Judgment within “the congregation of the mighty”

Asaph was a Levitical song leader and prophet during the reign of king David. He wrote a number of the Psalms. In Psalm 82:1, Asaph wrote, “God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods.” The Old Testament “congregation of the mighty” was the nation of Israel, His chosen people. The “gods” referred to in this verse were the rulers of Israel, the elders and priests of “the congregation of the mighty”.

Often, when there is a difference in judgment among the “gods” who rule over God’s people, those rulers are all saying right things. At issue in such cases is not whether the rulers are saying right things; they all are. Rather, the issue is, which of those right things is the right thing to say for the situation at hand. In other words, what is the right “right thing”? In such cases, it is impossible for men of earth to help. The gods in God’s congregation are all wiser than the world can be. In such cases, only God can judge among His “gods” and determine which of them is speaking the right “right thing”, the right thing that applies to the situation at hand. Solomon said, “The thoughts of the righteous are right” (Prov. 12:5). But that is not the point. The point is, which of those right thoughts is what God is thinking at the moment?

This is why Paul stressed the importance for all of us to hear the tender voice of the Spirit and be led by it. All of us who are called by God to Jesus will find ourselves having new, right thoughts. What we need is for our heavenly Father to show us which of those right thoughts applies to the situation we are presently in.

Jesus told some afflicted people that he healed to “go and sin no more”. But he said on other occasions that the affliction was not caused by sin. He was always perfectly guided by God in all his judgments; he always knew which right thing applied to which person and which situation. He had no formula to follow, and he had no pat answers prepared for all questions. He listened always to the Father so that he would know the truth of the moment.

When To Forgive, and When Not To Forgive

When someone in “the congregation of the mighty” errs, there are various directions which the congregation may take, depending on the type of error and related circumstances. But which one applies to a particular transgression at any given time? Judas confessed to the chief priests in private that he knew Jesus, and knew where he prayed, and was damned forever. His motive was evil. Peter cursed and swore in public that he did not know Jesus at all, and yet he was forgiven and became one of the chief apostles. He was simply overcome by fear. What man could judge such things rightly? Only God can give His people a right judgment because only God knows the hearts.

On the one hand, sin can be handled the compassionate way that Paul taught in Galatians 6:1-2: “Brothers, if a man be overtaken in some transgression, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of meekness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way fulfill the law of Christ.”

That’s a godly attitude. But on the other hand, there are times when another approach in dealing with sin in the “congregation of the mighty” is in order, as Paul taught the Corinthian congregation. We need to take some time to consider what he said:

1Corinthians 5

1. It is widely reported that there is immorality among you, and such immorality as is not even known among Gentiles, in that a man has taken his own father’s wife!

Note that Paul is telling the believers in Corinth that they were tolerating such sin as would make decent sinners sick to their stomach.

2. And yet, you are puffed up, and have not mourned instead, so that the one who has done this deed might be put out from your midst.

Paul criticized the saints in Corinth because they were tolerating a scandalous wickedness. The only remedy in their situation was to remove the young man from the assembly. The fact that the Corinthians had not done so told Paul that they had become proud. Therefore, Paul instructs them as to how the humility of Christ would have them to handle this situation.

3. As for me, absent in body but present in spirit, I have already judged, as if present, the one who has done this deed.

4. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you and my spirit are gathered together, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

5. deliver such a man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Instead of judging the matter rightly, the body of believers in Corinth had continued holding their meetings as usual, with the wickedness in their midst, rejoicing in the Spirit, singing, testifying, exercising spiritual gifts, and so forth. But with that filthiness in the midst of the congregation, this was Paul’s assessment of their worship:

6a. Your glorying is not good.

The result of these believers continuing with their prayer meetings as usual was that after their meetings, they were in worse condition, spiritually and physically, than before. Paul said so in 1Corinthians 11:17, 30. The apostle James also warned the saints not to worship God when sin was present among them. He said, “If there is bitter envying and strife in your hearts, do not glory!” (Jas. 3:14). Jesus taught his followers the same thing. He said that if you have done wrong to a brother, you should not worship God, but go instead to the offended brother and make things right. Then, he said, you may return and worship God acceptably; that is, with a clear conscience (Mt. 5:23-34).

Here in 1Corinthians, Paul is teaching that the worship of a group of saints is no good if sin is tolerated in the congregation. Sin will influence the spirits around it, and it can pollute the worship of a whole body of believers, making it unacceptable to God. Paul instructed two young ministers, Timothy and Titus, to rebuke sin openly in the congregation. We assume, therefore, that there are occasions when doing so is God’s will for His people (1Tim. 5:20; Tit. 2:15).

After the ancient Israelites won their first battle for Canaan at Jericho, a man from the tribe of Judah, named Achan, took a few articles found in the destroyed city which had been dedicated to God. In the next battle, because sin was now in the camp, thirty-six men of Israel were slain, and the army limped back into camp, defeated. Thirty-six families lost fathers because there was unconfessed sin in the camp. Joshua did not understand why the army lost, and going to God’s altar, he fell on his face, weeping. But God was too angry to be compassionate. He rebuked Joshua, told him to get up off his face, and then thundered, “There is sin in the camp! That is why the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed. Neither will I be with you any more, unless you destroy the accursed from among you!” (excerpt, Josh. 7:10-12).

This was similar to Paul’s indignant message to the Corinthian believers (continuing from 1Corinthians 5):

6b. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

7. Purge out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, since you are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover Lamb, was sacrificed for us

8. so that we might keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

9. In a letter, I wrote to you not to associate with immoral people,

10. not meaning, of course, the immoral of this world, or the covetous, or swindlers, or idolaters, for in that case, you would have to leave the world.

11. But now I write to you not to associate with anyone called a brother, if he be immoral, or covetous, or idolatrous, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler -- not even so much as to eat with such a one.

Where do you see such judgment against wickedness in “the congregation” executed in our time? It is rare, admittedly, but it is the will of God, and it is found everywhere that believers enjoy genuine fellowship in the light of Christ because the light of Christ demands it.

Note also that Paul said he had already judged this situation - and he was not even there in Corinth. Paul knew nothing of the notion, which many in our time hold, that making judgments of people and of situations is ungodly. The truth is, it is ungodly for a body of believers NOT to have judgment among themselves. Paul even told the saints here at Corinth that they could escape God’s judgment if they would only exercise their own (1Cor. 11:32).

12. For what have I to do with judging those outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?

In the next chapter in 1Corinthians, Paul rebukes this “congregation of the mighty” because there was no one there among them godly enough to exercise righteous judgment when it was needed. He said in 1Corinthians 6:5, “I say this to your shame. Is it really so, that there is not a single wise man among you, one who is able to judge among his brothers?” Then, Paul, as one of the “gods” in the “congregation of the mighty”, concluded with this judgment of the situation:

13. Those on the outside, God will judge, but you put that wickedness out from among you!

Where there is genuine fellowship, there is no continuation of worship as usual when sin is discovered in the congregation. When the body is truly one in Christ, it feels God’s displeasure and sorrow, and it cannot rejoice. Sin is a spiritual disease, and it must be cut out, or it’s influence will grow until the whole body is infected. And when the entire body tolerates sin and is corrupted by it, God will reject the praise of the congregation. Remarkably, when a congregation becomes so sick with sin that God rejects its worship, it often happens that the people do not even realize that their worship is being rejected. By the time sin has spread that far, the people’s feelings are so dead that, like the shaven Samson of old, they do not even realize that God has departed from them.

Preacher Clark used to warn us that sin is as catching as diseases are. Catching a cold, for one example, is not something you know has happened until the effects are felt. Then, when the fever, stuffiness, and aching begin, you know that somewhere along the way, the unseen, microscopic disease has infected you. The infection is a “secret” event until its effects show, but it is nevertheless real. That is why Paul warned the congregation in Corinth that a person living in sin, especially such a disgraceful sin as had been committed among them, would ruin the whole congregation if that sin was allowed to remain. That’s not a theory; that’s a fact.

Receiving God’s Messenger

If God sends someone to His people, and that person is faithful, he does not just sit around and talk about anything when he comes, or even express his own opinions, “for he whom God has sent speaks the words of God” (Jn.3:34; 1Pet.4:11). This is true even about Jesus. He himself said, “The words that I speak to you, I speak not of myself... but the Father who sent me, He gave me a commandment as to what I should say” (Jn.14:10; 12:49). And on another occasion, Jesus testified, “My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me” (Jn.7:16). Anyone who has truly heard from God can say the same thing. For example, the apostle Paul declared that his doctrine was not taught him by any man, but came by revelation from God. Then, Paul proceeded to utter a curse upon anyone, even an angel from heaven, who taught a gospel different from the one he preached (Gal.1:8-9). Paul did not make such a stern statement because he was arrogant or feared competition for the hearts of believers. He made that statement because God had given him what he was teaching, and he he knew that anyone who taught contrary to that gospel would be cursed by God, whose message it was.

For those blessed people to whom God condescends to send a messenger, fellowship with the Father and the Son is predicated upon receiving that messenger. Jesus told his disciples, “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives Him who sent me” (Mt.10:40). With these words, Jesus was telling his disciples that no person or group can please God or draw close to Him if they reject the men God anoints and sends to them.

There is no fellowship with God apart from fellowship with His servants who have fellowship with Him. This unalterable fact of spiritual life is demonstrated in the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, and it is confirmed by events in our own lives if God will give us the eyes to see it.

“Having the Spirit”

There are two ways to “have the Spirit”. The first is obvious. Those who receive the holy Spirit “have” it. But there is a second way of having the Spirit that is often overlooked.

When Paul was giving his counsel to the saints in Corinth concerning marital issues, he admitted that even though some of the counsel he gave was from the Lord, some of it was his own judgment. He concluded the counsel that came from his own heart by saying, “and I think I have the Spirit of God” (1Cor. 7:40). Paul was not saying that he thought he had received the Spirit; he knew he had received the Spirit many years before, when Ananias laid hands on him in Damascus (Acts 9:17).

To “have the Spirit” in matters of judgment means to be led by the Spirit in making judgments. To “have the Spirit” in matters of conduct means to be led by the Spirit in the kind of life you live. To “have the Spirit” in teaching means that your doctrine comes from God.

Jude also used this phrase “having the Spirit” with reference to being led by it when he described certain men who falsely claimed to be sent by God as ministers of Christ. This is what he said of them (Jude 1:16, 19): “These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaks great, swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.... These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.” We know that these men had received the Spirit because Jude is talking about conditions within the body of Christ. They had the Spirit in that sense. But they did not have the Spirit in the sense of being led by the Spirit to teach the divisive doctrines they were now teaching.

It is no small matter to “have the Spirit” in the sense of being led by it because in the end, the ones who God will claim as His own will only be those who have been led by the Spirit after they received it. Paul warned the saints in Rome, “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14). Paul understood that everyone who received the holy Spirit belongs to God, and those without it did not belong to Him (Rom. 8:9). But he also understood that after receiving the Spirit, some of God’s children would continue to “walk in the Spirit” and come to know God, while others would choose to follow their own will instead and never come to know Him. Jesus called the former group “wise virgins” and the latter, “foolish virgins” (Mt. 25).

It is essential that we have the Spirit; that is, to receive it. But if we do not continue to have it afterwards, to guide us in our ways, it will not go well with us on the Day of Judgment. In his own way, Peter said that on the Day of Judgment, it would have been better to never have had the Spirit at all than, after receiving it, not to continue to have it (2Pet. 2:20-22): “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.”

“But I Say Unto You...”

Jesus pointed out differences between the truth and some of the traditions of his time by saying, “You have heard it said . . . but I say unto you . . .” I will use that same formula now to point out differences between the truth and some present-day traditions held in high regard by many Christians.

1. “Joining the Church”

You have heard it said that it is good to join the church, but I say unto you that if the body of Christ is the Church, it is impossible to join it. The body of Christ is not a club. It is a family into which we must be born by being baptized with the holy Spirit of God. Paul taught us that “by one Spirit, we are all baptized into one body” (1Cor. 12:13), and that baptism is the only way anyone can enter into it. God alone “sets every one of the members in the body as it pleases Him,” and any club, religious or not, that someone joins is not the body of Christ.

2. “Accepting Jesus Christ”

You have heard it said that you must “accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior”, but I say unto you that he is already your personal Lord and Savior, regardless of what you accept, do, or think. The very thing that makes sinners sinners is that they are not in subjection to Jesus, their personal and only Lord and Savior. If Jesus were not already everybody’s Lord, it would not be sin for sinners to live without him. The Bible states very plainly that “Jesus is [already] Lord of all” (Acts 10:36).

Besides the fact of Jesus’ eternal status as Lord and Savior, there is no such thing as any creature “accepting” Jesus, because it is always the case that the Greater accepts the lesser, not vice-versa. It is Jesus who makes us acceptable to God by washing away our sins and changing our nature. Our personal Lord and Savior must accept us; we cannot “accept” him, and there is nothing in the Bible that suggests that anyone on earth can do so.

3. “Make Jesus Lord”

You have heard ministers implore sinners to “make Jesus Lord of your life”, but I say unto you that you can make Jesus nothing. Peter said, “God hath made Jesus, whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). Jesus has been exalted by the Father “above the heavens” and has been given “a name above every name.” God has made Jesus “most blessed, forever”, and there is not one thing that we humans can add to his glory.

4. “Get Saved”

You have heard it said that sinners can repeat a few Scriptures and “get saved”, but I say unto you that salvation is the reward for the faithful, which Christ Jesus will bring to us when he returns. Jesus said, “He who endures UNTO THE END, the same will be saved” (Mt. 10:22). For this reason, Paul could say that our salvation “is nearer now” than it was when we first came to Christ (Rom. 13:11). When Jesus was asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”, Jesus did not respond, “Repeat after me.” He said, “Keep the commandments of God.” If you really want to “get saved”, do that, until the end.

5. “Go to Church”

You have heard it said that all believers should “go to church”, but I say unto you that no believers should “go to church”. Yes, of course, believers should “assemble themselves” often, and all the more as they see the day of the Lord approaching, but what does the saints gathering together have to do with “going to church”? Church religion is the greatest danger on earth to the fellowship of the saints, and should be avoided at all costs. I am convinced that God’s heart is broken because His people refuse to reject church religion and come out and worship Him “in spirit and in truth”.

Do not go to church. Instead, gather together with others who have received the holy Spirit (or are seeking it), and let the Spirit of the Lord teach you and make you “free indeed”!

“Among the gods”

from a sermon by Pastor John in Louisville, Kentucky, August 10, 2005

When some of Israel’s elders condemned Jesus for saying he was the Son of God, Jesus quoted this verse from Psalms: “Is it not written in your law that I [God] said, ‘You are gods’?” In other words, Jesus was asking those who opposed him, “Don’t you remember your own scriptures, where God said to you, ‘You are gods, and all of you are children of the most high’?” Of course, they did remember that verse because they were the elders of Israel. They knew the scriptures well, and they could not gainsay Jesus’ reasoning.

They had condemned Jesus, saying to him, “You are blaspheming, because you say you are the Son of God.” But Jesus responded, “Hold on a minute, here. Didn’t our God, tell you in your own law, that you are gods? And if that is true, if God called them gods to whom the word of God came, and the scriptures are true, are you telling me, the one the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme’, simply because I said ‘I am the Son of God’? If God said to you, ‘You are all children of the Most High,’ then where is the blasphemy in my telling you that I am the Son of God?”

Who was it that God called “gods”? That is the important thing about the verse which Jesus quoted. According to that verse, “gods” are those people, men and women, to whom the word of God comes. Has the word of God come to you? Consider for a moment what the word of God can do. The word of God created the universe out of nothing, and all the life forms in it. That’s what the word of God can do. And when that word of God comes into your frail human body, it makes you something more than a mere mortal because the word of God is something more than your life. Now, you know that you and I are not to be worshiped, but because of the entrance of God’s word, we now are called gods by the One who created us anew in Christ Jesus.

When Paul said, ‘If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature,’ he was saying exactly what David and Jesus said: ‘You are gods, and all of you are children of the most high.’ Again, we are not to be worshiped, not to be sacrificed to, but we must understand our status. As children of God, we are more important to God than the cherubim and the seraphim and all those wonderful creatures around God’s throne. We are more important to our heavenly Father than all of them put together. All the angels of heaven do not matter to Him as much as we do. We are His children. They are His creatures. They are His servants. As a matter of fact, they are our servants. It says in Hebrews that they are sent forth from heaven as ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. Now, they don’t take orders from us, but they are here to serve us. They receive their orders from above. It’s God the Father who, through His Son, gives orders to the angels for the blessing of His “gods” down here. Even the angels understand that the children of God are “gods”, and that their duty is to serve them.

Paul said, ‘Don’t you know we will judge angels?” We are going to judge the world to come, and we will rule over this world with Jesus for one thousand years. Now, what kind of status is that? Such knowledge shouldn’t make you proud. It should amaze and humble us. John the apostle wrote, “Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!” Believers are children of God now. Believers are “new creatures”. Believers are gods because God Himself said so.

You, as gods on the earth, can sense the spirits around you. You know what people feel and think, even if they do not show it on the outside. Nobody is a secret in the presence of God. How many times have you read in the Bible such phrases as “Jesus, knowing their thoughts ...”, and yet, those people assumed they were thinking in secret. The Spirit is a light; it’s a lamp; it brightens your pathway. When we walk in the Spirit of our Father, we don’t accidentally bump into anything. Nothing surprises us. You know where people are. That’s what comes with the territory of being gods. You know more than ordinary humans can know. You see more than ordinary humans can see. You feel things that humans don’t feel because you have a spirit that ordinary humans don’t have. You have a Father that humans don’t have. You have a family that humans do not belong to. You have a hope that humans don’t have. You live above the ordinary course of life because the word of God has entered into your heart and re-created you. It is not because you are by nature better than anybody else, but because God’s word creates wherever it goes; and in those who believe, it creates a new kind of being that had never been before Christ came. It is a being that knows things that it did not previously know, sees things it did not see, and can now do things it could not do. And it is going to come out of the grave long after it goes in, because the grave cannot hold that new creature down.

What superstition, and “doctrines of demons”, and “ways of the heathen” do, is intimidate God’s people so that they fear to believe and act like their new selves in Christ. Have faith in your God, and do not be afraid to be who you are. Go ahead and think the next thought, see the next vision, feel the next feeling. It’s God in you doing those things, just as Jesus said it was God in him doing the things he did!

Don’t be afraid of what you’re going to see next, what you are going to understand next. Don’t be ashamed of who you’ve become. You’ve become somebody that is connected with the all-knowing God. That’s who you are - sons and daughters of the living God, through the holy ghost.

If any man be in Christ, he’s a “new creature”. You must find out who you are — find out who each other is: a new creature. Old things are passed away. It is such a glorious truth that even those to whom it has happened can hardly believe it. It’s just too great to take in all at once. “Old things are passed away. All things are become new.” One of the things that becomes new when you are born again is your past. In Christ, you have a new past. You have a new family tree. The creature God makes you did not come from natural forebears. You were conceived and born of the “incorruptible seed” of the word of God. That body you have now came from the corruptible seed, the physical seed of your natural parents. But there is another seed. Jesus called it the word of God, and that is where you came from. And one of these days, you are going to shuck off this fleshly shell and be clothed with a new body. That’s what gods ought to have — a different kind of body from this decaying shell in which we live on Earth.

That is a hope worth living for. It is a hope worth dying for. It’s worth being misunderstood for. It’s worth suffering for, worth waiting for. It is worth loving your enemies for, and praying for those that despitefully use you. It’s worth praying for. It’s worth praising God for. It’s worth repenting for. It’s worth everything!

That new creature knows the future. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, Revelation 19 tells us. That is the spirit that you’ve received. You’re supposed to be a prophet. You are supposed to feel the coming judgment. You’re supposed to rejoice in hope of salvation. You are supposed to feel those things coming, and unless you have been confused and made dull of heart by “doctrines of demons” and “the ways of the heathen”, you do feel them coming. It’s real in you. That new creature has a real hope. It knows what’s coming. And well it ought to! Even demons sensed them coming whenever Jesus drew near them! They cried out such things as, “Are you come here to torment us before the time?” Ought we not to know, too, that time is coming? Those demons were not children of God. Then, we who are children of God ought to know that time of judgment is coming, and be excited about it. That awareness of the coming judgment made the demons tremble with fear. It ought to make us praise God. Jesus said that when we see the end near to lift up our head and rejoice, for “your redemption is drawing nigh.” Amen.

God Himself was the one talking when He said, ‘Did I not say, you are gods?” That was God talking, not the psalmist. The least we can do is say is He is right! God doesn’t judge things by how you feel; He goes by what He knows. And when you go by what He knows, you feel as He feels. That’s where good and right feelings come from; from what God knows.

The world mocks at the truth because it doesn’t know a god when it sees one. John said, ‘This world doesn’t know us because it didn’t know him.” The world didn’t know Jesus. How, then, is it going to know his brothers and sisters? The world doesn’t recognize God’s family. It’s too real for this world. It’s just too good.

“Among the gods”

Now, this is an important point for us to consider. Listen to this, from Psalm 82:1: “God stands in the congregation of the mighty. He judges among the gods.”

Referring to the imagined gods of the heathen, the prophets said more than once that the gods were vanity, or nothing. And if we use that definition of “gods” for this verse, then God doesn’t have much work to do, does He? Anyone can judge among nothing. Likewise, if we see the word “gods” in this verse as referring to demons, it won’t hold up for us, in our time, because God has already judged them. They are already condemned. But if we read this verse as referring to God’s children, that means that Jesus is among us, judging “among the gods”. Only God Himself and His anointed Son have the wisdom to do that.

This is why Paul was so distressed that a brother in Corinth had sued another brother and taken him to court. Paul called it “going before the unjust”. In other words, Paul was saying, “How in the world can you expect the world to judge what is right among the gods?” In order for the world to judge among this new race that God has created, they’d have to be led by the Spirit, but all they have to judge by is their eyes and their ears. That is all they have. And Jesus commanded us not to judge by what our eyes see and what our ears hear, but “judge righteous judgment”. The world cannot obey that commandment. So, the foolish man who had dragged his brother to court was not being led by the Spirit, even though in a worldly court he might look or sound better. Only God can judge among the gods.

Paul asked that man who went to the world with his grievances and sued a brother in court, “If you feel as if your brother has done you wrong, why wouldn’t you rather suffer wrong than to bring a reproach on Christ, before the world?” Paul was distressed that a child of God would love himself so much more than he loved Jesus that he would seek the world’s judgment of any matter among the saints, for every wise child of God knows the world cannot judge their affairs rightly. On the contrary, Paul indignantly asked, “Don’t you know that we shall judge the world?” Paul knew that every sincere child of God seeks justice from the Father and does not bring issues belonging to the body of Christ before the world to be judged. When God calls us, He calls us to faith in Him. And “by faith, we understand” that God alone is able to judge rightly “among the gods” and that the real “gods” in this world, according to our heavenly Father Himself, and according to His Son Jesus, are those to whom the word of God has come.

Your Best Helpers

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."

Those around us who are walking in the love of God do us good in many ways. One of the chief ways they benefit us is to point out errors in ours lives that we do not see. In the Old Testament, God commanded His people not to let it pass, when they saw a neighbor commit a sin. In other words, God commanded His people to love as He loves. Solomon said, “Whom the Lord loves, He corrects, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights” (Prov. 3:12). To love as God loves, then, means to correct a brother when he errs, to remind him of the right way when he has wandered away from it. This holy love is what makes certain people around us so valuable.

But there is another group of people who are also among the most valuable to us. They are those who hate us with perfect hatred. God uses them as well as the first group to point out faults that we may be overlooking. These intend their criticism for evil, while the first group intends it for good, but the important thing is that it is done. Jesus warned us that evil men (including fallen brothers and sisters) would speak “all manner of evil” against us, but intermingled with their lies and slander is often a few legitimate criticisms. It is especially from believers who have turned from righteousness that we can receive the best criticism. Having known us, and having once been touched by God, they are able to point out faults in us that the world cannot perceive. These fallen brothers failed to offer in love our needed criticism while walking with us in the light, but God is so wonderful that He uses them anyway for our good, in spite of their malicious intent.

These two groups of people, those who love us as God loves us and those who hate us as Satan hates us, provide our most valuable help in the Lord, with blunt, insightful criticism. It is no wonder, then, that we are exhorted to love both those who are true and faithful, and those who are our enemies; they are all the most important people in our lives! My father taught us that you will never help anybody in the Lord if you fear hurting them. In fact, he taught us that you will never help anybody in the Lord unless you hurt them. And if we fear losing a brother if we are honest with him concerning a fault, what good can we do him? Jesus is not not like that. Once, in John 6, he even invited his disciples to leave him if they didn't want to hear what he said to them. Neither those who love us as God loves us nor those who hate us as Satan hates us will refrain from hurting us. The godly do not want to hurt us, but they love us enough to do it. The ungodly do want to hurt us, and they love themselves enough to do it. Either way, both groups are used by God for our good if we love Him.

But there is a third group.

The least valuable people in our lives are those around us who see our faults and remain silent. They are the real trouble-makers in the kingdom of God. They are the grudge-holders, the luke-warm, whose love is skin deep, who gossip to others about the faults they see in us instead of correcting us so that we can be healed. These foolish believers refuse to function as a healing part of the body by helping others to see their faults and to deal with them. They remain, sometimes for many years, among the body as useless, dead weight. Time usually reveals that they are silent about the errors they see in others because they are hiding from others some secret sins of their own.

Friends, if you are going to be a part of the body, then function! Live from the heart among the saints and be a benefit to others who are striving to do the will of God. One of the greatest compliments ever paid to a body of believers was paid to the saints in Rome. The apostle Paul described them as “able to admonish one another”. This means that (1) the saints in Rome had the wisdom to discern when a brother or sister was wandering off the right path, (2) they had enough of the love of God among themselves to point out error among themselves, and (3) they had the humility to receive criticism from one another when it was offered. For the body to function as Jesus wants it to, these three qualities must exist in it. Do you measure up?

Under the Old Testament law, God said that if we saw a brother sin and remained silent, we were, in fact, hating him. He said, “You shall not hate your brother in your heart! You shall by all means rebuke your neighbor, and not allow sin upon him. You shall not seek vengeance or bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself! I am the Lord!” (Lev. 19:17-18). Jesus loves us, and so he reproves us and convicts our hearts when we err, and he desires that each of us should love as he loves us. He told his disciples, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (Jn. 15:12).

Do you love the saints around you as Jesus loves them? When you see fault, when you see something in a brother’s life that you know displeases the Lord, do you remain silent or whisper it to others instead of to him? If a brother harms you, do you hold a grudge. Do you seek revenge?

Let us determine today that we are going to function as we should, that we are going to love our brothers and sisters with the love of God while we have a chance. It will help us to do so if we remember that if we see a fault, it is only because Jesus has let us see what he sees so that we can co-operate with him in saving our brother. When we see a fault, Jesus is inviting us to do a good work. To be given the grace to see a fault in a brother is a golden opportunity; it is an open door to become a valuable part of the body of Christ, a healing part of the body, a fellow-worker with Christ, and to receive, in the end, the reward that is fitting for those who have served Christ well.

Only of God: What Fellowship Is

Adapted from a sermon on December 15, 2010

“Unto me is this grace given,

that I should preach the unsearchable riches of Christ,

to make all men see what the fellowship of the mystery is,

which from the beginning of the world has been hidden in God...”

Paul, in Ephesians 3:8-9

The ultimate goal of everything Satan wants to destroy, or envies (he actually wants to have a part in it, but he can’t) is the fellowship of the saints. What is it about fellowship that makes Satan want it so badly, and yet strive so much to destroy it?

Fellowship in Christ is when we who are in Christ feel the same thing, when we have the same mind - without talking it over beforehand. It is when we have the same judgment concerning situations and people, and the same love for one another. And this fellowship is created only when God’s Wisdom comes down upon us. It is something that is created within us by God. It is not voted on by men. It is not of the will or wisdom of man at all.

The apostle John said that when we are born into the kingdom of God, we are born “not of blood [that is, of human blood, or human origin], nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man” (Jn. 1:13). This concept is very difficult to anchor in the hearts of believers; but, the kingdom into which we are born of God is a kingdom where every thing that counts is not of human origin, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man. If something counts in the kingdom of God, is it not of the will of man, not of the will of the flesh, and not of human origin (that is, “not of blood” of this world - no human race, no human genealogy, or any such thing). Those are the three things John said that those born into God’s kingdom are not of: they are born not of the will of man, not of the will of the flesh, and not of blood (actually, that word is plural in the Greek: bloods). That means, we who are in Christ are not of any human race, not of any human genealogy, or anything like that. We no longer have any national earthly identity.

When we are born again, we are born into a spiritual place where everything is that way - not just the born-again person. God’s is a kingdom where communion with God and with one another is not of the will of man, or of the will of the flesh, or of human origin. If we have any communion in the kingdom of God, it will only be of God, just as our birth into His kingdom was only of God. Communion with God happens only when God creates something to eat with us, something invisible for us to share with Him. And when He creates something within me and within you for us to enjoy together in Christ, we have fellowship, which is true communion.

The important thing to understand is that if God doesn’t create the fellowship, we don’t have it - even if we both want it, even if we both vote for it, and even if we both claim to have it. What we say does not make anything true. Nothing of earth matters; nothing of earth makes anything real in God’s kingdom. Nothing in God’s world is of the will of man; everything in God’s world is of God, just like our spiritual birth. Everything.

This includes the doctrine. God’s doctrine is not of the will of man. If it is not of God, it is not a part of God’s kingdom and carries no authority over the saints. It cannot be of the will of the flesh and be true in God’s world. It cannot be of human origin. Nothing in God’s kingdom is any of those things. We who believe are in a different universe now. When we entered into Christ, we crossed a line into a heavenly kingdom that is in no part human. Believers live in a different world from ordinary men. We live in a different universe, with different standards and a far greater wisdom. Paul’s famous phrase, “If any man be in Christ ... all things become new”, is real. We are not even our old selves anymore. Paul said, "I die daily" because he was living in that new realm, where his thoughts and his feelings were no longer of human origin.

Our feast days, our baptism, our holy places, the robes we put on for worship - nothing in our kingdom is of the will of man. You know as well as I do, when you see those colorful choir robes in Christian churches, that a man has willed to buy those pretty robes as opposed to what he considered less pretty ones. And because that choice and that purchase was of human will and ability, it cannot be a part of the kingdom of God. Those pretty choir robes do not belong in our world if we are in Christ.

God has called us out of this world; now, let’s stay out of this world! Jesus is saying, “You were born into my world. Now, stay in my world and be satisfied.” Godliness with contentment will make us truly rich.

Many of God’s own people are not content with the world into which they were born when they were baptized with the Spirit. They are not content with it because God’s world is not of the will of the flesh, and they are still in the flesh. Or they are not content with it because God’s world is not of the will of man, and they are still self-willed. Or they are not content with it because it is not of human origin, and their hearts are still attached to this world. Discontented and divided saints are still enamored of things that originate on earth, such as a carnal ceremony, or some doctrine formulated by human wisdom, or some other familiar form that is not a part of God’s kingdom.

Here at my house, we do not want any of that, and we will not have any of that. The holy Spirit will certainly not have any of that, and if we will only deny ourselves and humble ourselves to the Spirit, it will save us from all worldliness. He will save us from the spirits of the religious systems of man, including that of Christianity. He will save us from the unclean spirit of Christianity so that we can experience true fellowship in Christ and so that we can come together as a body and have it be for our good and not to our harm. We benefit from our gatherings only when we live close to God and worship Him “in spirit and in truth”. The holy Spirit is in no measure of this world.

Our sweet, shared life in the Spirit is the mysterious fellowship that Satan hates above all things because it is of God, and God has cast him out. He cannot share in it. The fellowship of human religions is of the world, and Satan does share in that. Jesus said that Satan “savors the things that be of man” (Mt. 16:23). Satan has been forever cast out of God’s kingdom, and he is very angry about that. He envies and slanders everyone whom God still welcomes into the pure fellowship of His kingdom. God is so determined that Satan will have no part in His kingdom again that even if a body of saints is fooled into making room for Satan, even if they are foolish enough to welcome him into their assembly, God withdraws that pure fellowship, and all that is left is a dead religious form. When God withdraws fellowship from a body of believers, all that remains is something of the flesh and of the world, some ceremonial form, some religious ideas, in which things Satan can have fellowship with man.

If we are to continue to enjoy the fellowship that is in Christ, we must walk together in the Spirit and refuse those things that are of the will of man, or of the will of the flesh, or of human origin. Instead of trying to serve God in such worldly things, let’s do the will of God and serve Him “in spirit and in truth”. Doing that, neither the things of this world nor Satan will ever pollute our communion with Christ and with one another.

What Fellowship Is

Adapted from a sermon on December 15, 2010

“...to make all men see what the fellowship of the mystery is,

which from the beginning of the world has been hidden in God...”

Paul, in Ephesians 3:8-9

The ultimate goal of everything Satan wants to destroy, or envies (he actually doesn’t want to destroy it; he wants to have a part in it, but he can’t) is the fellowship of the saints. And I dare say just a few of God’s people on earth really understand what fellowship is.

Fellowship is when we feel the same thing, when we have the same mind - without talking it over beforehand. It is when we have the same judgment concerning situations and people, and the same love for one another. And that fellowship is created when Wisdom comes down upon us. It is something created by God. It is not voted on by men. It is not of the will of man.

The apostle John taught that when you are born into the kingdom of God, you are born “not of blood [that is, of human blood, or human origin], nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man” (Jn. 1:13). What is so difficult to get across and to really get anchored in the hearts of believers is that, in Christ, the kingdom into which they are born is a kingdom where every thing that counts is not of human origin, or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man. If something counts in the kingdom of God, is it not of the will of man, not of the will of the flesh, and not of human origin, that is, not of the blood of this world - no human race, no human genealogy, or any such thing. Those are the three things John said that those in God’s kingdom are not of: you’re born not of the will of man, not of the will of the flesh, and not of “bloods” (actually, that word is plural in the Greek). That means, you who are in Christ are not of any human race, not of any human genealogy, or anything like that. You no longer have any national earthly identity.

But what God’s people, in the main, do not understand is that when you are born, you are born into a place where everything is that way - not just you. It is a kingdom where your communion with God and with one another is not of the will of man, or of the will of the flesh. It is not a physical thing. It is not of earthly origin. If you have communion in the kingdom of God, it will only be of God, just as your birth into His kingdom was only of God. Communion with god happens only when God creates something to eat with you. It is when He creates something invisible for you to share with Him. And when He creates something within me and within you for us to enjoy together in Christ, we have fellowship. It may be a common judgment of people, or of some circumstance, or the times in general.

But the important thing to understand is that if God doesn’t create it, we don’t have it - even if we both want it, even if we both vote for it, and even if we both claim to have it. Nothing of earth matters; nothing of earth makes anything happen in God’s kingdom. Nothing in God’s world is of the will of the man. It’s not of the will of the flesh, but of God. Everything. The doctrine. It cannot be of the will of man. It’s not, not in God’s kingdom. It cannot be of the will of the flesh. It cannot be of human origin. Nothing in God’s kingdom is any of those things. We who believe are in a different universe now. In Christ, we crossed a line into a heavenly kingdom that is in no part human. We are in a different world. We are in a different universe. Paul’s famous phrase, “Behold, all things become new”, is real. You are not even yourself anymore. Paul said, "I die daily" because he was living in that new realm, where his thoughts and his feelings were not of human origin. His very life was not of his own will or his flesh's will.

Our feast days, our baptism, our holy places, the robes you put on for worship - nothing in our kingdom is of the will of man. You know as well as I do, when you see those colorful choir robes in Christian churches, some man has willed to buy those pretty robes as opposed to what he considered less pretty ones. And because that choice and that purchase was of human will, it cannot be a part of the kingdom of God, which means that means that pretty choir robes do not belong in your world. God called you out of that world; now stay out of that world! Jesus is saying, “You were born into my world. Stay in my world and be satisfied.” Godliness with contentment will make you rich.

Many of God’s own people are not content with the world into which they were born when they were baptized with the holy ghost. They are not content with it because God’s world is not of the will of the flesh, and they are still in the flesh. Or they are not content with it because God’s world is not of the will of man, and they are still self- willed. Or they are not content with it because it is not of human origin, and their hearts are still attached to this world. Discontented and divided saints are still enamored of things that originate on earth; some ceremony, some doctrine, some familiar form that is not a part of God’s kingdom.

We, here, do not want any of that. We will not have any of that. The holy ghost will not have any of that, and if we’ll deny ourselves and have the holy ghost in our midst, he won’t allow us have any of that. He’ll save us from worldliness. He’ll save us from the religious system of Christianity, which is altogether of the world. He’ll save us from that unclean spirit so that when we can experience true fellowship in Christ, and so that we can come together as a body and have it be for our good and not to our harm. We benefit from our gatherings only when we live close to God, and we live close to God only as we follow the Spirit that is in no measure of this world.

Our sweet, shared life in the Spirit is the mysterious fellowship that Satan hates above all things because it is not of the world, and he cannot possibly participate in it. He has been cast out of God’s kingdom, and he is very angry about that. He envies and slanders everyone God still welcomes into the pure fellowship of that holy kingdom. Even if a body of saints were fooled into making room for Satan, even if they would be foolish enough to welcome him into their assembly, Satan could not participate in the fellowship of holiness because wherever he is, the fellowship is not, and he will never understand it.

If we are to continue to enjoy our fellowship in Christ, we must walk together in the Spirit and refuse those things that are of the will of man, or of the will of the flesh, or of human origin. Instead of trying to serve God in those things, let’s all do the will of God and serve him “in spirit and in truth”. Doing that, neither the things of this world nor Satan will ever pollute our communion with Christ and with one another.

Not Just for Us

Good morning John.

Today I was organizing and mailing out various tract and CD orders from the Isaiah58 web site that came in over the past couple of days.

When a person orders a CD from the site, I usually add one or two old CD's (those that went un-purchased) to that person’s order since it does not really add anything to the postage, and so that people can hear live meetings.

This morning as I reached into the box, of perhaps 50 to 100 of those left-over CD's, the sweetest feeling came over me. I could have picked any of the CD's in that box! We have things of real value! Things that go unclaimed among us just might be golden nuggets of life to someone who is hungry for reality in the Spirit. Many have never heard what is on a CD that we have hundreds of extras of. Tears came to my eyes when I thought about how rich we are in spirit, that we have such things of value. Where would we be without those gifts from God, without each other, without this truth? It's hard to even wonder. I am thankful, after your wonderful message last night, for you, for the saints who before us and paid a price, and for every child of God whom Jesus has put into my life right now.

And beyond that, I am thankful for soberness, for sanity, and for the readiness of mind and heart to want to get this truth to God's wandering sheep.

Gary

=================

Amen, Brother Gary!

God has chosen, for His own good reasons, to wonderfully bless us and give us a special work to do. I pray that we walk worthy of our calling. Our situation calls to mind one of the things God told father Abraham when He first spoke to him, in Genesis 12:1-3. God told that good man that all the nations of the earth would someday be blessed by the blessing that He was giving him. In other words, God was not blessing Abraham just to bless Abraham. And we can be assured that God has not blessed us just to be blessing us.

We have a holy calling upon us, and a work to do. May God give us the strength and wisdom to accomplish it!

jdc

Being the Truth

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

Jesus, in John 14:6

You do not really know the truth unless you are the truth. The truth is not a thing; it is a person, and you must have fellowship with him in order to know him. The truth on earth was the Son of God, while he was here. Now the truth on earth is other sons of God who are here. Nor is the light a thing; it is a person. If you are not in him who is the light, you do not know him who is the light. He was the light of the world as long as he was in the world (Jn. 9:5); now, those in whom he lives are the light of the world. The Word of God is not a thing; it is the Son of God, and he is alive. He took on flesh when he took on the body of Jesus of Nazareth, as John wrote, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.” And he still comes and takes up residence in the hearts of those who believe in him. Has he become flesh in you? He became flesh in Paul, and Paul testified of it. He said, "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ is living in me" (Gal. 2:20).

If the Word of God comes to you, he comes to re-create you in his own image. The Word of God comes to you to establish your thoughts, to shape your spirit, to direct your steps. He does not come to be challenged; he comes to take charge, to guide, to heal, to deliver. The Son of God did not take on flesh in order merely to become a topic for discussion. He came to govern, to purge, to make the believer perfect before God.

I do not ask, “Do you know the truth?” It is less important that you know than that you become the truth. Nor do I ask, “Do you know the way?” or “Do you see the light?” The issue is, are you the the way and the light to others? John wrote, “As he is, so are we in this world.” That was good for John and those he knew in Christ, but for us, the question is, are we, like those saints, like him who is sitting at the right hand of the Father?

Jesus never intended for us to stand on earth and point up to the sky, at him, to show men the light. He came to make us lights in this world. Besides, even if we get men to look up, they still cannot see him. They can only see us. Knowing this, my wise father taught us never to speak of Jesus to others unless we could also say to them, “Be like me.”

Paul wrote that “when he ascended on high, he gave gifts to men. . . . And he gave some, apostles, some prophets, some teachers,” etc. This means that, as your pastor and teacher, I am a gift to you. And as light for others in this world, you are a gift to them. Are you really a gift for them? Or let me ask it this way: Does he who is the Truth live in you? Does he who is the Light shine in you? Does he who is the Way walk in you? Can others attain to eternal life by following you? They can if you are following Christ. Paul unashamedly told the saints in Corinth, “Be followers of me, even as I also am of Christ” (1Cor. 11:1). This was not an unusual statement for Paul to make. He constantly exhorted the saints in every place to follow righteous men, both himself and others (e.g., 1Cor. 4:16; Phip. 3:17; 1Thess. 1:6; 2:14; 3:7, 9; Heb. 6:12. He knew that godly, mature saints were gifts to the rest of us, that like Jesus, they didn’t just talk about the truth and the way to us; they were the way and the truth for us, and Paul wanted us to take full advantage of them, as gifts from a loving heavenly Father.

The Honor of Jesus

"God has highly exalted him..."

Phip. 2:9

The honor of men is nothing in comparison to the honor God gives. Jesus did not covet and would not accept honors that men bestow. “I do not receive honor from men,” he said (Jn. 5:41). Even when people wanted to take Jesus by force and make him their king, he refused and withdrew from them to a mountain alone (Jn. 6:15). He did not come to gain earthly honor; he came to do the will of his heavenly Father (Heb. 10:7). And as a result of his single-minded pursuit of honor from God, God “highly exalted him, and has given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phip. 2:9-11).

Jesus even refused to honor himself. He said, “If I honor myself, my honor is nothing; it is my Father who honors me, whom you say that He is your God” (Jn. 8:54). Jesus was wise. He understood that no honor is worth having unless it comes from God.

In fact, he warned men that seeking and receiving honor from any other source will result in spiritual confusion. He told them (Jn. 5:44), “How can you believe, who receive honor one from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes only from God?” Fallen men are so blind to the things of God that they often do not recognize God’s honor when it is given to one standing among them; and they can badly misunderstand what is being done when someone is truly honoring God. Men have been known to go so far as to accuse someone of madness, or even demon-possession, when he is, in fact, honoring God. They did that to Jesus, and in reply, Jesus said, “I am not demon-possessed! I am honoring my Father, and you are dishonoring me” (Jn. 8:49).

Jesus loved God (Jn. 14:31; Ps. 91:14-16) and pleased Him because he desired only the honor that comes from God. He was even willing to suffer unjustly and die in order to please God. In response, God gave everything to Jesus (Jn. 3:35) and revealed Himself completely to Jesus (Jn. 5:20).

Everybody who hears from the true God comes to Jesus for mercy (Jn. 6:45), and nobody can come to the real Jesus unless they do hear from God (Jn. 6:44). Perhaps the most astonishing honor that the Father has given to Jesus is His requirement now that all people everywhere honor the Son just as they honor the Father (Jn. 5:23). Consequently, no one will be saved from eternal damnation who fails to honor the Son as God. But everyone who loves Jesus will be loved by God, and Jesus said that God will come to that person and live within his heart (Jn. 14:21-23; 16:27). Consequently, there is no hope of eternal life but through Jesus (Acts 4:12). This is the honor that God has bestowed upon Jesus, and there is no greater honor than that which the Father has shown to His Son.