Temperance 

Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is  love,  joy,  peace,  long suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,

                                   Meekness,  temperance:  against such there is no law.”

We have talked of the fruit of the Spirit before,  but I wish to speak of:

Temperance.

We have heard of moderation in all things.  This is a good policy for many things;  but temperance here is a fruit of the blessed Holy Spirit.

It is the ability to master everything which comes to us, in our lives.  (Not let them master us.)

As Christians,  we face fears, tempers, passions,  and opinions on all sides.

But the Holy Spirit within gives us help with all of these.  He gives us God’s love,  God’s joy and peace,  and yes,  God’s right-thinking.

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear,  but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

This is temperance:

Proverbs 30:7-9 “Two things have I required of Thee;  deny me them not before I die:

                          Remove far from me vanity and lies;  give me neither poverty or riches;  feed me with food convenient for me:

                          Lest I be full,  and deny Thee,  and say,   Who is the Lord?     Or lest  I be poor,  and steal,  and take the name of my God in vain.”

Proverbs are mostly Solomon’s sayings, and he is asking the Lord, that before he grows old and dies,  he wants to learn two important things;   so he asks God to “remove” or cast away from him vanity and lies.

Vanity is that nothingness that the world is full of.   

The world would tell us that we should all look like this model, or that actress or athlete.

Or the world would get us to concentrate on physical,  or intellectual pursuits.

Solomon did all of these:

Ecclesiastes 1:16-17 “I communed with mine own heart,  saying,  Lo, I am come to great estate,  and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem:  yea,  my heart hath great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

                                    And I gave my heart to know wisdom,  and to madness and folly:  I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.”

Ecclesiastes 2:8-9, 11 “I gathered me also silver and gold,  and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces:  I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men,  as musical instruments,  and that of all sorts.

                                  So I was great,  and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem:  also my wisdom remained with me.

                                    Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought,  and on the labor that I had labored to do:  and, behold,  all is vanity and vexation of spirit,  and there was no profit under the sun.”

His conclusion from all his experiences in the goods of the world?

Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:   Fear God, and keep His commandments:  for this is the whole duty of man.”

He wanted to be removed from vanity,  “And lies”.    The world is full of them.  Try this toothpaste and your smile will brighten a whole room!    (There are many lies, which are passed around each day;    silly ones,  and serious ones.)

“Give me neither poverty nor riches;    Lest I be full, and deny Thee”:    

I will begin to trust in my riches and not in You.

“Lest I be poor, and steal,  and take the name of my God in vain.”     

I will be angry that I do not have what others have;  and try and get it in unlawful means (there are many kinds of thieves),  

And blame the Lord for “making me do it.”  (we often blame God for what we have gotten ourselves into)

“Feed me with food convenient for me:”.  This is the same prayer as:

“Give me this day my daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11)

Someone has said:   This is not,  Give me my daily cake,…..but bread.

It means, that we are asking the Lord to provide for us what we need.  To give us enough:

Enough peace, money, food, family, friends, joy,…enough to get us through our lives;  with Him.

Because I must remind you,  that temperance is a fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  

Temperance is to master a thing—not it mastering you.

And the Holy Spirit bears that fruit within us and through us, as we yield to Him in each situation.

God’s Will

Sadly , we get to thinking that God’s Will is the big things.   Our calling, or a ministry.   Of course, that is God’s Will.     But God’s Will is that we should be sanctified,  or set aside to Him, each day.

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 who calleth you,  Who also will do it.”

We should wake with Him.   (And prayers for the day are very helpful.   It brings you before the throne of grace,  and gets you in a good frame of mind right away. Hebrews 4:16)

We should go out with God.  (He has plainly told us that He will never leave us, nor forsake us.   Hebrews 13:5)

We should witness of what Christ has done for us.

1 Peter 2:9 “ ……that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of the darkness into His marvelous light:”

1 Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in our hearts:  and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you,…”

We should seek to be kind to all we can, and do good.

1 Peter 3:8-10 “Finally,  be all of one mind,  having compassion one of another;  love as brethren,  be pitiful,  be courageous:

                           Not rendering evil for evil,  or railing for railing:  but contrarywise  blessing;  knowing that you are there unto called,  that ye should inherit a blessing.

                            For he that will love life,  and see good days,  let him refrain his tongue from evil,  and his lips that they speak no guile:”

And we should remember we are in a hostile world, that loves not Christ;  but for whom He died.   

Philippians 2:15 “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke,  in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.”

We should look to Him for our peace, joy, and strength to live.

Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God,  which passeth all understanding,  shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

With Him as our King,  on the throne of our lives,  we too may have the blessing of His Will done.  

“Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” (Matthew. 25:21)

God’s Correction of the First Church 

Revelation 2:4 “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee,  because thou hast left thy first love.”

This verse was written toward the end of the Apostolic Age of the church.

The apostles had gone forth into the whole world, preaching the good news of Christ.

Their hearts were so full of love to Him, many suffered persecution and death, to show forth Christ, to a dying world.

But time had past.   Some believe the Apostolic Age to have lasted only 100 years, before it was plunged into the persecution of the the ten Caesar’s,  where thousands of Christians were beaten and fed to lions, to please the bloodthirsty crowds of Rome.

But before the persecution, there was the error of putting work for Christ, ahead of love to Christ.

The Apostle Paul had warned this Church about such men that would come in and lead them away from what was really important:  love to Christ.

Acts 20:28-30   “Take heed therefore unto yourselves,  and to all the flock,  over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers,  to feed the church of God,  which He hath purchased with His own blood.

                               For I know this,  that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you,  not sparing the flock.

                               Also of your own selves shall men rise,  speaking perverse things,  to draw away disciples after them.”

Notice, it is “take heed” unto yourselves.

If you love Christ;  what wouldn’t you do for Him?

But if you are doing a work for Christ without great love to Him,  what good does it do?

The value of any work,  is that it is done out of love to Him:  to please and honor Him.

1 Corinthians 13:3 “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,  and though  I give my body to be burned,  and have not charity (love),  it profiteth me nothing.”

The Problem:  Like all of us, that church had become focused on one part of our lives.  (It is so easy to do)

Revelation 2:2-3 “I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience,  and how thou canst not bear with them which are evil:  and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

                                And hast borne, and hast patience, and for My Name sake hast labored,  and hast not fainted.”

They had become so busy in their responsibilities to others (so they thought), that they had set Christ aside.

He was no longer the reason they did what they did.

They had fallen short in the loving fellowship and devotion to Christ, Himself,  for themselves. 

And there is no bigger step out of the Way God would have us to go,  than this.

Revelation 2:4 “Nevertheless,  I have somewhat against thee,  because thou hast left thy first love.”

Jesus warns them to repent:  To turn around and remember their first love;  the warmness and sweetness of clinging to Christ,  for themselves in everything.

If we do this, we won’t forget others;  but they will be in their proper place.

Behind Christ.   Christ first,  everything else next.

How sweet our lives are as we are walking hand in hand, arm in arm with the “Someone”  we love. 

Christ calls them to repent:  of placing their personal relationship with Him after others, and do “the first works”.

The very first “work” we do,  is to look to Jesus, and Believe and Trust Him; opening our hearts to Him, and our lives to Him.

All our lives should be an expression of love for Him.  Whatever we are, think or do;  it should be out of love to Christ.

Then He promises them to eat of the Tree of Life.

Revelation 2:7 “He that hath an ear,  let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;  To him that overcometh  will I give to eat of the tree of life,  which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”

Life is personal;  you can not eat for someone else.  You can only have it for yourself.

This is what Jesus is saying:  Come and have as much of Me as you want.   But it is personal;     and I will not take second place, in your life.

When God takes our lives and puts them into His balance:  

         He puts in one side our love to  Him,

         And in the other what we do for Him.

The balance only comes out even, if the love we have to Christ is the reason we do what we do.

John, the Beloved Apostle, wrote to warn the church about anything which should take Christ’s place in our hearts.    It is short, and inclusive:

1 John 5:21 “Little children,  keep yourselves from idols.  Amen.”

The Power of God unto Salvation

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:  for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth:  to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

The power of God to everyone that believeth.

Are you such a one?

Do you evidence this power of God in your life?

For this power unto salvation is spiritual reality.  

“For He shall save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)

This means Jesus Christ delivers us from them.  In Hebrews it is called, “to the uttermost” (Hebrews 7:25)

This is not just a wiping away of the past sins, although that is true.

It is the saving of the sins of today:  that is,  He saves us from doing them….and yes, He saves us from wanting to do them, as well.

This is what it means by “to the uttermost”.

Our Salvation is four-fold:

1. From the love of sin….this is not complete, but it is a real change in you, where your sin is concerned.    (It becomes a burden….and you feel it’s weight against you.)
2. From the guilt of sin…by being born again: receiving Christ Jesus into your heart and life.     Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,  who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”     We are not condemned,  but at liberty to walk with God!
3. From the power of sin…by the obedience to His Will…by yielding to the Holy Spirit within.    Romans 6:16 “Know ye not,  that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey,     his servants ye are   to whom ye obey; whither of sin unto death,    or of obedience unto righteousness?”   Here we get the power of God for our everyday lives….against sin and the world.  (We are “under new management”).     For God empowers obedience, and blesses it with a growing love for Himself, within us.
4. From the presence of sin.    Taken into His glorious Presence in Heaven…whether by Rapture, or when we die, to be with Him forever.

Ephesians 1:3-4, 11-12 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,  Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

                                         According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,  that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love:

                                        In Whom we also have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things after the council of His own will:

                                        That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ.”

Predestination has to do with the calling and place of our work.  It has to do with the “path” He places us in.     He predestinated us to certain good works, and then places within us, by His Holy Spirit, the power and ability to do them…for His sake.

He has a purpose for all He has saved.  And all this was set in motion for us….you and me…before times eternal.

Think of it!  God Almighty has a purpose for me.   Though I rebelled against Him and His Will,  yet He set His love upon me, and drew me to Himself:

John 6:37, 44 “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

                          No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

In the scriptures, the purpose God called me to, is spoken of as: “good works”,  or “bringing forth fruit”

John 14:12 “Verily, verily, I say unto you,  he that believeth on Me, the works that I do  shall he do also;  and greater works than these shall he do;  because I go unto My Father.”

(And His works were prayer, preaching, calling others to the Kingdom of God, feeding, healing, and manifesting the words and works of His Father God.

All this He did before He laid down His life for us.)

John 15:16 “Ye have not chosen Me,  but I have chosen you,  and ordained you,  that ye should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain;  that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My name,  He may give it you.”

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship,  created in Christ Jesus  unto good works,  which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Colossians 3:16-17 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom;  teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,  singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

                                   And whatsoever ye do in word or deed,  do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.”

Titus 2:14, 3:8 “Who gave Himself for us,  that He might redeem us from all iniquity,  and purify unto Himself a peculiar people,  zealous of good works.”

                             This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly,  that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works.   These things are good and profitable unto all men.”

Our purpose, is to pray—for ourselves, and others;  to witness of the light of God in our own life;  to preach, teach, be a soul winner,  as we are called.  

We are to seek the good of all men (and there is no good, without God in it).

These are the obediences which are given to us to do, for the glory of Christ.  Big or small in the world’s eyes….they are of great value to Jesus.

Everyone has their place in His purpose.  And it is as we are in our place, walking with Him everyday, that we fulfill our purpose.

God’s salvation is full of power.  Power to save us to “the uttermost”, and power to save others, through us.

What greatness dwells in Him….and He is, by the Holy Spirit, in us.  Let us draw out His grace for our life.

Stephen, the Church’s First Martyr 

Acts 6:3-5 “Wherefore brethren,  look ye out among you seven men of honest report,  full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom,  whom we may appoint over this business.

                       But we will give ourselves continually to prayer,  and to the ministry of the word. 

                       And the saying pleased the whole multitude:  and they chose Stephen,  a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Phillip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch;”

Here we meet Stephen, born again and willing to minister as he is called…for he is chosen to “serve tables”,  or as a deacon.

There had been a argument between the Grecian Christians and the Hebrew Christians about how the widows of each were being treated.  Some felt that the Grecian widows were not given the same treatment and food, as the others.

(Remember that the Christians, here, had given all to the apostles for the common good. Acts 4:34-35)

If this was to be overseen as it should be,  the apostles would have to leave preaching and teaching the gospel, to see to it.

That could not be….so they told the church there to pray and see who they could choose to deal with the business and practical part of the matters of the church…they became the deacons.

Stephen was one of these.  He was a man of faith and who was filled with the Holy Spirit.

He was not offended because he was given the task of seeing to the food distribution, or dealing with the strifes which come up between brethren.  

Faith sees God and deals with all in the same light:  what does the Lord want done?

He looked on everything he did for the Lord as equally important.

Acts 6:8 “And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.”

He also did miracles, whether these were of the practical nature of food,  or for illness, it does not say.

But it does bring into the picture those who wanted to prove him wrong.  Notice they “disputed” with him,  not he with them.

But they could not, for “they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.”

Acts 6:11-12 “Then they suborned men, which said,  We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses,  and against God.

                         And they stirred up the people,  and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him,  and caught him,  and brought him to the council.”

So here is Stephen before the council, accused falsely by jealous men.

(This council had spoken to Peter and John months earlier,  and had beaten them and let them go,  but now….)

He stands before them, in peace;  calm.  They  “saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.”   Simply, they could tell that he was filled with the Spirit of God, that he was not a blasphemer.

This should have told them that these accusations were false….but, let’s face it,  they wanted to believe the accusations.

Acts 7:1-2 “Then said the high priest,  Are these things so?      And he (Stephen)said,  Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken;  the God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham,  when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,”

In the next 52 verses, Stephen, by the wisdom of God,  showed again and again God’s choice of His people by grace,  not works.

 

God’s use of men who were not reckoned in men’s esteem, but chosen of God to go out,  to lead,  to save,  to build…

There was:

Abraham, to go out to a land that was given in promise, but which he never possessed….

Then Isaac who was circumcised…

Jacob, the younger son, chosen,  and his sons being brought into the covenant;  even though they sold their own brother, Joseph, into slavery…

Yet God saved them, and their whole family by the very man they were jealous of…

Moses’ birth and his rejection when he would have helped his people.  His flight into Midian and God’s call to the very one they refused:

Acts 7:35 “This Moses whom they refused saying,  Who made thee a ruler and a judge?  The same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel which appeared to him in the bush.”

Stephen told of when Israel, in their further refusal of God’s Words, which made a golden calf.

And even when they were brought in by Joshua, to the promised land,  they turned to idols. 

He told of David as king, fighting their battles,  desiring to build a house for God,  but God chose Solomon to do it.

Yet,  Stephen shows exactly what Solomon said after he dedicated it:

1 Kings 8:23, 27 “And he said,  Lord God of Israel,  there is no God like Thee, in heaven above,  or on the earth beneath,  who keepest covenant in mercy with Thy servants that walk before Thee with all their heart:  

                              But will God indeed dwell on the earth?  Behold,  the heaven and heaven of heavens can not contain Thee;  how much less this house that I have builded?”

Simply:  the Most High dwells not in temples made with hands, but in the love and devotion of His people’s hearts.

Stephen wanted his brethren to remember their God, not their heritage.

He had not blasphemed Moses or the Law,  but was a servant of the Lord of both,  Jesus Christ.

So the conclusion of his message? 

God’s grace had chosen them as His people.   

God’s grace had chosen and sent men to save and lead them, into all God wanted for them.

But how did the people react?

Which of the prophets had not been persecuted by their fathers, which had told them of the Messiah to come?

All this is leading toward one goal….that Jesus was the Messiah, Who had come to show the way into the Kingdom of God, by Himself, as their King.

He was the One whom all the prophets spoke.

He was the One to whom all the other of God’s choices, pointed.

What would they do with Him now,  that He was risen and manifested by the Holy Ghost among them?

Stephen wanted his brethren to see that God was even then dealing with them.

He wanted them to acknowledge God’s choice…..Jesus, Whom  they betrayed and murdered…and that He is now at the right hand of God, the place of power.

The Spirit of God was leading many  in Jerusalem to salvation…..God was giving them another sign of His love to them. 

Would they hear it?

(How many today, hang on to tradition;  even Christian tradition, rather than being gathered to the Lord God, Himself.)

Yet even as Stephen spoke,  he sensed in the Spirit the hardening of their hearts….

So he openly rebukes it, and faithfully deals with them for their rebellion against the “Just One”.

The name: Just One, implies Christ Jesus’s holiness and righteousness.  He did not deserve to be crucified.    He deserved to be King, both of His people and the world.

He was and is the Just One,  and the justifier of all who come to Him.

Romans 5:8-9 “But God commendeth His love toward us,  in that,  while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

                            Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”

The outcome?

Their history they listened to;    but the rebuke, which might lead them to repentance and true salvation……they refused,…and in great anger.

Acts 7:54 “When they heard these things,  they were cut to the heart,  and they gnashed on him with their teeth.”

“Cut to the heart”

Stephen’s rebuke (rebuke means “back striking them into the right way”.  It is never pleasant to be rebuked….but to those who “hear it”….it gives life.)

Stephen’s rebuke opened to them the state of their own hearts,  like a knife.

And instead of letting it heal them, like a surgeon;  they let it unleash the anger within…which quickly turned to hatred of God’s servant.

He was unaffected for himself;  but totally immersed in the Will of God, for them.

God then blessed him with more of the Spirit of God, and a vision:

Acts 7:55-56 “But he,  being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven,  and saw the glory of God,  and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.

                          And said,  Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.”

The council would not hear….stopping their ears, they dragged him out, and stoned him…as though that could stop his witness….No! (Remember Saul/Paul was witnessing all of this)

Acts 7:59-60 “And they stoned Stephen,  calling upon God,  and saying,  Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

                          And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice,   Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.  And when he had said this,  he fell asleep.”

Stephen, with the same ruling peace (Philippians 4:7) with which he began;  he ends, looking unto Jesus for himself…

“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”   Acknowledging before all, that the Lord Jesus Christ was the Son of God,  and risen, in heaven.

And then,  in the character of Jesus, he forgives those that stoned him.

“Lay not this sin” (yes, he called it what it was; but still asks…) 

“Lay not this sin to their charge.”

“He fell asleep”.   You see, when Christians die,  they are said to fall asleep.  For they close their eyes here, and in the next second,  open them in heaven.

Stephen was the first of the churches martyrs,  but not the last. 

Many have died,  looking to Jesus the same way.

Because He is the Son of God…because He lives,  we do and will, eternally, too.

True North on the Compass of Your Life.

Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision,  the people perish:  but he that keepeth the law,  happy is he.”

There is, on the compass, a magnetic north,  which is not true North.

You can navigate with this, for short trips.

But when you have long trips over any length of time or of distance; you must be able to ascertain True North, or you will be off your point of destination, miles and miles.

We should all have a goal to which we are headed in life; and a way of getting there, which is not going to lead us astray.

That goal keeps our eyes focused on the real purpose of our existence.

As Christians,  our purpose of life, should come from the Lord:

 Ephesians 2:10. “For we are his workmanship,  created in Christ Jesus unto good works,  which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

We are “created in Christ Jesus” or born again;  for a purpose.

Our purpose is to “walk” in the good works God appoints us, as individual Christians, to do.

We all have the “work” of manifesting Jesus Christ in our life.  His character should shine through us;  His peace, His gentleness, His love, and His determination to do the Father’s Will.

So what is the True North in this walk?

It is making Jesus Christ, Lord of your life, so that you will know what to do, and will be empowered to do, by His life, within you.

Making Him Lord means that we are His servants; obeying Him. 

We are His disciples; learning from Him and teaching what we have learned.

And we are His friends, walking with Him through this world, to the next.

John 7:17 “If any man will do His will,  he shall know of the doctrine,  whither it be of God,  or whither I speak of myself.”

Hosea 6:3 “Then shall we know,  if we follow on to know the Lord:  his going forth is prepared as the morning;  and he shall come unto us as the rain,  as the latter and former rain unto the earth.”

As certain as this old earth keeps turning,  there will be sunrise tomorrow.

You may not be able to see it, for there may be clouds and the day dark and dreary;  but the sun will be there.

This says that we can rest easy in Christ;  we can expect Him to show us His Way for us, and for Him to give us His blessings (the former and latter rains),  in the time we need them.

It also encourages us, to continue to follow Him. 

Psalm 42:8 “Yet the Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,  and in the night His song shall be with me,  and my prayer unto the God of my life.”

Psalm 37:40 “And the Lord will help them, and deliver them:  He shall deliver them from the wicked,  and save them,  because they trust in Him.”

He knows where we should be, and how we are to get there.

In life,  in attitudes, and in troubles;  with Him as our Lord and Savior;  we shall know.

Our whole life is a journey. 

(I used to tell a friend, life is an adventure. They thought of “lions” and “tigers”;  and they were not happy about the thought.  But I think of going with a Great Guide into a world that changes all the time….and to me, that is an adventure.)

It is a journey of a life time.  

And, lets face it,  we need help;  we need a guide, who loves us, to get us to the end.

We are to “walk” from here to heaven, with Christ Jesus.

That is a daily walk with Him.

That is how we grow to know Him more.

True North on the compass of our lives,  is to make Him Lord of our lives.  

Then we will see His Purpose for our lives, done.

Then we will get to the end in peace.

The Narrowness of Self 

How narrow our life is,  if we exist for ourselves, alone.

Christ said:

Matthew 16:25 “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it:  and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”

We lose our self-life,  that we might find our Christ life.

You find your Christ life as you, by deliberate acts of the will,  bring yourself into subjection to the principal of obedience,  which is God’s Principal.

Let us describe what our “self-life” is:

It is all the experiences you have had in your life (those we remember and those we don’t).

It is our thinking (this is shaped by our parents, our background, and the world we move around in:  If people around us hate something,  mostly likely we will, too)

It is our affections (the things we truly love, not what we pretend to care for: You may go out for tennis,  not because you love tennis, but because there is someone you see, at tennis practice, that you  “love”).

It is also your will.  It is the active part of yourself.  What you will to do, you will do.

All these are your self life.  You can easily see how they can be influenced (as a Christian) by the world, the devil,  as well as God.

Each of these powers exerts influence in your life.  Which you choose to yield to is the most important question you face each day.

Romans 6:16 “Know ye not,  that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey,  his servants ye are to whom ye obey:  whither of sin unto death,  or of obedience unto righteousness?”

We lose our self life, little by little, until you are an expression of God’s Will, no matter where you are, or what you are doing.

We will be defeated by the wiles of the Devil, in this, unless we keep before us always:  “For My Sake”.

We do this for Jesus sake.  This is the personal choice of our hearts, minds, and wills, for Him.

It is done, once, when we give ourselves to Christ, as Lord and King.

And it is done again and again as we walk through life, with Him.

“For Jesus sake”.   It should ever be our thought and desire.

Now, let us see how we are to lose our self-life:

First,  let us see how we shrink back into the narrowness of self, any time we are put into a trying position.

We are going along, denying self, when someone says something we take VERY personally about ourselves.

We then begin a series of steps, backing up, into the “safety” of our self. 

If we back up,  we start shutting doors, closing windows;  keeping out as much of what is being talked about as possible.

We may smile and even agree with what is being said;  but plainly we have shut ourselves up,  so we will not be hurt. 

We focus on something good we have done,  or something bad that person has done.  All the while we are smiling, and pretending we are really in the conversation.   But we are not.

This is seeking the narrowness of self.   It is a mechanism that most people employ at one time or another.

What they are thinking and saying inside is entirely different, than how they are acting outside.

But this is self.   And Christ says, if we are going to follow Him, we must deny self.

Matthew 16:24 “Then said Jesus unto his disciples,   If any man will come after me,  let him deny himself,  and take up his cross, and follow me.”

Will we?

It is a matter of the will,  willing with Christ.

And it is effort.  To find out His Will, and then to set aside our opinions about it, and do it:  “for His sake”.

Will we place ourselves in His pure Light, and see Reality?

You see, our memories, attitudes, and affections all play a part in our bringing ourselves to Christ.

They are all to be sanctified, or set aside to Him; one by one, as they start to hinder our walk with Him.

This requires us to see them as they are.   To stop hiding from the truth about ourselves, and bringing us,  the real us,  to Christ.

The old song, “Just as I am”,  is true.  

(It was, in fact, written because a person who felt that he could never be saved, was about to give up.   In a last ditch effort to know for himself whether God would save him,  he entered a church, and sat in the last row. 

He listened as the preacher was giving his message; when suddenly he stopped,  looked around,  then said:  “You come to Jesus, just as you are.”  Then he went back to his message.

The person was saved, just as he was, for that was what he needed to hear.)

God can not save the pretend you.  He saves you.   

And salvation is four-fold.

       He saves from self’s love of sin–conviction of the Holy Spirit.

       He saves from our guilt of sin–being born again.

       He saves from the power of sin and self–sanctification.

       He saves from the presence of sin–taking us to Heaven, when we die, or are raptured.

To come out from the narrowness of self,  you must want to get honest with yourself and God, tell Him the way you really feel, and listen to His reply.

If you are  ready for such a personal relationship, for His sake;  start talking with Him.

And expect an answer, for He will speak to all who will hear.

John 7:17 (N.A.S.) “If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself.”

The Sieve of Preconceived Ideas 

We all know what a sieve is.   It lets somethings through,  while blocking others.

Well, the sieve of preconceived ideas,  is where we let some of what God is telling us through;  but blocking other things, because of an idea we had about what He was going to say.

How many of our children, turn us parents off?   Because they know what we are going to say,  and they just do not want to hear it again?

This is the sieve of preconceived ideas.

We think we know what God is talking to us about,  so we just sort of, stop listening along the way.

Well,  we can overcome this by the power of the Holy Spirit’s honesty.

He will enable us to see what is truth, but we have to will to see it.

There was a Pastor I knew once,  who used to say to his wife,  when they would disagree,   “I will accept the correction.”

Sounds good,  but it still places the parties at distance points;  not together.

Acceptance is not yielding;  but simply acknowledging another’s viewpoint.

No reconciliation there.

But “I will submit to the correction.” ;  as we should do to God,   brings us into the reconciliation to Him,  that we need.

When we are reconciled to God,  we are placed in that position to receive full power from Him.   We are again sitting next to Him,  holding hands.

Reconciliation makes us “partners” again.   (That is what it means in the Greek)

If we are simply accepting His word,  we can still be far from Him, and not receive the power He wants to give us.   

Ok,  fine,  whatever;  is really what it sounds like to God.

There must be an absolute surrender to Christ Jesus as Lord.

Then,  there can be many reconciliations  to  His Word.  And when we are, there will be more power in my life now.

We will know His will and be enabled to do His Will,  that we might be blessed in His Will.

Matthew 16:5 “And when his disciples were come to the other side,  they had forgotten to take bread.”

This sets up an example of preconceived ideas getting in the way of our hearing what Jesus really is saying to us.

Matthew 16:6-7 “And Jesus said unto them,   Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

                              And they reasoned among themselves, saying,    It is because we have taken no bread.”

They were afraid Jesus was correcting them because they forgot to bring food for the trip across the sea.

But Jesus was not concerned about food.    Had He not fed five thousand with a few loaves of bread and a few fishes?

Matthew 16:8,11-12. “Which when Jesus perceived,  he said unto them,   Oh ye of little faith,  why reason ye among yourselves,  because ye have no bread?

                               How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread,    that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees?

                               Then understood they how that he bade them not beware the leaven of the bread,  but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.”

Leaven was always in a bad connotation in the scriptures.  It took substance and filled it with holes full of air.

(Now I love leavened bread,  but when it comes to the Bible,  leaven was making flour and water look larger than it was,  bigger than it was.  In other words it was a picture of hypocrisy.)

The disciples were not really listening,  because as soon as Jesus started to speak about leaven…they thought of their mistake in not bringing bread.

How often we are the same.   The Lord try’s to speak to us in a message or Bible teaching,  and we are worried about this, 

or thinking ahead to that.

Jesus wants us to understand all that He has for us,  to come as close as we can.

Christ Jesus will lift us up,  enlighten our path,  give us courage,  and so much more;   But we must draw near,  and hear Him.

Giving up our preconceived ideas;  and really hear what He is saying to us.

There is so much He wants to give us,  so much we need to receive;  let us come close by yielding to Him,  and hear.

Jesus Forgave us;  we should Forgive

Matthew 6:12 “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

Matthew 6:14-15 “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you:

                                 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

I can never acquire that which I am to be finally, if I fail to pass through those experiences that must lead to it;  acquiring now,  to a degree;  that which I will be fully then.

For the Christian, that means going into all situations, with Him.

Luke 22:40-41, 45-46 “And when He was at the place,  He said unto them,   Pray that ye enter not into temptation.

                             And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down,  and prayed,

                             And when He rose up from prayer,  and was come to His 

disciples,  He found them sleeping for sorrow,  

                             And said unto them,  Why sleep ye?  Rise and pray,  lest ye enter into temptation.”

They were sleeping for sorrow….you know how when you are really sad, you become so tired…it wears you out.   

So with them:  they had heard how He was going away,  and became so sad, that they became sleepy. 

They had been told to “watch”,  but they fell asleep.   They could not even watch with the Lord one hour.

If they had watched,  they would have been prepared for His arrest…and trial…and crucifixion.     But they slept because of fear, and sadness;  and ran away when faced with the next trial.

We think of power (and the Lord has it for us in the Holy Spirit),  but the Lord looks on devotion to Him, and obedience to the way He has chosen for us,   as the manifesting of real power.

In this, all the disciples failed.   But Jesus forgave them, even before they did it.

(Matthew 25:31-32)

Then Peter went on to deny the Lord,  but the Lord forgave him,  and restored him. (John 21:15-19)

Jesus has seen and does see our every failure as well.  And He has made full provision for us.  He has and does forgive us.

But what about us?  Do we forgive,  as He forgave us?  For as His disciples, He commands us to.

The trouble is…..

Self digs in, and hangs on to control with much force. (Whether it is fear, anger, jealousy, or self-conceit, pride….and there are a thousand emotions and thoughts which come to us.)

So it must always be a deliberate act of our will to deny ourselves, and yield to God, and do what He says.

A victorious Christian should not feel resentment.

Hebrews 12:15 “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God;  lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;”

So when the Holy Spirit shows us that we are harboring resentment,   we should bring those resentments—the people, places, actions (both theirs and ours) to Christ.

How?

By the “artea” or force that is the Holy Spirit in your spirit, to get honest about it.   Yield to Him, and what He shows you….spread it out all before the Lord.

You see, when the Lord hears the honest telling about this resentment,  He begins to speak peace about it.   The hurt,  or pain,  or loss,  or thoughts of violence, retribution, or “turning your back” on that person;  is seen as He sees it.   

No, this is not the preachy “everything is going to be alright” stuff.  This is real forgiveness.  Real setting it right.

You say,  “It can’t be set right.  What happened to me affected me, and still does.”

Yes, some hurts are like shadows that follow you around.  Only sometimes breaking through into the emotions.

But God’s powerful “force” of forgiveness, heals.     Heals the wound, our emotions, and our thoughts about it all.

The Lord has shown me that, except for the time we are injured….and we are often….we do not need to suffer.   We can come to Him and receive His life.

I had a co-worker once that worked very hard at making me miserable.  Comments, taunts, and worse; were the things I put up with day by day….and for quite some time.

I was newly restored to the Lord, and tried to act right, even if he did not.  

But no matter my actions…his were the same.

Sometimes I thought I could not put up with it any more.  I wanted to deck him,  and show him that he had picked the wrong person to terrorize.

I started to imagine all sorts of bad things happening to him.  

And yes, as terrible as this is,  I really wanted him to hurt, as bad as I was.

I had prayed that the Lord would stop this man;  but He did not.

Why?   Because the Lord had something better for me.

Praying about it, the Lord showed me this man in front of me.  

All the terrible things he had done came rolling through my mind, and I wanted to…..to….

To what?   That is what the Lord asked me:   If you could do anything to this man,  with no consequences;   what would you do?

I started to say a few of the things I had imagined….but suddenly, I started to laugh.

That’s right,   I laughed.

I knew I would do nothing to him.     Right then I was joyful, and powerful…the Holy Spirit filling me up with laughter!

I knew freedom from this man,  from the situation….because of the power the Lord gave me,  then.

I laughed!  The man could say whatever he wanted, do whatever he wanted….he could not hurt me again.

I knew also that I could forgive him for anything he did and would do.  The Lord helped me, the Holy Spirit empowered me, and I had peace.

When we forgive,  the Holy Spirit rejoices our hearts.   His power uplifts us into a realm where we are victors,  we are overcomers,  we are healed.

We know joy and peace;  and most important,  His presence is like a light shining in a dark place!

This is what Jesus did to those men who crucified Him.  “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

This is power.  Real power in our lives;  for us to live in this world where offenses abound.   Real power for us to look our enemies in their faces, and see Jesus’ forgiveness.  Real power to forgive and put it behind you forever.

Living in Christ,  by Christ, and for Christ is never without real pain,  real hurt,  or real injury;   He never belittles our suffering (Psalm 56:8),  but remembers every slight done to us.  

One day He will wipe away all tears—there will be no hurts, then (Isaiah 25:8, Revelation 21:4),  but here in this life, He will also wipe them away,  if we let Him.