The Next Step

Joshua 6:20 “So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people when up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.”

(This was the battle at Jericho….for six days all the men had walked around the city with the priests carrying the Ark, silently….once.

Then the seventh day, they walked around seven times….and when the trumpets blew…..they shouted….and the walls fell down.

The men then went up, right where they stood at that time, and fought….taking the city.)

This requires some consideration on our part:

This was their first battle for the land that God would give them

It was a battle won by God, for only the Might of God could make the walls fall down, as they did.

It was a battle won by faith and obedience, for God honored their walking around….waiting seven days….and their shout.

It was a battle won by the sword….for God honored their fighting against the inhabitants of that wicked city.

This should have been a pattern for all other battles:

Getting specific direction about the battle.

Informing the people.

Being Obedient….in silence and shouting; in walking and in fighting.

Israel was to be a Theocracy…..which means that they were to be ruled by God…through His Law, and His priests….coming before Him with their sacrifices and offerings.

As such they were to be a showcase nation of brothers, living faithfully to God and each other….for the whole world to see.

But….

Amos 3:1-3 “Hear this word that the Lord hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,

You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”

(Remember, “iniquities” is anything unequal to their high calling as God’s servants and citizens.)

Paul writing to them, as a church, wrote:

Hebrews 5:12 “When for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God;

and are become as such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.”

After all they had been through, and after all they had seen and experienced (the day of Pentecost, the miracles, outflow of brotherly love, standing with Christ at first, in the day of persecution)………yet they were still babes in Christ.

Believers…..but never having gone on to maturity of affections.

How can such privileges not bring about Christian maturity?

How could they not be, under such miracles and power, be grown up in Christ?

It is one thing to be born along in the Spirit with the wonder of His works in HIs church….many people do this.

It is another to have established a personal relationship with Christ…..coming under that authority and power ourselves.

The Lord said:

Isaiah 28:9-10 “Whom shall He teach knowledge? And whom shall He make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breast.

For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; Line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.”

If we would go on to maturity….this is the path that we must tread.

For precept must be upon precept.

And line upon line.

A precept is a commandment; to put in order. God’s Word is given….not as a suggestion….but as precepts….commandments so that we can put our lives in order before Him.

And a line upon line. How many things do we want to change…..”no it can’t be just that strict….just that way, Lord.” But it is. It is a narrow way….which leads to Heaven….and if we are citizens of the Great King, Jesus Christ; we must follow His lead all the way there.

Obedience does not save us, the Lord Jesus Christ does that…

….but we will never know Him…whom to know aright is to have salvation….without it.

God blessed the faith, obedience….even in the shout at Jericho for His ancient people….

God promises to bless a cup of water given in His Name (Mark 9:41)….

…for it is not what is done…..but what He has called us to do…..great or small….for Him, that counts.

There will be great miraculous things…..after all He saved us…and that is a great miracle, after our sin and rebellion…against Him.

There will be times of blessing…..and times of persecution (verbal and physical).

There will be brotherly love and…..yes, sadly, betrayal.

For we are His servants and citizens of Heaven…..we are not of this world, though we live in it. (1 Peter 2:9-10)

But we can follow HIs precepts…..and walk the line of His example, in peace and joy….and get that maturity of affections that He has for all His children.

Will we?

Revelation 3:17 “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

We are not just one of these,….but all of these.

We should be crying out, like Paul…..”O wretched man that I am, Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24)

But, according to the Lord….the Faithful and True Witness against us….we are unaware of our true condition….

….we think we are rich. Rich here means “abounding with”.

John 10:10 “…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

But in Laodicea, if we have His eternal life….we are not abounding with it….but we are poor in the things of God. In those things He looks for in His beloved children. (Philippians 4:6-8)

We do not have the reality of what we profess. That is why our Counselor speaks first of our buying from Him, by devotion and obedience….gold, tried in the fire.

Revelation 3:18 “I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.”

Gold speaks of God in my life. Gold tried in the fire is pure gold….the dross or admixture of other influences….burnt out.

Peter, when writing the Jewish Christians dispersed throughout the world, wrote….(and I think it is a call to us Laodiceans, as well)…

1 Peter 1:3,6-7 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy (there is abounding life again)…hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

(Christ’s sacrificial death gives us salvation from sin…..Christ’s resurrection gives us life…abundant life.)

“Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:”

In Laodicea, perhaps we have forgotten that the trials we face, are all part of the purpose of God to “burn away” the flattery,…and the fear of those circumstances around us….

….we become more dependent upon His life within….and as we look more and more to Him, and less and less to ourselves or others…..His life starts to abound within us…and then through us:

And this is what the “white raiment” speaks of….our being clothed upon with the righteousness of Christ…..so that we may do righteousness, or righteous acts (Rev. 19:8) by the Holy Spirit through us….which requires yielding to Him.

We become…”a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.” (2 Timothy 2:21-22)

If you look at what is said about this vessel unto honor….

….we are sanctified or set aside to God, by the Holy Spirit….and by ourselves yielding to the Holy Spirit.

We are “meet for the Master’s use”…or easily used, profitable to the Lord!

(I know when I use a knife in the kitchen…esp. a paring knife….I have a favorite. It fits my small hand, and I can use it easily. I do not have to grasp it hard,…I can just cut with confidence. So we can be in the hands of the Lord….easy to use, for whatever job)

We are “prepared unto every good work”….we are always present before Him, to hear His Word,…relying upon His Holy Spirit to show us the words and attitudes….and to do “every good work” through us….(whether they are “important” or “insignificant” to us)

We started this with the verse that says….”Because thou sayest”.

And then, what the Lord says.

Who are we going to believe?

If I am, in the sight of the Lord wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked….and I am…and so are you, Laodicean….

….what are we to do about it?

Well, Jesus Christ calls us to “repent”….be zealous and repent. (Rev. 3:19)

How much time we have left to become vessels unto honor….to get the gold of God in our lives (not just in our hearts by faith,…but in our everyday lives)…we can not tell.

A few months ago, I would have “said” that my health was good. But in a night, all that changed…and I was sidelined for weeks.

Jesus Christ stands at the door of the Laodicean Church….but it is to me, to you, to each one of us….that He speaks to:

(Revelation 3:20). “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock:”

He is ready to do for us…..are we ready to let Him?

“If any man hear My Voice,”

His Voice by His Word, by His Holy Spirit within us, by preachers and teachers, by circumstances …are we listening for His Voice to us?

“And open the door”

The door we open is our lives. We opened our hearts to Him in salvation….but this is a call to a life, open and receptive to Him.

“I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.”

When the Faithful and True Witness says, “I will”…we can count on it. His companionship, His provision, His Presence….what would we lack?

Let us start with:

Romans 14:22 “Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemned not himself in that which he alloweth.”

What is it that we condemn ourselves in?

Set that right, and go on with Him. The rest of our lives are ahead….let us become lives which manifest Him…ready to do what He commands.

Confession 

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Confession of sin is imperative if we are to have the fellowship with the Lord, and the grace we need to walk in the light (1 John 1:7) from the Lord.    

        Our confession should be as soon as we recognize we have sinned.   “Forgive me, Lord for my anger….letting my frustration come out my mouth,…..my own way of doing this,  not relying on You as I should….not speaking up for You.”     Whatever our sin is,  we can confess it to Him to remove the deading influence it has on our life,  with Christ Jesus.

        Confession is getting honest with the Lord about our sin, and letting His mercy and grace work in us to cleanse us from it’s stain in our thoughts and hearts….and remove the desire….or the reason for it.

Psalm 85:8 “I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints:  but let them not return again to folly.”

The confessions in the books of Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, are three of the most heartfelt confessions for the people of Israel.

I have always been amazed at the confessions in prayer in these three books.  

(They are all in the ninth chapter of each book…where they pour their heart out to God,  to once again forgive the iniquity and sin of His people.  

        They are all concerning the people who are in, or  came out of the captivity.   

In “the captivity”,  God sent His people to be taken and carried to foreign lands…slaves to foreign kings….to chasten them for their sin.   

         Taking them out of the land He gave them, to show them the seriousness of their idolatry and their forgetting of the Law He had given them.)

But these who pray,    do not put the sinners in a far off place from themselves….no,  they include themselves in their prayers for forgiveness.

Let us take a look at forgiveness from God.  

Psalm 130:3-4 “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,  O Lord, who could stand?

       But with You there is forgiveness,  that you may be feared.”

 Col. 1:13-14 “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,

       In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

(Forgiveness of God is seen as a fountain….washing away our sins and cleansing us, from it’s  defilement (from it’s influence, in our hearts and conscience) 

forgiveness means pardon , deliverance (no longer under the rule of it), liberty, remission (to release from guilt and it’s penalty).

Daniel in Babylon,…..high,  in what we would call,  influential circles…..yet a man so in love with God and His purpose….he lays everything aside three times a day to seek God for Israel.   A man who read the scriptures….so when the time was coming close for Jeremiah’s prophecy of a return to Israel for the captives,….he prayed that it would come to pass, and God would help those willing to return.

      Then, (and here comes the confession part)…..Daniel came to the Lord in confession for his nation, who had forsaken the covenant of God and after many times of calling Israel to repent,  had been driven into captivity.   He was one of the captives as well….knowing the subjection to a foreign king….in a foreign land….away from the Temple and the sacrifices.

       Daniel prays, confessing the sins of Israel…and seeks the Lord…..that He, in mercy, might act for Jerusalem and the Temple…and for His people…

….but in his confession,  he includes himself.  

Daniel 9:9-10, 17-18 ” To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him 

        And have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.

        Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate.

        O my God, incline your ear and hear. …for we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness,  but because of your great mercy.”

At the appointed time (Jeremiah had prophesied the captivity would be for seventy years)…under Cyrus, king of Persia,  all the willing captives were allowed to go back to Israel….but they were also given liberty to seek a free will offering from the other Israelites that did not want to return….and Cyrus gave the vessels of the House of the Lord, and returned them. (Ezra 1:2,5,7,11 “all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400….) 

Years later, Ezra was of the priestly family…who was returning to Jerusalem with more of these vessels and quite a few families….years after the first went back.

      Yet after having come to Jerusalem, having a victorious trip through enemy country to bring people and supplies to those in Israel, without a guard from the king(Ezra 8:21-23)….

….. where there should have been joy….there is shock and sadness, as the people tell him of the sin of mixed marriages.

        So, after he delivers the supplies….he falls down, in sackcloth and in mourning for the sinful state that his people were in.

       He didn’t try a pep talk….he took his sorrow to the Lord and confessed for Israel….including himself.  

Ezra 9:3,5-6,9-11, 14 “As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled.

         And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, 

         Saying:  “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens

        For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us….but has extended to us His steadfast love….to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God…

        And now, O our God, what shall we say after this?  For we have forsaken your commandments,

        Which You commanded…saying, the land that you are entering….is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands,….

        Shall we break your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations?…”

 Under Ezra’s guidance, the people who had done this, put away these….and made a covenant with the Lord, not to do this any more.        

Under Nehemiah, governor…appointed by the Persian king, the people confessed how all through their history, they had set aside God’s Word and sinned….leading to the captivity that they had been through…the fact that their nation was a subject to other kings.

Nehemiah 9:32-33, 36-38 “Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God,  who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us,….

       Yet You have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly.

       Behold, we are slaves this day: in the land You gave to our fathers to enjoy it’s fruit and it’s good gifts,…

       And it’s rich yield goes to the kings whom You have set over us because of our sins…..and we are in great distress.

      Because of all this we make a firm covenant….”

This covenant was made with all their priests and leaders….to follow the law of Moses….to do all the commandments of the Lord,  His rules and statues….to honor their God, the Lord.

These confessed,  trusting God for answers to the sin,  to the rebellion,  to what they could not do themselves….which was…..move the heart of others to repentance.

But each confessed…..and from that confession….God heard and answered in correction and then in peace for His people.

God will hear and answer our confessions as well….for in these times, we need His peace and fellowship, to keep us.

Who can turn God from His Purpose?

Isaiah 14:24 “The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:”

Can anyone win an argument with God?

Is there any Christian that believes that they can have the last word with God?

These might seem like odd questions….after all we believe in the Sovereignty of God….

…..to accept the Sovereignty of God is to take our place as His creatures…..before the Creator…..and agree that He can do what He will with His own.

Do we?

Hear the Word of the Lord…

Isaiah 14:27 “For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it?….”

(Who shall break God’s purpose….who can set it aside?

None.)

“…..And His hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?”

(When He is ready to judge…..or ready to bless…..who will be able to stop Him?)

Romans 8:35, 37-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Do we believe this for ourselves? I see it quoted….and hear it,…often..but do we believe it?

If God has saved you…..He will not give up on you….

Psalm 138:8 “The Lord will perfect (complete) that which concerneth me: Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever: forsake not the works of Thine own hands.”

(He may leave us in our sins for a while, because we are slow to leave them……to show us the terrible defilement of them.

He may be silent…..making us feel His absence [even though He never really leaves us].

He may use circumstances to awaken or correct us….

….but everything He does…..is to bring us to Himself….the only place of safety….because He loves us.

Hebrews 12:5-6 “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children,

My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou are rebuked of Him:

For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son who He recieveth.”)

The same principle of God’s faithfulness to us…..to see us complete in Him….

…is spoken of by the Apostle Paul:

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Faithful is He that calleth you, Who also will do it.”

(When we consider that Paul was a Persecutor, and a blasphemer, yet found mercy from our Lord Jesus Christ….

….who then became persecuted, and slandered,…for Christ’s sake…..gladly!

He was someone who could say that Jesus will “sanctify you wholly”…..

….for Christ did this for Paul.)

Wherever we are at in our spiritual growth…

(and if you are born again….you are called to “grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” 2 Peter 3:18)

….there is more. As long as you live….He has more for you to accomplish….to experience with Him.

Who can know all of His mercy….or grace….or blessings?

Are there not people you know, who do not know Him…..or who have “fallen” on hard times, as the prodigal?

Then let us seek His purpose for them….by prayer, and witness.

And in doing so….let us remind ourselves of His great patience, mercy, and love to us.

The mercy of God finds us wallowing in the muck and mire of the world….and shines a light on Christ.

The grace of God brings us out of the muck and mire of the world….in Christ’s power and gives us joy.

The patience of God works His Will in us….HIs character in us….and His love in us.

Amazing God we serve.

Let us yield to His purpose (which includes correction and blessing)…..His call for today….His leading, even though we do not know the Way….and His love for ourselves, and others.

Of His Fulness

John 1: 16 “And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.”

As born again ones, we have received…of His fulness.

What does that mean?

There is the fulness of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 5:18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”

As Jesus said when He was here….about the filling of the Spirit…

John 7:38-39 “He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

(But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive:…)”

In scripture the “belly” signifies our innermost life…and it is an amazing prophesy of the way the Holy Spirit works through believers….from the inside out.

He does not require works for God….without love to God.

And that goes into the next “fulness” we receive….(and notice it is again in the inner man)…love

Ephesians 3:16-17 “That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man;

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,”

God is love, and therefore when we are born anew….He places by His Spirit, love for Himself…..and love to others.(Eph. 4:30-32)

The next fulness is grace…..grace for grace. The grace applied, sets the stage for more grace. The grace that we use is never lost….but added to, by more grace.

For it is God, giving of Himself to us.

We should always be filled to our capacity, to our overflowing.

Romans 5:17 (Williams Version) “For if by one man’s offense, death reigned thru that one (Adam)

to a much greater degree, will those who continue to receive the overflow of His unmerited favor and His gift of right standing with Himself, reign in real life thru One, Jesus Christ.”

To continue to receive of His fulness….we need to continue to receive Himself (Jesus Christ)….certainly as Savior….but also as my Lord, as Just and Holy, as Merciful even to His enemies, as a Rebuker of evil, as Mediator, as my Counselor, as the Word.

His fulness here is….the overflow of His grace and His righteousness.

The grace we receive from Christ Jesus changes us into the same image.

2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

But we all, who have an “open face”…..one which will continue to receive the grace given.

As the Holy Spirit creates within us the desire for true spirituality….God’s goodwill works a good work in us (Philippians 2:13 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.)….

…qualifying us for more tokens of His goodwill and grace.

It is not that we “earn” His fulness….but that we just receive them.

John 1:7 “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ”

As we see ourselves in the light of Jesus Christ….facing the truth about what is shown us about ourselves….

….His grace will be applied…..which is God’s unmerited favor of power for our lives.

His power is what we need to do anything.

It gives us wisdom to know what to do and how to do.

It gives us sanctifying influences to keep us standing with Him, in this circumstance.

It gives us peace throughout the circumstances.

And mostly it gives us a knowledge of His Presence with us. This is indeed power to live and reign in the life He leads us in.

And then His fulness gives us Light to shine abroad.

2 Corinthians 4:6 “For God, Who commanded light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Imagine being a light, which can not be hid…..so that “they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”(Matthew 5:14-16)

That Light can so shine thru us….

For “good works” in this world is the showing of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, through us.

2 Corinthians 4:10 “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.”

When we deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Christ….His life also will be made manifest.

“Manifest” here is to render apparent, to publicly declare….in our mortal flesh! How wonderful that God could use me,….us….to render apparent to others the life and character of Jesus…..creating a hunger for the reality we have, in the hearts of others.

Let us lay aside our Weights.

Hebrews 12:1 “Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,”

First, let us consider these weights. Just what are they?

These weights are anything, and everything, that hinders us spiritually.

External things,……that we can drop or lay aside.

To run well, you should not be burdened with anything.

Good things or bad things. For often we can be entangled in “good” things, to our loss; as well as those “bad” things, which we know are not for us.

Those duties that God requires at our hand, cannot be considered weights.

Weights are those things we have a choice in.

These weights are things in our life that are not necessary for our walk in Christ Jesus.

They do nothing to help, and even though we may not see it at the time; they do a lot to hinder.

They get our eyes off of Christ and on to a goal that He has not sanctioned.

Some of our friendships may be weights.

Certainly, our failures from the past, present or future, may be weights……

…..For if we have confessed them, and forsaken them, they are to be set aside; and we are to go on with Him….we are not to be going over them in our minds, again and again.

1 John 1:7-10 “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

Walk in the Light, confess your sin, and stay with it till you know you are cleansed.

This ” cleanseth” is for yesterday, today, and tomorrow. It is always there to be had of us. We are cleansed and made new, every time we come to the fountain of His precious blood.

Don’t try and run with the burden of your sins, for your race will be hindered.

And this is what the writer of this letter is saying to all who would be recognized in Heaven for there walk of faith.

Lay aside every weight.

Drop them, to run with patience the race that is set before you.

This race is not a hundred yard dash;…..but a long distance run.

So pace yourself, by knowing your Lord is running with you; next to you, in this race.

This is your race; not for someone else…..it is your faith He wants to increase in love, joy and peace.

It is you, He is interested in; for that is why He saved us.

It is those that complete the race, that are crowned.

He is not looking for speed, but diligent endurance. Perseverance…….going along, day after day.

Anything from the Holy Spirit will not burden you down.

If you have anything of God that is dragging you down, the devil has added to God’s will, in some way.

For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

2 Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

We should all come to the Lord, and His light,….that He might show us what are the weights which hinder us.

And as He does, let us quickly lay them aside,….for they hinder our race, our fellowship with Him, and our receiving the promise of His liberty in our everyday lives.

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.”

Our speech does not save us…..our works do not save us…..Jesus Christ saves us,…

…but once we are saved, we are to do the will of God.

That is,…..we are to know it….and do it.

Matthew 7:16-17, 20 “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”

Here Jesus contrasts a good tree, and a corrupt tree.

The good tree…is one that brings forth fruit of righteousness

(righteousness is right living before God…..not in men’s estimation……but before God.)

Romans 6:22”But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life.”

Hebrews 12:11 “Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless, afterward it yeildeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”

Then there is the corrupt tree…..corrupt means rotten, spoiled.

(most of the Greek words when corrupt is used is warning of being spoiled….but here, it is already rotten….unable to produce righteousness….unable to bear fruit.)

Philippians 3:18-19 “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:

Whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.”

Romans 16:17-18 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

For they are such that serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.”

The “belly” here, means “hollow”…..it is the inward hunger to be satisfied with things of this world.

John the Baptist had said, “ the axe is laid at the root of the tree….every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down….”

(For the contrast is “good trees” and “corrupt trees”.

What the tree is……the fruit is.)

And how do we become “good trees”?

Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth unto destruction, and many there be that go in thereat:

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

We must enter in at the strait gate. “Strait” here means “narrow with obstacles placed around it.”

That sounds hard to see and to enter.

Jesus says that “few there be that find it”….so it takes a diligent and willing heart.

We need a Guide….and Jesus sends His Holy Spirit to guide us into this Way….as we yield to His convictions.

Because there are obstacles are there, around the strait gate….obstacles put there by the world, and the Adversary of our souls….

…..and there are many things that get our eye off looking for God’s Way….

…..bright and shining things…..

…..piles of the newest things…..

…..emotional things…..which can get our eyes off God’s Way.

Many see in this strait gate…..a reference to repentance….and the laying aside the things we carry….

….burdens, giving up sins, etc….

repentance….which is a change in our attitude toward our sin….(we do not love it any more….it has become a burden instead of a delight)…

….I believe that this burden gets taken care of at Calvary….it is rolled away forever, there.

And the power of our sins is dealt with by the Holy Spirit…after we are born again….by denying ourselves….and being obedient to Him.

(I have mentioned before about Pilgrim’s Progress….So much practical instruction for those going to the Celestial City….and one of the first lessons is:

Christian has left the city of Destruction for he has read in the best of Books that the soul that sinneth it shall die…..and he knows he has sinned….he realizes he has a burden of sin, that would carry him to the lowest hell….

But where is Salvation from his sin?

He meets Evangelist who tells him of the Way of salvation….

…and by the instruction of Evangelist has headed toward the little light at “yonder wicket gate”….

He still has a great burden on his back, which Evangelist says will come off at the right time. [it falls off at the cross and rolls into Christ’s tomb…never to be seen again]

So Christian is going toward the light, but he gets “muddied” by falling into the Slough of Despond….a place where all the muck of sins we have done gathers in our minds….

……but he still diligently struggles toward the light….and “Help” comes and gives him a hand out.

Back on the way to the light….he meets a very finely dressed “gentlemen”.

Mr WorldlyWiseman.

Seeing Christian….and he wasn’t a particularly inspiring sight with mud still clinging to him, and a burden on his back….

Mr. WorldlyWiseman asks him where is he going in such a state. And Christian tells him….and he laughs!

“Don’t believe it”. He exclaims…..”it is a way full of trouble…look at what it has already done to you. You are a mess!”

Christian feels like a mess….and the burden is heavy….so he says…”but I am going to the wicket gate to get this burden off”.

[Really!? is that what he is doing? Is not salvation from his sins the reason for his going?

But he already has his eyes off salvation,…..and onto simple relief from his burden…how easy it is to get our eyes off of Christ.]

Well, Mr WorldlyWiseman tells him of another way of getting rid of his burden….

…….from a man in the town of Morality……a few towns over from Destruction.

Christians would even be able to bring his family…..it was a nice town….they could live well, and everything would be fine.

[There are many “fine” places in the world…..that have nothing to do with God, or His Word. Places that can trap those who live in them…..because they are so fine. There is only One Way to Eternal life….and that is through the strait gate….up to the Cross of Christ. He is Eternal life….and none other.]

So Christian had listened to Mr WorldlyWiseman (first mistake).

Then he stops and thinks about the relief from his burden (second mistake).

Then he turns from the Way he was sent and starts to follow his advice….but then….[Praise God] he begins to think that the he will die if he goes further…..

….but he is too scared to go back….or forward….

…till by God’s grace, Evangelist comes by…

….and he asks Christian….”how can you be out of the Way, already?”

[and have not some of us done the same? Praise God for His deliverance!]

Christian tells him what happened….

…..and Evangelist sharply corrects Christian….

….showing him the error of the speech of this WorldlyWiseman….”Anyone who leads you away from the light….or out of the way is an enemy of God.”

…..No one can take off your burden, except it fall off at the foot of the Cross.

Hebrews 10:38 “Now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draw back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him.”

Christian cries out, “Is there any hope that I may go back…seeing I have so soon departed from the Way?”

Evangelist tells Christian that there is forgiveness……and to beware those who would lead you to mistrust the Word….that anyone who seeks to do that, is an enemy of God’s good.

Then he sends him back….

……so Christian, with diligence, gets to the Wicket gate….and in the Wicket gate……and to the Cross where his burden falls off.)

There are many obstacles by and to the Strait gate. Some from others, some from the Adversary of our souls,…….and some from us getting our eyes off of the Light.

Not everyone that says, “Lord, Lord”….shall enter into the kingdom of heaven….

….but he that does the Will of My Father in heaven.

And it is the Father’s Will that we follow after Christ….and His Word….all the Way.

For strait is the gate that leads to Everlasting life…..and few there be that find it.

By their fruits you shall know them….

What sort of fruit are we bringing forth?

Believers, and the “big” men of the world

I believe wholeheartedly that we must become rooted and grounded in the Lord, Himself (Ephesians 3:17)…..in this age we are living in….

….we must learn to rely on Him…..to trust Him with our whole being….

…in spiritual things,….in reasonable or emotional things…..and with our physical well-being.

I am going to use David, the shepherd, as an example.

He kept his father’s sheep. Day and night, through cold and heat, and from wild beasts,….David watched for the well-being of the sheep.

David had been secretly anointed king of Israel, yet had left the working out of this promise to God.

He had gone back to the sheep….the flocks of his father, Jessie.

But one day, things change……forever for him….and through him, the nation of Israel….

…and all this comes from a very simple command from his father….nothing fancy, or dramatically…….just go bring food to his brothers who were in the army with Saul.

(Sometimes the way the Lord leads us may be step by step…..nothing fancy or dramatic….just guidance, which followed will help us in the most important decisions of our lives.)

Once there, David hears the challenge of one of the most “big” and powerful men of the world he lived in…..Goliath.

1 Samuel 17:4, 8, 10 “And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? Am not I a Philistine, and ye the servants of Saul? Choose you a man of you and let him come down to me.

And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.”

Goliath was a “champion”…..he was no novice, in the killing business.

He was a giant….approximately 10-11 feet tall.

He had a helmet of brass, and a coat of brass plates overlaid like scales of a fish,….he wore brass boots, and had a brass corselet around his neck….his spear was too large for most men to carry or put their hand around.

He was pretty much unconquerable,…..and he knew it.

This conversation was a mocking challenge….to Saul….to any Israelite who believed in their God,……Who was a Shield to protect their army.

David took this challenge very personally….for Goliath was attacking God….the Living and True God….not just His army.

No one else seem to mind Goliath’s mocking….nor the sneer in his voice as Goliath called on the “servants of Saul”….instead of the servants of the Living God.

But David did…..and asked immediately…

1 Samuel 17:26 “And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the Living God?”

This Philistine “reproached” them everyday… (forty days…1 Samuel 17:16)

“Reproach” here means “to pull off, strip of dignity, to disgrace”.

But David would not have Goliath continue…..so he looked for a way to see about defeating this giant….

So in front of Saul…

1 Samuel 17:32 “And David said to Saul, Let not man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”

And here we come to the second “big” man of David’s time…..the king Saul.

(As believers, we come into contact with all sorts of people.

There are believing friends,….

….out-right enemies…..

….and hypocrites…..many who are head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to human ability 1 Samuel 10:23-24.

Saul was that kind of man. Israel had wanted a king, like the other nations, that could lead them in and out of battle,….and Saul was head and shoulders taller than them all.

Yet, here, when the army is at a stalemate…..Saul does nothing. He is as afraid and dismayed as all Israel….1 Samuel 17:11.)

Saul’s belief in the God of Israel has always been just because he was a Hebrew…..not because he knew God personally.

(though for a time Saul was taught such knowledge through Samuel….but he never got to the point where he loved and obeyed God personally. 1 Samuel 15:22-23, 30 notice “thy God”)

But Saul does “believe” and trust in worldly means….and if David is determined to face this Philistine….

….he will give him the best in his kingdom…..his armor.

(Now as believers, we are to beware of using worldly means to gain spiritual battles….2 Corinthians 10:3-5……it does not work…and can entangle us in snares.)

1 Samuel 17:38-39 “And Saul armed David with his armor, and he put a helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.

And David girded his sword upon his armor, and he assayed to go, for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.”

Now David, was going to yield to Saul….”he assayed to go”…..and go out with these….

…..but God’s wisdom reigned over him….

….and he, instead, he told Saul….”I cannot use these….I have not proved them in battle, like I have my sling and staff.”

And he took them off.

Many times we are given opportunities for God’s glory….but it is as important how we stand and fight….as well, as that we do.

As we all know…..Goliath fell under the weight of the Living God….using a simple stone,…a sling,….and a willing, believing servant.

But before they fought….David gave this testimony…

1 Samuel 17:45-47 “Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, Whom thou has defied.

This day will the Lord deliver thee into my hand;….that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and with spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

This is the believing obedience we need in these days….for don’t we face many “big” and powerful men who mock and refuse to believe our God?

David and Saul’s armor

David and Goliath

Both were “big” men in their time….

Saul’s armor had to be rejected because David had not proved it….it was not for him

Goliath was huge…..yet fell under the power of God, used through David, it is true….but in God’s name and by His power.

(Yes, we have an armor of God, but He has given it to us…..which is:

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might”….

……truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, with the Spirit’s help in the Word of God, and prayer. Ephesians 6:10-18)

We are not to use the methods of this world….that would be like fighting Goliath with a sword….against his sword and spear.

We are not to use the methods of someone else….they may give good advice….even believing in their advice….like Saul….but that will fail,….for we have not proved them…

….instead, we are to use the power of God’s might….what we have,…….in His Name….stand and be delivered.

Are we hiding behind our Wall, because we are afraid of the next step?

Song of Solomon 2:8-9 “The voice of my beloved! Behold, He cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.

My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, He standeth behind our wall, He looketh forth at the windows, showing Himself through the lattice.”

As we go on with God, we come to many places where we are given difficult problems to overcome….some harder than others.

Some are mountains of difficulty….impossible things for us, in our own strength, to overcome….

And some hills….not impossible, but hard going.

But, these are the experiences the Lord often calls us to. Not alone,…..but with Him. That is what is set forth in these verses.

The Lord is seen as a Roe or a Young Hart….ever vigorous, and ever victorious leaping over any obstacle for us,…..calling us…on with Him.

Seen through a window, with lattice over it. We know it is the Lord, for we heard His voice…went to the window, to see Him….but He is outside, ready to go on….but we are still behind our wall.

Song of Solomon 2:10 “My Beloved spake and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.”

This is personal…”said unto me”. He is not calling His church, but “His love, His fair one”; His personal call to you…..to come away.

But from what are we to come away?

We are to “come away” from “our wall”; for He has come and found that we are behind a wall.

I believe that this “wall” is our spiritual experience up-to-date. It separates us from the world….

…..but, when we continue to stay behind it, it can also separate us from going on with the Lord.

(It is wonderful to know how far we have come with Jesus; we can rejoice in what we have! But He is calling us on,…..to keep going with Him)

It is safe, here. I know I am saved….I go to church…I love the Lord.

I see those mountains up ahead…and they are too much for me.

I see those hills,…and when I think I could, maybe, go out and walk them….I worry about….what if I fall?

But Jesus calls again.

He has already shown me that He is able to surmount any of the obstacles that stand in our way…..He leaps mountains, and skips hills…..and He is asking me to do the same….in His strength, with Him.

Song of Solomon 2:11-14 “For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle(dove) is heard in our land;

The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, My love, My fair one, and come away.

O My dove, that art in the clefts of the Rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let Me see thy countenance, let Me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.”

The Lord shows that the winter conditions of the soul are past (I have heard His voice)…..new life is springing up (my heart is moved to answer His call)……now is the time to arise, and leave the good that I have, for the better He calls me to…..with Him.

What is this next step He is calling us to?

I know He is calling me to come out completely…to be seen as His, even in the difficult and impossible times of my life….to trust His might.

I know He is calling me to speak to Him more,…..and of Him.

Jesus calls us:

“Arise, My love, My fair one, My dove, and come away. Don’t be afraid, but come out from behind our wall,….trust Me, and come with Me,…into what is next.”

Naaman

2 Kings 5:1 “Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.”

Leprosy in scripture is a type of the deep depravity of sin in someone’s life….it is contagious to others (how many times bad friends influence thoughts?)…and

…how quickly it spreads to other parts of the body.

It strikes the rich and poor, and the strong and the weak….beginning like a small sore ( it seems nothing)….yet it grows, widening it’s influence…till fingers fall off and the body is destroyed.

Like sin, it “eats” away at you, until you are consumed.

(Now there is a medical treatment for leprosy…but not then. Only God could cure from it.)

Naaman was a leper. Still he was a “mighty man of valor”, and head of the army of Syria.

God had purposed to use this army upon Israel…to show them their sin.

(I want to mention the reason for Naaman coming to Israel, to seek cleansing in a land that was an enemy.

A captive Israelite girl, and her testimony.

She was taken away in a raid on Israel…taken from her family, alone in a foreign land…yet we see her belief in God ….and she testifies of His power and His prophet, Elisha.

2 Kings 5:2-3)

So Naaman comes, with gold, silver and expensive clothes. All, what the world would consider wealth…to Elisha’s door.

2 Kings 5:9-10 “So Naaman came with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.”

And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.”

Here is this important person….waiting at the door of Elisha’s house. Waiting…waiting…

…then a someone comes out and simply gives him a message…

“Go wash in the Jordan seven times and you will be cleansed.”

(Very simple directions…amazingly simple. So is the gospel: “Whosoever believes on Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

“Confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is the Son of God and you will be saved.” Romans 10:9-10)

2 Kings 5:11-12 “But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.

Are not…rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.”

How often we are the same!?

God’s way of doing things is so different than what we are expecting….or planned.

“Behold I thought that he would surely come out and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place…”

When you look at what Naaman thought….it seems almost funny. He wanted a show as well as healing!

But Elisha was not the miracle worker…..God was.

It was God’s Word, obeyed,…alone that would give the cure….and Elisha was making that perfectly clear.

Naaman would have to submit to the Word of the Lord to be cleansed.

So Naaman “turned”…and went away in a rage.

To turn from the Way…is dangerous…

…thankfully this man had kind servants.

2 Kings 5:13 “And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? How much rather than, when he said unto thee, Wash, and be clean?”

I rejoice in these servants!

How this shows the impact of…a word in due season!

They showed respect… “my father”…when speaking to him.

But they reminded him of what should be most important to him….his cleansing from leprosy…

…not his pride!

(Pride is a fearful thing. It can keep us from God’s Word and Will. For it places what we want…or the way we want things for ourselves or others, before anything else.

Many people are kept from salvation….because they do not want to submit to the Word of God. Even when their need is great…pride can push in, and “turn” them from the Truth.

How precious is a friend or a word to remind them of what is really important…the salvation of their souls.)

2 Kings 5:14 “Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”

(“Then he went down”…a very telling word. He humbled himself..he went down…that God could raise him up. James 4:10)

Amazing miracle! A leper cured when he simply followed the Word of God.

How grateful he was!

Clean! Free from the terrible disease and wasting death, he would have had.

(And so is the freedom from sin by Christ’s salvation.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”)

2 Kings 5:15-16 “And he (Naaman) returned to the man of God,….and came and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.

But he (Elisha) said, As the Lord liveth, before Whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused.”

Notice the difference in attitude. “thy servant “….Naaman was not there as one in charge, or as someone important, but as a servant.

Though he wanted to give a gift…

…yet he was not angry about Elisha refusing it. There was no pride….simply submission to God’s Will.

2 Kings 5:17-19a “And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules’ burden of earth? For thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord.

In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself…the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing.

And he (Elisha) said unto him, Go in peace….”

Here is the desire to worship only the Lord. Truly there was a cleansing of his heart was well as his disease.

Notice: “…the Lord pardon your servant..”. Twice.

Once, before he explained that as the king’s servant he would have to bow before the kings god, because he would be with the king.

And once at the end.

He then waited…

…and Elisha said….”Go in peace”. There was peace between Naaman and the Lord…amazing mercy and grace.

Salvation from a rebel against God and His Word and Will….to one who bows before the Lord Christ, and loves Him, is true salvation by grace.

And now the sad part of this (2Kings 5:20-27)….a servant of Elisha’s…Gehazi, felt that Naaman had gotten off without cost!

With greed in his heart, he seeks some of the wealth that Naaman had brought…a talent of silver and two changes of clothes.

And he uses Elisha’s name to get it!

As a servant of Elisha, and the Lord…he should have known the magnanimous provision of the Lord…but greed (like all sin) swells with in his heart and mind…and he runs after it, instead of turning to the Lord…or even to Elisha.

Nothing changes for Naaman, he is glad to help….not to buy his cleansing, as he thought to do…but as a fellow servant of the Lord.

Returning to the house, Gehazi tries to hide his sin….lying about it…but is first rebuked:

“Is it time to accept money and garments…and the things that they can buy? We will be at war…there will be famine….now is a time for prayer and preparing the hearts of our people…not for greedily seeking things for ourselves.”

Then the leprosy of Naaman is given to him.

For some, who submit to God’s Word….there is cleansing, mercy and peace…

…no matter what the background.

For others, who refuse God’s Will and Word…

…for jealousy, greed, or pride…sin will ultimately eat them up…unless they turn and repent.

Let us rejoice in the simplicity of the gospel message:

Jesus Christ came to seek and to save

all who will come to Him.

Romans 10:9-10 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”