folk will know you are my son." And that is in affect what God is saying here.
Israel is being chastened through exile from the land for their abominable and detestable practices. Ezekiel asked God if He will destroy them. Yet in the mist of their rebellion, God details His faithful intentions for Israel. God said: I will give them one heart; I will give them a new spirit; I will take out the stony heart; I will give them a heart of flesh. Notice the personal pronoun "I".
Just as He cannot save us without faith in His Son, He cannot bless us without conformity to the likeness of His Son. Yet He places both responsibilities squarely on His own shoulders. The one who justifies is in fact the same one who sanctifies. As Paul wrote, "He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil 1:6). He pushes, pulls, puts us out to bring us in. He molds, makes, and shapes us into that which brings Him eternal pleasure.
And that is the beauty of our redemption; we have been saved to the utmost. In spite of our present condition: abominable and detestable, we have been declared to be His people by His immutable voice. We will be indwelled with a passion for Him by His unquenchable love. We will be made His people by His unstoppable hand.
We may go willingly like Enoch or we may go kicking and screaming all the way like Samson, but our destiny is certain and sure; we will be His people and He will be our God. As William Cowper wrote in his hymn, "The Contrite Heart",
The Lord will happiness divine
On contrite hearts bestow;
Then tell me, gracious God, is mine
A contrite heart or no?
Oh make this heart rejoice or ache;
Decide this doubt for me;
And if it be not broken, break,
And heal it, if it be.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
A Well of Water Springing Up
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life (John 4:14)
As humans we dream of an endless supply of anything. Not a temporary thirst quencher, but a permanent alleviation of thirst. And what if God had created within our body the capacity to recycle our water? What if we would never have to head to the refrigerator to get a glass of water? Or what if we would never enter a building and have to inquire about the location of the water fountain? And God could have done that. He did it for the earth with the installation of a system of condensation and precipitation. There is not one drop of water in this world more or less than when it first begun.
And this woman came, yes for water, and yes with some problems. But Jesus wisely dives passed the surface and symptoms. The core issue was neither her marriage nor her need to come to this well, but the teaching that she had been exposed to left some ambiguity, some confusion. The well was deep, but the pots that carried the well water were finite, limited, shallow.
Make no mistake about it; God is please to use people as teachers. But every human teacher can only go so far. His capacity is only so much. By the Samaritan teachers, this woman had been helped but she was not whole; she learned something but not everything. She did not know whether the abode of God was in Jerusalem or Gerizim? Was God in the temple or the mountain? Are the Jews God's people or the Samaritans? Is the truth here or is it there. Her problem was that she had some water pots. Yet Jesus tells her of an indwelling source. He tells her of an endless supply. He tells her of a well of springing water. No more toting the buckets and no more drawing the water out of the hole.
And there is a teacher that is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. As John put it else where, “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you...” (1Jn 2:27). If one is indwelled with spiritual water, he too will leave his water pots... They are antiquated, obsolete, and unnecessary... Again John says, “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things (1Jn 2:20). One hymn writer caught the essence of this inexhaustible spring:
Holy Ghost, with light divine,
Shine upon this heart of mine;
Chase the shade of night away,
Turn my darkness into day.
Let me see my Savior’s face,
Let me all His beauties trace;
Show those glorious truths to me
Which are only known to Thee.
As humans we dream of an endless supply of anything. Not a temporary thirst quencher, but a permanent alleviation of thirst. And what if God had created within our body the capacity to recycle our water? What if we would never have to head to the refrigerator to get a glass of water? Or what if we would never enter a building and have to inquire about the location of the water fountain? And God could have done that. He did it for the earth with the installation of a system of condensation and precipitation. There is not one drop of water in this world more or less than when it first begun.
And this woman came, yes for water, and yes with some problems. But Jesus wisely dives passed the surface and symptoms. The core issue was neither her marriage nor her need to come to this well, but the teaching that she had been exposed to left some ambiguity, some confusion. The well was deep, but the pots that carried the well water were finite, limited, shallow.
Make no mistake about it; God is please to use people as teachers. But every human teacher can only go so far. His capacity is only so much. By the Samaritan teachers, this woman had been helped but she was not whole; she learned something but not everything. She did not know whether the abode of God was in Jerusalem or Gerizim? Was God in the temple or the mountain? Are the Jews God's people or the Samaritans? Is the truth here or is it there. Her problem was that she had some water pots. Yet Jesus tells her of an indwelling source. He tells her of an endless supply. He tells her of a well of springing water. No more toting the buckets and no more drawing the water out of the hole.
And there is a teacher that is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. As John put it else where, “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you...” (1Jn 2:27). If one is indwelled with spiritual water, he too will leave his water pots... They are antiquated, obsolete, and unnecessary... Again John says, “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things (1Jn 2:20). One hymn writer caught the essence of this inexhaustible spring:
Holy Ghost, with light divine,
Shine upon this heart of mine;
Chase the shade of night away,
Turn my darkness into day.
Let me see my Savior’s face,
Let me all His beauties trace;
Show those glorious truths to me
Which are only known to Thee.
Friday, October 17, 2008
The Spirit of the Lord is Upon Me
Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. What an anointing! And there are a lot of people who are preaching with no anointing. Yet you cannot speak for God without the Spirit being poured out upon you. You may speak, but it won’t be for God. You may speak but it is not authorize by God. God will never endorse anyone who the Spirit is not upon. Yet so many today claim to act in a manner pleasing unto God, yet they do not bear the identifying marks of His Spirit. And speech without the Spirit is no good, ungodly, and unproductive in kingdom business. One cannot do anything when the Spirit is not upon him.
So preacher how do you know that you have the anointing of the Holy Spirit? You know because the Gospel will be preached to the poor. Not the poor because they lack money, but the poor because they have no answer to their core issues in the treasure chest of men.
There was a woman with an issue of blood. She had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. She had exhausted the treasury of men. There was a woman at the well who had married five men and was now with one that was not her's she had exhausted the treasury of men.
And I’ve been there, where I was disappointed by everyone who had promised me anything, where my situation would exhaust the strength of my strongest advocate, where my help was beyond anything that men would do or could for me. But God had appointed and anointed a man, poured His Spirit upon that man. And by and with the power of God, that man preached the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, to my impoverished condition. And that is what Spirit-empower anointed preaching does… it heals the broken-hearted… it gives liberty to the bruised… it speaks to your core issue… It speaks to whatever is holding you captive… It speaks to whatever is blocking you from God’s reward… It speaks to whatever has broken your heart… How does it speak…? It proclaims the acceptable day of the Lord. Can’t you hear the hammer ring - at Calvary… can’t you hear the hammer ring…? It rang because sin broke my heart… it rang because sin held me captive… it rang because sin bruised my life…
Calvary is the answer to whatever is ailing you. At the top of Moriah Abraham found the Gospel of a Substitute. At the Exodus from Egypt Moses preached the Gospel of the Lamb’s blood. At the destruction of Jericho Rahab heard the Gospel of the scarlet cord in the window seal. When the Spirit of the Lord is upon man… He’ll preach Christ heals the broken hearted…… He’ll preach Christ delivers the captives… He’ll preach Christ recovers sight to the blind… He’ll preach Christ sets at liberty them that are bruised… Jesus is all the world to me… my life, my joy, my all.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. What an anointing! And there are a lot of people who are preaching with no anointing. Yet you cannot speak for God without the Spirit being poured out upon you. You may speak, but it won’t be for God. You may speak but it is not authorize by God. God will never endorse anyone who the Spirit is not upon. Yet so many today claim to act in a manner pleasing unto God, yet they do not bear the identifying marks of His Spirit. And speech without the Spirit is no good, ungodly, and unproductive in kingdom business. One cannot do anything when the Spirit is not upon him.
So preacher how do you know that you have the anointing of the Holy Spirit? You know because the Gospel will be preached to the poor. Not the poor because they lack money, but the poor because they have no answer to their core issues in the treasure chest of men.
There was a woman with an issue of blood. She had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. She had exhausted the treasury of men. There was a woman at the well who had married five men and was now with one that was not her's she had exhausted the treasury of men.
And I’ve been there, where I was disappointed by everyone who had promised me anything, where my situation would exhaust the strength of my strongest advocate, where my help was beyond anything that men would do or could for me. But God had appointed and anointed a man, poured His Spirit upon that man. And by and with the power of God, that man preached the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, to my impoverished condition. And that is what Spirit-empower anointed preaching does… it heals the broken-hearted… it gives liberty to the bruised… it speaks to your core issue… It speaks to whatever is holding you captive… It speaks to whatever is blocking you from God’s reward… It speaks to whatever has broken your heart… How does it speak…? It proclaims the acceptable day of the Lord. Can’t you hear the hammer ring - at Calvary… can’t you hear the hammer ring…? It rang because sin broke my heart… it rang because sin held me captive… it rang because sin bruised my life…
Calvary is the answer to whatever is ailing you. At the top of Moriah Abraham found the Gospel of a Substitute. At the Exodus from Egypt Moses preached the Gospel of the Lamb’s blood. At the destruction of Jericho Rahab heard the Gospel of the scarlet cord in the window seal. When the Spirit of the Lord is upon man… He’ll preach Christ heals the broken hearted…… He’ll preach Christ delivers the captives… He’ll preach Christ recovers sight to the blind… He’ll preach Christ sets at liberty them that are bruised… Jesus is all the world to me… my life, my joy, my all.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
The Miracle of Twilight
And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? (2 Kings 7:3)
Why sit we here until we die? Before this question was uttered, these fellows were in a hopeless situation. They are leprous men, at the gate of a famished city, surrounded by a conquering army. In other words, there was death in the city, death surrounding them, and death within them. What ray of sunshine can penetrate the dark clouds of this dreary day? What glimmer of hope can be found in this midnight situation to prompt the question, "Why sit we here until we die?"
The asking of this question begs other questions. First, why the question? Then secondly, Why the question now? They had been sitting there, sick, dying, degenerating. And we have been there, sitting. We had heard message after message, invitation after invitation, and call after call. But we sat, sick, leprous, dying, decaying, degenerate, unable to respond, unable to see the point in responding. Paul says, That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. "Why the question?" and "Why the question now?"
Another way to put it is, "What can make a dead man seek life?" One may look at the text at a glance and consider these fellows simply applying prudential judgment; that is, they simply came up with a good idea. I may be inclined to such a view myself were it not for there being at least three miracles in the text. The miracle of revelation, the miracle of salvation, and the one we are most interested in at this point the miracle of regeneration.
Revelation: That the man of God had already spoken to the king and prophetically announcing the end of the famine on the morrow precludes the notion of co-incidence. Salvation: the empty Syrian camp that the four men are prompted to move to and therein find a great store of victuals is evidence that a divine way had been prepared. But what good are a promise and a provision without a prompting? And therein is the answer to our question, a third miracle, but yet the primary miracle, the miracle of regeneration. The same God that promised and provided prompted them to God's promised provision. Dead men don't move of themselves, by themselves, to save themselves. Dead men don't hear preaching. Preaching does not prepare a person for the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit prepares a person for preaching. Only the Holy Spirit regenerates and enables one to seek life. Preaching is not nor has it ever been for the dead, but for the living.
Why sit we here until we die? Before this question was uttered, these fellows were in a hopeless situation. They are leprous men, at the gate of a famished city, surrounded by a conquering army. In other words, there was death in the city, death surrounding them, and death within them. What ray of sunshine can penetrate the dark clouds of this dreary day? What glimmer of hope can be found in this midnight situation to prompt the question, "Why sit we here until we die?"
The asking of this question begs other questions. First, why the question? Then secondly, Why the question now? They had been sitting there, sick, dying, degenerating. And we have been there, sitting. We had heard message after message, invitation after invitation, and call after call. But we sat, sick, leprous, dying, decaying, degenerate, unable to respond, unable to see the point in responding. Paul says, That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. "Why the question?" and "Why the question now?"
Another way to put it is, "What can make a dead man seek life?" One may look at the text at a glance and consider these fellows simply applying prudential judgment; that is, they simply came up with a good idea. I may be inclined to such a view myself were it not for there being at least three miracles in the text. The miracle of revelation, the miracle of salvation, and the one we are most interested in at this point the miracle of regeneration.
Revelation: That the man of God had already spoken to the king and prophetically announcing the end of the famine on the morrow precludes the notion of co-incidence. Salvation: the empty Syrian camp that the four men are prompted to move to and therein find a great store of victuals is evidence that a divine way had been prepared. But what good are a promise and a provision without a prompting? And therein is the answer to our question, a third miracle, but yet the primary miracle, the miracle of regeneration. The same God that promised and provided prompted them to God's promised provision. Dead men don't move of themselves, by themselves, to save themselves. Dead men don't hear preaching. Preaching does not prepare a person for the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit prepares a person for preaching. Only the Holy Spirit regenerates and enables one to seek life. Preaching is not nor has it ever been for the dead, but for the living.
Like these men we all sat there until foreknowledge sent predestination and predestination sent calling. We sat there until God blew again the breath of life in us. We sat there until we slid through the womb of a new birth. We sat until an east wind blew and the red sea parted. We sat there until degeneration gave way to regeneration and we could no longer hold our peace. Like these leprous men, we cried out "Why sit we here until we die? It doesn't make sense anymore as it once did when we saw no way to affect our salvation. But we can now see a glimmer of hope, the miracle of twilight in the night. No longer can we sit and die: got to get up now and seek life. Because life came in us and life began to live. Life began to seek life more abundantly. Paul exclaims, Even when we were dead in sins, [the Spirit] hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved.)
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
The Paradox of Abundant Life
And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. (Luke 12:15)
How often it is that Christians say, “if I had more I would do more reverend.” And in some sense this is proper and well intended. However, few times do we consider that if God wanted us to have more in our current state and condition, God would have given it to us, as He did Solomon who never sought material things and was in fact commended by God for not asking for riches or wealth? Could not this somewhat sincere desire be full of waxed over cracks of covetousness. In the Old Testament covetousness is understood by the prohibition of desiring what belongs to one’s neighbor; however, under the New Covenant is not the higher spiritual understanding to be satisfied in the perimeters of life God has afforded you. As the author of Hebrews put it, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
Does not our God own the silver and the gold, the cattle on a thousand hills, even the world and they that dwell therein? Is He not the God that gives the power to get wealth? Has He not promise that in His appointed time the wealth of the wicked shall be turned over to the righteous? In short, God is all sufficient? The fact is God does not call us to operate in His kingdom out of our excess but out of that which we have. Paul writes, “For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.”
The fact is the call of God to help others will always cost a man that which he cannot spare. We often want to do for Christ and help others out of our abundance; however, such is not the nature of sacrifice. Jesus Christ had no abundance of lives to give; He only had one and He gave that life. Jesus says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” The paradox of abundant life is that it flows from the sacrificial death of a single life, that death has exponentially increased the worth of the life given. Contrary to popular belief today, life abundantly does not consist in an abundance of things, but an abundance of lives touched by giving all that one has to those who have not. Yet the “all” here is never quantified materially; rather, it is all of the spirit of Christ’s sacrifice which now indwells every saint, to hold back nothing for self, to regard nothing as his own, but to go unto death, even the death on the cross for the sake of his beloved brethren. In this right, one can be broke and bankrupt of this world’s wealth and give so richly to as many as are needful. The mindset of Christianity is not to have much to give, but to give as much as one has. For all that one has has been given him to give.
How often it is that Christians say, “if I had more I would do more reverend.” And in some sense this is proper and well intended. However, few times do we consider that if God wanted us to have more in our current state and condition, God would have given it to us, as He did Solomon who never sought material things and was in fact commended by God for not asking for riches or wealth? Could not this somewhat sincere desire be full of waxed over cracks of covetousness. In the Old Testament covetousness is understood by the prohibition of desiring what belongs to one’s neighbor; however, under the New Covenant is not the higher spiritual understanding to be satisfied in the perimeters of life God has afforded you. As the author of Hebrews put it, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
Does not our God own the silver and the gold, the cattle on a thousand hills, even the world and they that dwell therein? Is He not the God that gives the power to get wealth? Has He not promise that in His appointed time the wealth of the wicked shall be turned over to the righteous? In short, God is all sufficient? The fact is God does not call us to operate in His kingdom out of our excess but out of that which we have. Paul writes, “For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.”
The fact is the call of God to help others will always cost a man that which he cannot spare. We often want to do for Christ and help others out of our abundance; however, such is not the nature of sacrifice. Jesus Christ had no abundance of lives to give; He only had one and He gave that life. Jesus says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” The paradox of abundant life is that it flows from the sacrificial death of a single life, that death has exponentially increased the worth of the life given. Contrary to popular belief today, life abundantly does not consist in an abundance of things, but an abundance of lives touched by giving all that one has to those who have not. Yet the “all” here is never quantified materially; rather, it is all of the spirit of Christ’s sacrifice which now indwells every saint, to hold back nothing for self, to regard nothing as his own, but to go unto death, even the death on the cross for the sake of his beloved brethren. In this right, one can be broke and bankrupt of this world’s wealth and give so richly to as many as are needful. The mindset of Christianity is not to have much to give, but to give as much as one has. For all that one has has been given him to give.
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