The Impossible Life

My father pointed out to his congregation the fact that everything Jesus told his disciples to do was impossible for them.  He told them to “heal the sick; cleanse the lepers; cast out demons” (Mt. 10:8);  to “be perfect, just as your Father who is in heaven is perfect” (Mt. 5:48); to “judge righteous judgment” (Jn. 7:24); and to forgive the one who sins against you “seventy times seven times” (Mt. 18:21–22).  It is impossible also for a human to preach the gospel without heavenly help, for the gospel is preached only with the Spirit that God sends from heaven (1Pet. 1:12).  Even to live a holy life is impossible for man.  Only with the strength of the Spirit of God can anyone do that.  When Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phip. 4:13), living a holy life was included in that declaration.

Only someone who has become “a new creature in Christ” can live the impossible life that Jesus commanded his followers to live.  And the only way to get into Christ is the baptism of the Spirit (Rom. 6:3; 1Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:27).  Come into the body of Christ while the door is still open and begin living the wonderful, impossible life!

Relic Worship

Jesus resisted the spirit of carnal religion.  He rebuffed the first relic-worshipper he met, when a woman interrupted his teaching with shouts of praise for certain of his mother’s body parts:

Luke 11

27. It came to pass that as he was saying these things, a certain woman in the crowd lifted up her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts which you nursed!”

28. But he said, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and obey it!”

There is nothing holy about anybody’s body parts, not even the fleshly body in which the Son of God lived while he was here.  Every fleshly body is nothing but corruptible flesh, as Isaiah said, “All flesh is grass, and all its comeliness is like a flower of the field. . . .  The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isa. 40:6b, 8).  Knowing that all flesh will decay, Paul said, “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither does corruption inherit incorruption” (1Cor. 15:50).

We do not worship the living God with dead things, but “in Spirit and in truth.”  Dead bodies should be buried or burned up, not revered and bowed down to.

A Famine for the Word

Behold, the days are coming, says my Lord, Jehovah,

that I will send a famine on the land,

not a famine of bread or a thirst for water,

but of hearing the words of the Lord.

They will stagger from sea to sea,

and from the north even to the east.  Men will desperately go about,

seeking the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.

Amos 8:11–12

We live in such a time.  Turn on the TV or radio; search on the internet; go to a bookstore.  Where do you hear anything that has truly come from God?  It is very, very rare.  Typically, what we find is human ideas taught as gospel, and God’s people would do better just to turn it all off.

Jesus taught that it is what comes from God that builds up his people and that nothing can prevail against it (Mt. 16:17–18).  It was for good reason that Paul called his revelation from Christ “the word of life”, for it is the only thing that can keep God’s children alive and strong in spirit.  But in the present state of things, God’s children are living on crumbs and are, spiritually speaking, emaciated.

I have heard that when people reach a point of starvation where they are near death, they must be fed small amounts of food and drink in order to recover, even if they crave more.  Even food that is otherwise healthy can kill them if they eat too much of it because their bodies cannot handle it.  So it is now with God’s beloved people.  They have been starved for the word of life for so long that they cannot bear to hear much of it.  May God help us to “discern the body”, lest we overfeed his starving children and do them more harm than good with the good food we have been given.

And pray that He will continue to give us our precious daily bread, the word of life that keeps us spiritually alive and healthy, and that we will always have an appetite for it.

“When No One Can Work”

For I know your many transgressions and your countless sins,

you who vex the righteous man by taking a bribe

and push aside needy people at the gate.

That is why the prudent man stays quiet in such a time, for the time is evil.

Amos 5:13

When righteous men rejoice, there is great glory,

but when wicked men arise, a man is hidden.

Proverbs 28:12

Jesus said that the time would come when God will no longer lead His servants to reach out to the world with His Son’s gospel.  He said, “I must work the works of the One who sent me while it is day.  The night is coming when no one can work” (Jn. 9:4).  I have told you many times before that children of God do not HAVE to do anything other than what God wants them to do.  God’s will is the Bible for the wise.

Many believers feel obligated to “spread the word” because this is in the Bible:

Mark 16

15. Jesus told them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

Some believers call that “the great commission”, and they say that it applies to every one of God’s children.  That is nonsense, of course, for what Jesus says applies only to the ones he says it to.  Besides, “The night is coming when no one can work” is also in the Bible.  Who does that apply to?  God’s will is the Word for the wise.

If God’s people feel obligated to proclaim the gospel perpetually because of Mark 16:15, they can never stop working, even when the time for it is past because Mark 16:15 will still be there.  But they who are led by the Spirit are the true children of God (Rom. 8:14), for they will know it when the time for evangelizing the world is over.

Moreover, if God’s people feel obligated to proclaim the gospel forever because of Mark 16:15, they will certainly fall into a spirit of strife and will quarrel with the world instead of helping them if they keep on after the night comes that Jesus spoke of.  And it will not be the world’s fault.  It will be the fault of those who continue to proclaim the gospel after it is no longer God’s will for them to do so.

We have sent out many millions of gospel tracts and many thousands of recordings and books in an effort to shine the light that has been given to us.  And we now have a significant presence on the internet, too.  But as this world devolves farther into sin, the time is drawing nearer when God will say, “No more,” and then we will stop.  God’s will is the guide for the wise.

A Hidden Gem

O Jehovah, I have heard your message, and I am in awe.

O Lord, restore to life in the midst of the years the one you created!

In the midst of his years, make him known.  In wrath, remember mercy.”

Habakkuk 3:2

Occasionally while translating the Old Testament, we come upon prophecies overlooked by other translators, such as the one above.  There are many of them.  The apostles had nothing but the Old Testament with which to work, but the holy Ghost opened their eyes to those holy scriptures to see the Son in them, and they preached the Son wherever they went.

Here, Habakkuk is moved by the Spirit to pray that the Father will make the Son known “in the midst of his years”.  And how did the Father do that?  He did that by sending him to the cross, and when He did, the Son dreaded the agony and pleaded with God to find another way to save mankind.  He said, “Abba (that is, Father)!  All things are possible with you.  Take this cup away from me!” (Mk. 14:36).  But even this plea of the Son was prophesied in another oft overlooked prophecy found in Psalm 102:24, and this time, God’s answer to the Son when he prayed that prayer is included:

Psalm 102

24. When I said, “O my God, don’t offer me up in the midst of my days,” you said, “Your years are throughout all generations.

25. In the beginning, you established the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

26. They will perish, but you will continue, and all of them will grow old like a garment.  Like clothing will you change them, and they will be changed.

27. But you will remain the same, and your years will have no end.

28. The sons of your servants will dwell, and their seed will be established, in your presence.”

There are very many such gems in the Old Testament which foretell the Son’s coming and his work to save us.  God has hidden them, but if we diligently search for them, we will find them, and it is a glorious feeling when we do.  Solomon said it: “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, and it is the honor of kings to search it out” (Prov. 25:2).

Chastisement vs. Discipline

Chastisement

People have a tendency to think that when they suffer, they have done something wrong, and sometimes that is the case.  God will correct His children when they err from the right path, but only because He loves them.  Both the Old and New Testament tell us that correction is one of the many ways our heavenly Father demonstrates His love toward us.

Solomon told his son, “Whom the Lord loves, He corrects, even as a father the son in whom he delights” (Prov. 3:12).  And before Solomon, David taught that to be chastened by the Lord is a blessing (Ps. 94:12).  He knew that none of us would know when we erred if God did not let us feel His displeasure.

In the New Testament, the author of Hebrews also spoke of the blessing of chastisement:

Hebrews 12

7. If you endure chastisement, God deals with you as with sons, for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?

8. But if you are without chastisement, of which all have been partakers, then you are bastards, and not sons.

9. Furthermore, we certainly have had fathers of our flesh who chastened us, and we reverenced them.  Shall we not much rather submit ourselves to the Father of spirits, and live?

10. They, for just a short time, disciplined us as it pleased them; but He for our benefit, that we might partake of His holiness.

Paul wrote that “for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).  But for those who do not love God, nothing works for their good.  For them, being blessed by God means that He is not chastening them; He is not bringing them back to Him.  God will use blessings to make rebellious souls comfortable in their sin.  How dreadful a curse that is!  Many a backslider boasts in his blessings when, if he knew what was really happening to him, he would cry out for God’s chastisement for doing wrong.

Discipline

Many times when we suffer, it is not chastisement for sin.  In fact, it may be a reward for righteousness.  Discipline is training, the way army recruits are trained so that they may be an effective fighting force.  The discipline may be hard at times, but it is not administered in hatred, and the goal is a good one.  Jesus told a parable about this:

John 15

1. I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

2. He takes away every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, and He prunes every branch that does bear fruit so that it might bear more fruit.

Two categories of believers are referred to in this parable.  The first does not bear any fruit to God.  Their end is eternal torment in the Lake of Fire, as Jesus said: “Unless a man abides in me, he is thrown away like a branch, and it withers, and they gather them up and throw them into a fire, and it is burned” (Jn. 15:6).  The other category of believers does bear fruit, that is, they do what is right.  But notice what God does to them: “He prunes every branch that does bear fruit so that it might bear more fruit.”  In the past, I have said it this way: “We have but two choices.  We can be stubborn and be cut off (and thrown into the fire), or we can be obedient and be cut on.”  I would prefer to be cut on than to be cut off, wouldn’t you?

Every believer who obeys God will be pruned by God.  God has determined that every believer who obeys Him will suffer, but only to make them more like him.  The author of Hebrews gave God’s obedient children this wise exhortation:

Hebrews 12

2. [Let us fix] our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him, endured a cross, despised the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3. Consider him who endured such hostility of sinners against himself, lest you grow weary in your souls and lose heart.

4. For you have not yet resisted to the death, striving against sin,

5. and you have forgotten the exhortation which instructs you as sons: “My son, do not lightly esteem the Lord’s correction; neither be discouraged by His reproof,

6. for whom the Lord loves, He chastens, and He scourges every son whom He receives.”

Jesus never sinned, and yet, how much he suffered!  That is why Peter taught that when we do good, as Jesus did, and suffer for it, and if we bear that suffering with humility and faith, as Jesus also did, our heavenly Father will be pleased with us (1Pet. 2:20).  To live that way is to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, and to do that is our calling:

1Peter 2

21. You were called to this, for Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his footsteps,

22. who “committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth,”

23. who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return, when suffering, did not threaten, but committed himself to the One who judges justly.

Either Way, God Is Good

Whether God makes us more like Him with chastisement or with discipline, it is always only for our good, not His.  If we love Him and are the called according to His purpose, everything we go through makes us happier, brings us more peace, and fills us with more joy.  It is the absence of suffering, not the presence of it, that is frightening.

“Let Both Grow Together”

     Another parable he put before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away.  And when the crop sprouted and produced fruit, then the tares also appeared.  And the landowner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Master, didn’t you sow good seed in your field?  Where, then, did the tares come from?’  He said to them, ‘An enemy did this.’  Then the servants said to him, ‘So, do you want us to go out and pull them up?’  But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering up the tares, you uproot the wheat with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest-time, I will tell the reapers, “Gather up the tares first and bind them into bundles to burn them up; then, gather the wheat into my storehouse.”’”  – Matthew 13:24–30

Over the millennia, it has vexed many a righteous soul that the wicked are blessed.  Jeremiah was puzzled by it:

Jeremiah 12

1. You are righteous, O Lord, though I complain to you.  Nevertheless, let me speak with you about matters of justice.  Why does the way of wicked men prosper?  All those who deal treacherously are at ease.

2. You have planted them, and they have taken root; they grow and bear fruit.  You are near in their mouth, but far from their hearts.

3. But you, O Lord, you know me; you see me; and you have tried my heart toward you.  Drag them away like sheep to the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter!

It so frustrated David’s friend Asaph that he almost lost his soul because of it:

Psalm 73

2. My feet had almost slipped; my steps were almost gone.

3. For I was envious of those who are praised.  I saw the happiness of wicked men.

     . . . .

5. They are not in trouble as other men are; neither are they plagued along with other men.

     . . . .

7. Their eye stands out with fatness; they have more than heart can wish.

     . . . .

12. Behold, these are the wicked, always at ease; they increase in wealth.

13. Truly, I have kept my heart clean for nothing, and washed my hands in innocence,

14. for I am plagued all day long, and correction comes to me every morning.

It frustrated Jeremiah too much at one point.  He even dared to compare God to a liar:

Jeremiah 15

15. You know, O Lord!  Remember me, and visit me, and avenge me of my persecutors!  Do not defer your anger.  Receive me!  Acknowledge that for your sake, I have borne reproach!

16. Your words were found, and I consumed them.  Yea, your words were my joy and my heart’s delight.  Surely, I am called by your name, O Lord, God of Hosts!

17. I do not sit in the council of mockers and rejoice.  I sit alone because of your hand, for you have filled me with indignation.

18. Why is my pain unending and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?  You are like a liar to me, like waters that do not last.

Jeremiah had to repent for that, and he did.  But it was a hard lesson for him to learn, that whether the righteous like it or not, God is going to bless the wicked and the righteous together.  And when the Son of God came to earth, he commanded his followers to be like God in their attitude and conduct toward the wicked:

Matthew 5

44. I say to you, love your enemies; bless those who curse you; do good to those who hate you; and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you,

45. so that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven.  For He makes His sun to rise upon the evil and the good, and sends rain upon the just and the unjust.

That reality teaches us that we cannot know who God loves by who He blesses, for He blesses all alike.  Some, like the unwise pastor in ancient Laodicea, judge themselves to be good in God’s sight because God blesses them.  But Jesus had a stern message for him and for all who think the way he did:

Revelation 3

17. “You say, ‘I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched, and pathetic, and poor, and blind, and naked.”

There is only one condition by which we may judge who God loves.  Jesus told that unwise pastor: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten” (Rev. 3:19a).  Understanding this, Solomon gave his son this wise counsel:  

Proverbs 3

11. My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of His correction,

12. for whom the Lord loves, He corrects, even as a father the son in whom he delights.

Jeremiah and Asaph grew weary of God sternness toward them when they had done what was right and yet, they saw God blessing the wicked.

It is a hard reality to face, but God in His wisdom has decided to let the good and the evil grow together in this world, drinking in the same sunshine and rain until the harvest.  Until the harvest!  That is the thought which shook Asaph and woke him from his foolish stupor, and made him glad that he was living right, even if he suffered:

Psalm 73

16. When I tried to understand this, it was hard for me

17. until I entered into God’s sanctuary; then, I considered their end.

     . . . .

21. When my heart was bitter [against you, God], my soul was pierced,

22. and I was brutish and did not understand.  I was like an animal before you.

23. Yet, I was always with you.  You held onto my right hand.

24. With your counsel, you will guide me, and afterwards, you will receive me to glory.

     . . . . 

27. For, behold, those who are far from you will perish.  You will destroy all who go a-whoring from you.

28. But as for me, the nearness of God is good for me.  I have made the Lord Jehovah my refuge, that I might declare all your works.

And so, let us continue doing the will of God, whatever our circumstance, knowing that at the harvest, the righteous and the wicked will no longer enjoy the same blessings as we do now.  In the next world, God will not command that the righteous and the wicked must grow together, but He will have them in very different places indeed.