Converting of our Soul
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: ….. (Psa 19:7)
Converting is to denote a turning back or a restoration and it goes deeper than the outward but deep into the soul. The soul is the seat of our mind, will and heart or our emotions. Jesus warns us to fear God who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Matt 10:28). We know that the body we have now is corruptible thus we wait for the redemption of our body when Christ returns (Rom 8:23). In the meanwhile our soul need saving as well. This is the parts of our lives that makes us human and respond both to fellow man and to God.
Jesus said at the conclusion of Matt 5 on the exposition of the spirit of the Law that the ‘being’ is what we are to attain…. The Perfection or maturity that Jesus is teaching about does not concern with the degree of excellence but rather the excellence that make a clear distinction of being a disciple in the Kingdom of God.
Why is it important to have our souls converted?
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. (1Th 5:23)
Firstly, our salvation concerns the whole – spirit, soul and body. Our soul…mind, will and emotions need to be preserved blameless, purged of all that is of the old man and putting on of the new man (Eph 4:24).
Mind: And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Rom 12:2)
Will: I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. (John 5:30)
The converted mind and will need no longer question God and ask Him what His will is or are we still struggling and asking questions and not resting in His will? We learn to live for the Greater and not ourselves. We live to please and glorify God and not seek man’s approval. There is a purpose in our lives as we live in His Will. No longer purpose driven but lead by the Good Shepherd (Psa 23:2).
Emotions: A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. (Luke 6:45)
Jeremiah warns us how deceitful and wicket our heart is (Jer 17:9), thus we need a ‘new’ one (Eze 36:26). That is why we are commanded to love Him whole heartedly as opposed to Saul who ‘turned his heart from the LORD God of Israel’ (1 Kings 11:9) because he loved his wives more than God. A good heart draws out good things that blesses men and brings glory to God.
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. (Prov 16:32)
A practical example of an unconverted soul is in the area of controlling one’s anger. Paul reminds unbridled anger can lead to sin (Eph 4:26) which certainly doesn’t bless men nor glorify God.
How do our souls receive it’s converting?
…… and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. (Jas 1:21)
How much have we allowed God’s Word to be inserted into our lives that cuts deeply (Heb 4:12)? The word ‘sword’ refers to the ‘machaira’ or scalpel like knife that is used to separate meat from the bones and for warfare. Have we allowed God’s word to do the surgical work on our souls to sanctify us such that self is cut off that the new man can be put on? Have we experienced being in face to face combat with the Word, self reacting and needing to be subjected to It's soul converting authority? If we view the Law as perfect in this perspective, we will appreciate the life-giving converting power that makes us free from the law of sin and death (Rom 8:2). 'Converting' means that this is a continual process that keeps sanctifying us till we either meet Him in death or when He returns (soon).
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Thoughts by Watchman Nee
From The Divine Self-Committal in Sit, Walk, Stand
God never ask us to do anything we can do. He asks us to live a life which we can never live and to do a work which we can never do. Yet, by His grace, we are living it and doing it. The life we live is the life of Christ lived in the power of God, and the work we do is the work of Christ carried on through us by His Spirit whom we obey. Self is the only obstruction to that life and to that work. May we pray from our hearts: 'O Lord, deal with me!'
From The Divine Self-Committal in Sit, Walk, Stand
God never ask us to do anything we can do. He asks us to live a life which we can never live and to do a work which we can never do. Yet, by His grace, we are living it and doing it. The life we live is the life of Christ lived in the power of God, and the work we do is the work of Christ carried on through us by His Spirit whom we obey. Self is the only obstruction to that life and to that work. May we pray from our hearts: 'O Lord, deal with me!'
Judge Not!
Wrong judgement vs. right judgement
Ps. Lee Shaw Ming
Yes, but we must judge righteously, ie, according to God’s will.
Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” (Jn 7:24, cf. Jn 5:30; 8:16)
What to judge
- We are to judge sins.
3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. (1 Cor 5:3)… 12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.” (1Cor 5:12-13)
- We are to judge disputes among believers and not go to civil court.
1Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? 2Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? (1Cor 6:1-3)
- We are to judge prophecies or “word from the Lord”
Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. (1Cor 14:29)
Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. (1Cor 14:29)
- We are to judge teachers/prophets and the source of their inspiration.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1Jn 4:1; Mt 7:15-20; Deut 13:1-5; 18:20-22)
How to judge
- We are to judge as we would want God to judge us.
12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. (Js 2:12-13)
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1Jn 4:1; Mt 7:15-20; Deut 13:1-5; 18:20-22)
How to judge
- We are to judge as we would want God to judge us.
12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. (Js 2:12-13)
- We are to judge as we would want others to judge us.
Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Mt7:12)
Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Mt7:12)
- We are to judge as we would judge ourselves.
Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. (Gal 6:1)
And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Mt 22:39)
- We are to judge as a brother/sister
15 Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. (2Thess 3:14-15)
- We are to judge with love
And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins. (1Pet 4:8)
19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. (Js 5:19-20)
Judge Not
Jesus’ warning about 'judge not' is given in both in Matt 7 and Luke 6:
“Judge (krino) not, that you be not judged (krino). 2 For with what judgment you judge (krino), you will be judged (krino); and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. 6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. (Mt 7:1-6)
37 “Judge (krino) not, and you shall not be judged (krino). Condemn (katadikazo) not, and you shall not be condemned (katadikazo). Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” (Lk 6:37-38) (note: unfortunately some have taken the second part of the verse out of context, relating it to God returning blessing for giving).
Word Study
I. Judge (krino)
Depending on its context, this word can mean one or all of the following:
1) to separate, to pick out, select, choose
2) to be of opinion, deem, think,
3) to judge by pronouncing an opinion concerning right and wrong
4) to judge by pronouncing judgment of punishment for wrong (ie, as like a Judge)
II. Condemn (katadikazo)
1) To give judgment against or to pronounce as guilty (ie, as like a Judge)
The word ‘judge’ (krino) in context is referring to the action of judging the faults of others as like a judge who condemns an offender in pronouncing guilt and punishment.
1. We must judge not the faults of others as a Judge, and pronounce condemnation. In so doing, we have taken the place of God the Judge (Mt 7:1).
11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? (Js 4:11-12)
2. We must judge not others hypocritically for the same faults we still have (Mt 7:3-4).
Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things… 3 And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? (Rom 2:1-4)
3. We must judge not blindly, and thus, falsely, due to ‘planks’ in our own eyes (Mt 7:5)
‘Judge Not’- Matthew Henry
- We must judge ourselves and our own acts, but we must not judge our brother, not magisterially assume such an authority over others, as we allow not them over us, ie, be subject to one another (Eph 5:21).
- We must not sit in the judgment-seat, to make our word a law to every body. ( ie, insisting on our rights)
- We must not judge our brother, that is, we must not speak evil of him, so it is explained, Jam. 4:11.
- We must not despise him, nor set him at nought (contemptible), Rom. 14:10.
- We must not judge rashly, nor pass such an unjustified judgment upon our brother, but is only the product of our own jealousy and ill nature.
- We must not make the worst of people, nor infer such invidious (offensive) things from their words/actions…
- We must not judge uncharitably, unmercifully, nor with a spirit of revenge, and a desire to do mischief.
- We must not judge of a man’s state by a single act, nor of what he is in himself by what he is to us, because in our own cause we are apt to be partial.
- We must not judge the hearts of others, nor their intentions, for it is God’s prerogative to try the heart, and we must not step into his throne;
- Nor must we judge of their eternal state, nor call them hypocrites, reprobates, and castaways; that is stretching beyond our line; what have we to do, thus to judge another man’s servant?
- Counsel him, and help him, but do not judge him.
The consequence of judging wrongly
For with what judgment you judge (krino), you will be judged (krino); and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you (Mt 7:2)
18 And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, 19 then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother… 21 Your eye shall not pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. (Deut 19:15-21)
We receive the same degree of condemnation we give others through our wrong judging.
(Note: 'Jesus said, "Judge not, that you be not judged" ( Matthew 7:1 ). He went on to say, in effect, "If you do judge, you will be judged in exactly the same way." Who of us would dare to stand before God and say, "My God, judge me as I have judged others"? We have judged others as sinners— if God should judge us in the same way, we would be condemned to hell. Yet God judges us on the basis of the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ.' - Oswald Chambers)
Judging Righteously
First Step: The Lord’s Supper
- To judge righteously to remove the specks in others, we must begin at the Lord’s Supper.
27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine (judge) himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment (damnation) to himself, not discerning (diakrino) the Lord’s body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge (diakrino) ourselves, we would not be judged (krino). 32 But when we are judged (krino), we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned (katakrino) with the world. (1 Cor 11:27-32)
Judging Righteously
First Step: The Lord’s Supper
- To judge righteously to remove the specks in others, we must begin at the Lord’s Supper.
27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine (judge) himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment (damnation) to himself, not discerning (diakrino) the Lord’s body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge (diakrino) ourselves, we would not be judged (krino). 32 But when we are judged (krino), we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned (katakrino) with the world. (1 Cor 11:27-32)
-To participate in the Lord’s Supper is to come before God our righteous Judge for judgment:
- If we humble ourselves and repent of our sins, including that of a judgmental spirit, God will judge us worthy of receiving His grace for forgiveness, healing and deliverance.
- If we are unrepentant and presumptuous, we receive condemnation…
1. Because we participated unworthily if we have not judged ourselves to discover and deal with our own faults/blind spots (v.27-28).
2. Thus, we have despised the physical body and blood of Christ and defile the spiritual body, the church, of which we are a part of (v. 29, cf Heb 10:26-30).
3. Therefore, we are judged with weakness, sickness and premature death (v. 30).
4. But then, even this judgment of weakness, sickness & premature death God used to chasten us to repentance that we are not ultimately condemned with the world (v.32)
Judge ourselves first: Removing planks from our eyes
1. First repent of and renounce the sins that we are aware or made aware of in our lives.
4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Mt 7:4-5)
2. Specks and planks are “blind-spots” that may need the help of others to reveal and remove: humbly ask spiritual leaders, parents and fellow believers to point out your blind spots.
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. (Js 5:14-16)
1. Because we participated unworthily if we have not judged ourselves to discover and deal with our own faults/blind spots (v.27-28).
2. Thus, we have despised the physical body and blood of Christ and defile the spiritual body, the church, of which we are a part of (v. 29, cf Heb 10:26-30).
3. Therefore, we are judged with weakness, sickness and premature death (v. 30).
4. But then, even this judgment of weakness, sickness & premature death God used to chasten us to repentance that we are not ultimately condemned with the world (v.32)
Judge ourselves first: Removing planks from our eyes
1. First repent of and renounce the sins that we are aware or made aware of in our lives.
4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Mt 7:4-5)
2. Specks and planks are “blind-spots” that may need the help of others to reveal and remove: humbly ask spiritual leaders, parents and fellow believers to point out your blind spots.
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. (Js 5:14-16)
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Born again
Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (John 3:5)
Baptism unto repentance
There are 2 baptisms that we are to obey one of baptism of water which is unto repentance and the other of the Spirit which is unto transformation or renewal. Baptism of water is by man (usually the pastor or spiritual oversight), but the baptism of the Holy Spirit is by the Lord Himself. Water baptism is baptism unto repentance which is to ‘change or reverse’ our decision, from one of sin, world and the devil to one of following Christ in righteousness (right conduct towards God and man)
Baptism unto renewal/transformation
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Mat 3:11)
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is one that renews us. The Lord will baptize us and we will begin on the journey of being cleansed internally. Cleansed internally permanently change our decision as well as our status to be children of God. Fire makes permanent changes, even as it purifies (Prov 17:3)
that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word (Eph 5:26)
We begin the journey of our cleansing internally by the Word of God, if we allow the power of the Word to renew us. Repentance means we decide to stop sinning and follow Jesus, to be renewed means allowing the Lord, through His Word to renew us to seal our decision in following Christ. By our decision alone we cannot be saved, we need to be renewed inside otherwise our salvation is not complete and cannot sustain until Jesus takes us home or when He returns.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Rom 12:2)
Our decision to follow Jesus means that we cannot conform to the old life of sin and the world anymore but conform to Christ, but we need to be transformed to know God’s good, acceptable and perfect will. We leave ‘self’ will and go into God’s will, we no longer live for ourselves but live for Christ (Gal 2:20). That is the reason why our born again doesn’t start at the birth of Jesus but rather at the cross. Died to old that the new may live.
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, (Tit 3:5)
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (Eph 2:8)
We must be continually thankful for our salvation and know that it is God’s work of salvation; otherwise we might end up in pride and self-righteousness
New life after baptism
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2Co 5:17)
New creation means our old life is passed away (died) and our life is new (born again)
Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.. (Rom 6:3-4)
Our water baptism is likening to death unto resurrection. We died to our self and sin but now live to God and this life glorifies God. The other way of looking at this is that without the death (of the old life), there is no resurrection.
Important proofs of a new life
1. Humility, meekness, patience and in love
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, (Eph 4:1-2)
2. Being truthful in speech
but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— (Eph 4:15)
3. Not living in vanity or futility, meaning to be morally pure not ‘heathenistic’ in our life, that is to live as though there isn’t a moral God watching (Eph 5:3-5).
This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, (Eph 4:17)
4. Controlled emotions
“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. (Eph 4:26-27)
5. Don’t steal and work honestly (Eph 6:5-7)
Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. (Eph 4:28)
6. Treat each other with love (also Eph 5:2, 21)
Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.. (Eph 4:31-32)
7. Don’t thrive in excesses but ready to bless others
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, (Eph 5:18-19)
8. Obedience to parents and honor them
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: (Eph 6:1-2)
9. Biblical husband and wife relationship
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord…. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, (Eph 5:22, 25)
10. Father and children relationship. Our training and admonishment has to be Biblically based not humanistic. We plumb line has to from the Bible, therefore to fathers need to be grounded in the Word in order to train and admonish appropriately.
And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. (Eph 6:4)
Jesus told Nicodemus that the way into Kingdom of God is by the baptism of water and the Spirit. It is not ‘pick-and-choose’ or optional. Baptism unto repentance is the start of our journey of the baptism of Fire that metamorphosis our life permanently into a child of God. He doesn’t just merely want to ‘save’ us but also want to harvest fruit of righteousness (Phil 1:11).
Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (John 3:5)
Baptism unto repentance
There are 2 baptisms that we are to obey one of baptism of water which is unto repentance and the other of the Spirit which is unto transformation or renewal. Baptism of water is by man (usually the pastor or spiritual oversight), but the baptism of the Holy Spirit is by the Lord Himself. Water baptism is baptism unto repentance which is to ‘change or reverse’ our decision, from one of sin, world and the devil to one of following Christ in righteousness (right conduct towards God and man)
Baptism unto renewal/transformation
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Mat 3:11)
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is one that renews us. The Lord will baptize us and we will begin on the journey of being cleansed internally. Cleansed internally permanently change our decision as well as our status to be children of God. Fire makes permanent changes, even as it purifies (Prov 17:3)
that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word (Eph 5:26)
We begin the journey of our cleansing internally by the Word of God, if we allow the power of the Word to renew us. Repentance means we decide to stop sinning and follow Jesus, to be renewed means allowing the Lord, through His Word to renew us to seal our decision in following Christ. By our decision alone we cannot be saved, we need to be renewed inside otherwise our salvation is not complete and cannot sustain until Jesus takes us home or when He returns.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Rom 12:2)
Our decision to follow Jesus means that we cannot conform to the old life of sin and the world anymore but conform to Christ, but we need to be transformed to know God’s good, acceptable and perfect will. We leave ‘self’ will and go into God’s will, we no longer live for ourselves but live for Christ (Gal 2:20). That is the reason why our born again doesn’t start at the birth of Jesus but rather at the cross. Died to old that the new may live.
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, (Tit 3:5)
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (Eph 2:8)
We must be continually thankful for our salvation and know that it is God’s work of salvation; otherwise we might end up in pride and self-righteousness
New life after baptism
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2Co 5:17)
New creation means our old life is passed away (died) and our life is new (born again)
Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.. (Rom 6:3-4)
Our water baptism is likening to death unto resurrection. We died to our self and sin but now live to God and this life glorifies God. The other way of looking at this is that without the death (of the old life), there is no resurrection.
Important proofs of a new life
1. Humility, meekness, patience and in love
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, (Eph 4:1-2)
2. Being truthful in speech
but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— (Eph 4:15)
3. Not living in vanity or futility, meaning to be morally pure not ‘heathenistic’ in our life, that is to live as though there isn’t a moral God watching (Eph 5:3-5).
This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, (Eph 4:17)
4. Controlled emotions
“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. (Eph 4:26-27)
5. Don’t steal and work honestly (Eph 6:5-7)
Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. (Eph 4:28)
6. Treat each other with love (also Eph 5:2, 21)
Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.. (Eph 4:31-32)
7. Don’t thrive in excesses but ready to bless others
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, (Eph 5:18-19)
8. Obedience to parents and honor them
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: (Eph 6:1-2)
9. Biblical husband and wife relationship
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord…. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, (Eph 5:22, 25)
10. Father and children relationship. Our training and admonishment has to be Biblically based not humanistic. We plumb line has to from the Bible, therefore to fathers need to be grounded in the Word in order to train and admonish appropriately.
And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. (Eph 6:4)
Jesus told Nicodemus that the way into Kingdom of God is by the baptism of water and the Spirit. It is not ‘pick-and-choose’ or optional. Baptism unto repentance is the start of our journey of the baptism of Fire that metamorphosis our life permanently into a child of God. He doesn’t just merely want to ‘save’ us but also want to harvest fruit of righteousness (Phil 1:11).
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
‘Your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly’
Matt 6:1-4, 5-8 and 16-18
A. Reward
Three important disciplines we are to do in secret
- Jesus warns the people who live in the Kingdom of God to jealously guard secrecy in doing charitable deeds towards the poor, in prayer and in fasting toward God
- ‘When’ and not ‘if’ we follow the Jesus commandments
- All these 3 disciplines have expected rewards. Interestingly it is the Father who rewards, not Christ Himself.
What or Who is our reward
Gen 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
- This verse came after the rescue of Lot (Gen 14:23), not seeking man’s reward and God appeared to him (‘after these things’). Abram’s righteousness (conduct and/or state of being right before God) was clearly displayed by his response to the king of Sodom in that he (Gen 14:22) has ‘lifted his hand’ to the most High God, Who possesses all things. Also from Whom he receives all things
- Abram (as he was called at that moment in time) received God’s Word (do we get Rhema?). Have we been confronted by the Word Himself?
1. Called by name, denoting relationship and communion with the Almighty. We may claim to know God, but truly, does He know us?
2. ‘Fear not’. This is the blessing of living in peace with the Prince of Peace reigning over us.
3. With peace comes security – how true is this Psalm to us personally?
Psalm 121 (A Song of Ascents) I will lift up my eyes to the hills— From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.
4. God Himself is our reward, not ‘what’ is our reward. This will reveal the depth or shallowness of our faith
Psa 73:25-26 Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
It’s a question of our love
1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him
- If God is our exceeding great reward, it is because we obey the first and greatest commandment to love Him
- There are times when we look for another ‘reward’ in the form of justice
1 John 4:20-21 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
- If we look for justice as our reward we forsake both commandments to love God and to love others as we love ourselves, for Jesus specifically asked us to even live the extraordinary life to love our enemies, bless those who curse us, do good to those who hate us and pray for those who spitefully use and persecute us (Matt 5:44)
- Seeking for justice as our reward voids us of God’s love, thus missing out the reward that Father wants to give us
B. Secret
- Why ‘secret’? The answer is the consciousness in giving, praying and fasting and not is literally hiding our deeds from human eyes
- Does this contradict with Matt 5:16 'Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven?
- Jesus certainly didn’t give conflicting commands. We are indeed to be salt of the earth and light of the world; He is reminding us it is in the ‘being’ that important. Being salt and light is more of a natural character as much as dogs bark and cats meow. There is neither show nor self consciousness involved.
- When there is self consciousness, pride can creep in unknowingly. Instead of the Father getting the glory, we steal from Him
- How can we check this? Is there is continually hungering and thirsting for righteousness? Are we meek? Is there purity of motives?
- Jesus is warning against hypocrisy; pretense of having some desirable or publicly approved attitude
- ‘Secret’ is in the sense of losing our self consciousness in doing those 3 important disciplines but it becomes a natural unforced Kingdom life
Zec 7:5 “Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me—for Me?
- For example in fasting, is there only a consciousness towards our Father or for self benefit
C. Charitable deeds
Prov 19:17 He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, And He will pay back what he has given.
Psa 112:9 He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted with honor.
- It is the unforced action of the righteous to give to the poor and when we give to the poor we lend to the Lord. Guess Who will be paying back our righteous deeds?
- We are reminded again on the issue of the reward
Acts 10:4 And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.
- God remembers our consideration for the poor and it becomes a memorial (preserving memory) before Him as it did with Cornelius
Jam 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
- James shows us the test of purity of our religion or he means in our practice of religion showing inward Godliness. This determines how much we are conformed to the image of Christ
Eph 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
- We are created for a purpose, so that we are the ones that fulfill God’s will on earth as it is in Heaven. Count it a privilege to participate in God’s divine plan
- The warning is vainglory or glory obtained from man. Blowing a trumpet is a selfish act that draws man’s praises and celebration which doesn’t carry an eternal value
- Lauding of one’s self is a sure sign that we have not obeyed Christ command to follow Him and carry our cross daily…. Praises from man feed the self and denying the glory that is due to God
1 Sam 2:7 The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up.
- Hannah’s prayer reminds us that its God’s sovereignty to make one rich, those who have extra are accountable to God. We are reminded in Luke 12:15 about covetousness (for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.)
- What does it mean to be ‘rich’? We often correlate riches to abundance in wealth but God’s perspective of rich is having enough to share with others. It is the level contentment (1 Tim 6:8) and not hoarding.
D. Praying
1 Thess 5:17 pray without ceasing
- ‘Our thinking about prayer, whether right or wrong, is based on our own mental conception of it. The correct concept is to think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts.’ – Oswald Chambers
- Praying as Paul puts it is our lifeline, done again, as unforced. It would be as natural to pray as a baby crying out to his or her parents
- ‘in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets’, this is our privilege; our prayers are not confined to places
The ‘place’ of prayer
Eph 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Luke 22:41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed,
Prayer is humility, not one that stands on one’s confidence. It is in meekness we approach His Holiness
- Others may love praying for prayer itself, we pray because we love God. Prayer is not meant to be a refined ‘art form’ but rather building a deeper relationship with our Father (‘In this manner therefore pray…‘Our Father…’)
Matt 7:8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
- The place of prayer is one that is ready to hear clearly for answered prayer; we must believe that God has will answer as we ask. The place of prayer has to be ‘secret’ because there will be times when the answer from God requires deep searching and making the right response. Often God wants to deal with us privately. Dare we pray such a prayer.....
Psa 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
Babbling
Job 9:14 “How then can I answer Him, And choose my words to reason with Him?
- He doesn’t mean repetitions but itself but making vain ones that would amount to nothing but meaningless words. Our prayer would be meaningful if we pray what is God’s heart so that the will of God will be manifested ‘on earth as it is in heaven’. Keep in mind that ‘For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.’ Thus our prayers should confirm what He knows best for us, He wants us to grow into this maturity in prayer.
- What better prayers to offer than to pray from His Word back to Him
Rom 8:27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
- Maturity in prayer is finally we have learned ‘We are not to prescribe, but subscribe to God’ – Matthew Henry.
Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
- Another way our prayer becomes vain is when we form a ‘god’ of our own imaginations and offer prayers to that god. This is where we even form the answer that suits us rather than we coming into God’s will
E. Fasting
Psa 35:13 But as for me, when they were sick, My clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; And my prayer would return to my own heart.
- Fasting is an act of humbling our souls before God. Knowing who God is and where we are in Him.
- When we are humble in fasting our prayer will go back to the heart, meaning it will come back to the heart matters of prayer and God will teach us this, lest we return to vain prayers.
1 Cor 7:5 Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
- Fasting is a denial of self, which means that the flesh is made to subject to the spirit. It is certainly more than a bodily exercise and weight control, but rather brining our flesh under the spirit’s control.
Prov 16:32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
- A good example is in dealing with anger. Our spirit is weak and can’t control this emotion that may result in destructive end. Fasting provides the means to put this emotion under the control of a stronger spirit.
- Fasting puts us in the place where the areas of fleshly struggles can be severely dealt with and victory will soon come.
Matt 6:1-4, 5-8 and 16-18
A. Reward
Three important disciplines we are to do in secret
- Jesus warns the people who live in the Kingdom of God to jealously guard secrecy in doing charitable deeds towards the poor, in prayer and in fasting toward God
- ‘When’ and not ‘if’ we follow the Jesus commandments
- All these 3 disciplines have expected rewards. Interestingly it is the Father who rewards, not Christ Himself.
What or Who is our reward
Gen 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
- This verse came after the rescue of Lot (Gen 14:23), not seeking man’s reward and God appeared to him (‘after these things’). Abram’s righteousness (conduct and/or state of being right before God) was clearly displayed by his response to the king of Sodom in that he (Gen 14:22) has ‘lifted his hand’ to the most High God, Who possesses all things. Also from Whom he receives all things
- Abram (as he was called at that moment in time) received God’s Word (do we get Rhema?). Have we been confronted by the Word Himself?
1. Called by name, denoting relationship and communion with the Almighty. We may claim to know God, but truly, does He know us?
2. ‘Fear not’. This is the blessing of living in peace with the Prince of Peace reigning over us.
3. With peace comes security – how true is this Psalm to us personally?
Psalm 121 (A Song of Ascents) I will lift up my eyes to the hills— From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.
4. God Himself is our reward, not ‘what’ is our reward. This will reveal the depth or shallowness of our faith
Psa 73:25-26 Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
It’s a question of our love
1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him
- If God is our exceeding great reward, it is because we obey the first and greatest commandment to love Him
- There are times when we look for another ‘reward’ in the form of justice
1 John 4:20-21 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
- If we look for justice as our reward we forsake both commandments to love God and to love others as we love ourselves, for Jesus specifically asked us to even live the extraordinary life to love our enemies, bless those who curse us, do good to those who hate us and pray for those who spitefully use and persecute us (Matt 5:44)
- Seeking for justice as our reward voids us of God’s love, thus missing out the reward that Father wants to give us
B. Secret
- Why ‘secret’? The answer is the consciousness in giving, praying and fasting and not is literally hiding our deeds from human eyes
- Does this contradict with Matt 5:16 'Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven?
- Jesus certainly didn’t give conflicting commands. We are indeed to be salt of the earth and light of the world; He is reminding us it is in the ‘being’ that important. Being salt and light is more of a natural character as much as dogs bark and cats meow. There is neither show nor self consciousness involved.
- When there is self consciousness, pride can creep in unknowingly. Instead of the Father getting the glory, we steal from Him
- How can we check this? Is there is continually hungering and thirsting for righteousness? Are we meek? Is there purity of motives?
- Jesus is warning against hypocrisy; pretense of having some desirable or publicly approved attitude
- ‘Secret’ is in the sense of losing our self consciousness in doing those 3 important disciplines but it becomes a natural unforced Kingdom life
Zec 7:5 “Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me—for Me?
- For example in fasting, is there only a consciousness towards our Father or for self benefit
C. Charitable deeds
Prov 19:17 He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, And He will pay back what he has given.
Psa 112:9 He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted with honor.
- It is the unforced action of the righteous to give to the poor and when we give to the poor we lend to the Lord. Guess Who will be paying back our righteous deeds?
- We are reminded again on the issue of the reward
Acts 10:4 And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.
- God remembers our consideration for the poor and it becomes a memorial (preserving memory) before Him as it did with Cornelius
Jam 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
- James shows us the test of purity of our religion or he means in our practice of religion showing inward Godliness. This determines how much we are conformed to the image of Christ
Eph 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
- We are created for a purpose, so that we are the ones that fulfill God’s will on earth as it is in Heaven. Count it a privilege to participate in God’s divine plan
- The warning is vainglory or glory obtained from man. Blowing a trumpet is a selfish act that draws man’s praises and celebration which doesn’t carry an eternal value
- Lauding of one’s self is a sure sign that we have not obeyed Christ command to follow Him and carry our cross daily…. Praises from man feed the self and denying the glory that is due to God
1 Sam 2:7 The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up.
- Hannah’s prayer reminds us that its God’s sovereignty to make one rich, those who have extra are accountable to God. We are reminded in Luke 12:15 about covetousness (for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.)
- What does it mean to be ‘rich’? We often correlate riches to abundance in wealth but God’s perspective of rich is having enough to share with others. It is the level contentment (1 Tim 6:8) and not hoarding.
D. Praying
1 Thess 5:17 pray without ceasing
- ‘Our thinking about prayer, whether right or wrong, is based on our own mental conception of it. The correct concept is to think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts.’ – Oswald Chambers
- Praying as Paul puts it is our lifeline, done again, as unforced. It would be as natural to pray as a baby crying out to his or her parents
- ‘in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets’, this is our privilege; our prayers are not confined to places
The ‘place’ of prayer
Eph 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Luke 22:41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed,
Prayer is humility, not one that stands on one’s confidence. It is in meekness we approach His Holiness
- Others may love praying for prayer itself, we pray because we love God. Prayer is not meant to be a refined ‘art form’ but rather building a deeper relationship with our Father (‘In this manner therefore pray…‘Our Father…’)
Matt 7:8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
- The place of prayer is one that is ready to hear clearly for answered prayer; we must believe that God has will answer as we ask. The place of prayer has to be ‘secret’ because there will be times when the answer from God requires deep searching and making the right response. Often God wants to deal with us privately. Dare we pray such a prayer.....
Psa 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
Babbling
Job 9:14 “How then can I answer Him, And choose my words to reason with Him?
- He doesn’t mean repetitions but itself but making vain ones that would amount to nothing but meaningless words. Our prayer would be meaningful if we pray what is God’s heart so that the will of God will be manifested ‘on earth as it is in heaven’. Keep in mind that ‘For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.’ Thus our prayers should confirm what He knows best for us, He wants us to grow into this maturity in prayer.
- What better prayers to offer than to pray from His Word back to Him
Rom 8:27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
- Maturity in prayer is finally we have learned ‘We are not to prescribe, but subscribe to God’ – Matthew Henry.
Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
- Another way our prayer becomes vain is when we form a ‘god’ of our own imaginations and offer prayers to that god. This is where we even form the answer that suits us rather than we coming into God’s will
E. Fasting
Psa 35:13 But as for me, when they were sick, My clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; And my prayer would return to my own heart.
- Fasting is an act of humbling our souls before God. Knowing who God is and where we are in Him.
- When we are humble in fasting our prayer will go back to the heart, meaning it will come back to the heart matters of prayer and God will teach us this, lest we return to vain prayers.
1 Cor 7:5 Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
- Fasting is a denial of self, which means that the flesh is made to subject to the spirit. It is certainly more than a bodily exercise and weight control, but rather brining our flesh under the spirit’s control.
Prov 16:32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
- A good example is in dealing with anger. Our spirit is weak and can’t control this emotion that may result in destructive end. Fasting provides the means to put this emotion under the control of a stronger spirit.
- Fasting puts us in the place where the areas of fleshly struggles can be severely dealt with and victory will soon come.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)