Fixation

As in…fixed.  Figured out how for you, the reader, to post comments on here.  Took me a bit….but I fixed it.

 

Comment away as the Spirit leads.

 

-Andrew

Miserere Mei, Deus

“It’s true.  We’re beggars.”

-Martin Luther, on his deathbed

 

One of the things I must remind myself constantly when pursuing these academic and scholarly driven studies of divinity and historical Christianity, I must never forget when I come across truth, that it is truth.  It is real, it effects me to my innermost being, and I must apply it.

 

It’s too easy to sit back and read Calvin’s Institutes and say, “Yep.”  It’s too easy to read the biography of Martin Luther and say, “Well I’m glad he made the right choice.”  Or perhaps even Scripture itself far too easy to understand and comprehend, but when applied I hardly know anything.

 

Even the most simplest of doctrines can break my heart and destroy any composure I have when I put myself in a godly perspective of things.  When the smallest of words and short phrases in the Bible seem to have little passion behind at first read, upon a second I realize a greater context and I am speechless at it’s truth.

 

I once gave an analogy that doctrine and theology is like an artificial heart – you put pieces together, they do different things and effect the artificial heart in different ways, but if you’ve gathered all the right pieces it will work.  But an artificial heart is only good if you place it in your chest to make you live!  Even a perfect and unblemished theology is worthless if it is not applied.  To me sanctification isn’t learning from my mistakes and trying to live a more godly life (which incidentally, is more like transcendentalism), sanctification is the living out of the realization of the greater context of what God is doing in me.

 

Paul Washer gives an excellent example of how un-effected we are by Scripture sometimes.  He was talking about the crucifixion of Jesus and said if you had been there, you would have gone mad.  He said that many people imagine this scene of the crucifixion of a man being pinned to a cross and him bleeding, looking sorrowful then dying.  This is not so.  Crucifixion is the most painful way to die, period.  It is long, it is painful, it is meant for the one purpose of dragging out every last inch of pain and suffering in a person before they die.  The word itself, excruciating, comes from the latin word excruciatos, meaning from the cross.  Our Lord did not die quietly looking mournful.  It can take days of the worst torture men can create before a person mercifully dies, all in which loved ones watch and can do precious little.  You can’t imagine adequately what you would have done if you had been there, it goes beyond comprehension.

 

Kinda blows apart your little calvary scene with Buddy Jesus looking kinda sad that He had to die, huh?  That’s coming to a greater and a truthful realization of what is.

 

“Have mercy upon me, O God.” from the Psalms.  What do you think of when you read this?  David trying to ask forgiveness for some sin he ‘fell’ into?  Some emphatic writings of a poet?  Or maybe do you see your own sin, which you willfully committed, separating you from a right and holy God who is your only means of salvation?  You see David tries to express mans total depravity here but can only so far with human language.  Simply put, work on behalf of a hopeless sinner, for you are the infinitely holy God and I a worthless wretch.

 

But we are not the Disciples who had to mourn for 3 days before their hope was found anew, for our Lord is risen and He sits at the right hand of the Father, from where He shall judge the living and the dead.  Yes our faults and our transgressions are always before us, but our hope in the glory of God revealed by salvation is always closer and dearer to us than anything else.

 

But how do we do this?  Where from Scripture can I show where to do this?

 

Psalm 51

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your lovingkindness: according to your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

 

The sacrifices to God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart – These, O God, you will not despise.”

 

Once we realize what is true about world and about ourselves, realize we have no where else to go but before the throne of mercy, that we are utterly incapable of anything infinitely worthy, can we go before a righteous God who will accept us.

 

Your unknown God

“My King…is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  I wonder, do you know Him?”

-S.M. Lockridge

 

“We’re going to read from the 22nd verse of Acts 17…

Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus* and said, ‘Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious.  For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:
TO AN UNKNOWN GOD

 

Now what you worship as something unknown, I’m going to proclaim to you.

 

The God who made the world and everything in it, is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.  He’s not served by human hands as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives men all life and breath, and everything else.  From one man He made every nation of man, that they should inhabit the whole earth.  He determined the time set for them and the exact places where they should live.

 

God did this so they could seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him, and find Him, though He’s not far from each one of us.  For in Him we live and move and have our being, for even some of your poets of said, ‘We are His offspring.’

 

Therefore, since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image made by man’s design and skill, in the past God overlooked such ignorance.  But now He commands all people everywhere to repent.  For He has set a day where He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed.  He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead.

 

When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered and other said, ‘we want to hear you again on this subject.’  At that, Paul left the council.”

 

At the turn of the century, the famous Methodist preacher, Sancster, once said, ‘Preaching is in the shadows, the world does not believe in it.’  We would have to say, ‘Preaching is in the shadows, the church does not believe in it.’

 

The great need of the hour is for those who have God’s hand lean upon them to respond to the oppurtunities of the moment in a way that gives their best to the task.  So that what you have is a divine encounter, an invasion of the supernatural, a waft of the supernatural taking place whereby in this monologue, there is actually a divine dialogue.  It is not the dialogue of a man with men and women, but it is the dialogue of the living God with the souls of men and women.  Who, quickly forgetting the one responsible for the monologue, find themselves saying ‘These are strange ideas!  These ideas seem to be impinging upon me in a way I cannot fully explain.”

 

You’ve been very investigative, Paul says, I applaud you for that.  You’re asking good questions and thinking down the right lines.  But what his listeners have been unable to to discover by investigation, he says this information is now disclosed by revelation.”

 

-Alistair Begg

 

Paul accomplishes several things here.  One, actually, being the point behind my last post.  Let me set up the stage for you again.

 

Paul is meeting with the people of Mars Hill*, who are willing and interested to hear the gospel.  They know there is a possibility of something to be gained by listening to Paul.  Paul notices an altar that is to be used for an unknown god.  Essentially, if there’s something you don’t know intellectually or emotionally but neither can you deny it’s existence, you would offer up to that god using this altar.

 

He then goes to explain to them who God is in a way they can understand.  He uses simple terms and even their poetry to have them comprehend what he’s talking about.  They understand and accepted everything he was saying, even the part about God commanding every person and nation to repent; because His gospel is open to everyone.  But once Paul mentioned the resurrection of the dead, he lost their interest.  Why?

 

They were not seeking God.  They were seeking an emotional answer (the highest personality in literature) or an intellectual answer (the largest problem in higher criticism).  If Paul had expounded anymore on the poetry of being the children of God, he would have had a captive audience.  If he had talked more on the existence and physicality of God he would have had a captive audience.  But he chose to talk about the supernatural, the raising of the dead, a miracle that cannot be explained but by faith.  The emotional people sneered at him at the lack of self-centered existentialism in the resurrection of the dead, and the intellectual people do what intellectual people do best, “That’s an intriguing concept, let’s talk about this later and maybe consider it some more.  Maybe.”

 

God forbid we should have faith and the passion that drives us to it so that we may seek Him as He really is.  We determined that almighty God come down and meet us on our terms so that we may put Him in a box we can put our arms around.  I’m not sorry…but God is both omnipotent and sovereign.

 

If you haven’t found God yet, it’s because you’re not seeking Him as He is.  But you don’t know how?  You don’t know God?  Is He still an ‘unknown god’ to you?

 

What can you do?  Let His passion completely overtake you.  Give Him your broken and contrite heart, because these things He will not despise.  And THAT is a promise.  If you simply give up and come to Him as you are, He will explain much.  And what He doesn’t explain He will give you the faith to make it through.

 

Who better else to serve than than the only loving God who gives us faith to surpass all human understanding?

 

Unknown

Passion

“Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.”

1 Corinthians 10:31

 

It was 2005, I was holding a summer long internship with the MasterWorks Festival as chief videographer.  My job was to, in a nut shell, record every orchestra, drama, dance and classical guitar performance and it’s connected Master class.  MasterWorks takes pride in the fact that it has some of the best musicians in America as it’s teachers…and students.

 

So you see it was quite a treat for me to simply set up my camera and watch a flawless performance of pieces of work such as the New World Symphony, Les Mis, Canon in D, etc.  What hit me the most was the passion these performances had.  The look and feel of passion of the some of the performers as they played their art.  I obviously connected with that, having similar inclinations in life that were passionate.

 

But I hit a fork in the road.  I could continue to live as I was, down the right paths but not exactly ‘lively’, or to do whatever I did as passionately as possible – even at the risk of burning myself out completely.  I choose to live passionately, because I would rather face burn out or loosing that passion than to live without it and to see the world change and me stay still.  Whatever I’m gonna do…it’s gotta be passionate I told myself.

 

Let me change gears for a moment.

 

Let me say that passion is NOT an emotion.  It can drive emotions of all shapes and sizes, but itself is not an emotion.  You see passion can drive intellect as well.  In one’s search for truth you come across aspects of emotion vs. intellect, impulse vs. thought and wild abandon vs. singular action.  If passion was an emotion it couldn’t drive people like Ravi Zacharias to become one of the smartest and most ambitious of today’s Christian apologists.  You can’t just “feel” Josephus or William Blake.  You have to read them and ‘view the world through the eye with a conscience.’  Although he very wisely interweaves emotion to describe his passion which fuels his pursuit for godly intellect, they are still two different entities.

 

John Piper is probably the forerunner in Christianity today in the doctrine of the Trinity.  The many aspects of the Trinity he brings to light and shares with others passionately.  He is especially big on the glory of God and what that means.  I quote,

 

“It is God’s will that you exalt in the hope of the glory of God.  I say that without the slightest fear of any  contradiction.  The will of God for every person is infallibly that you would exalt in the hope of the glory of God.  Whatever else you do, whatever else you feel; do this, feel this, value this, pursue this, exalting in the hope of the glory of God.  Nothing is more important than this.

 

But it starts with the spiritual perception or apprehension, or seeing or tasting, you have to see it!”

 

In short, God uses passion for you to completely understand, to taste and see, to believe.  Whenever God is revealed to you, it is revealed by passion.  Pouring over holy Scripture endlessly like John Calvin or praying 6 hours a day like Martin Luther shows passion that drove these men to God.  Emotion or intellect alone will not get you there!

 

All finite things can eventually be known.  They can be discovered, examined and memorized.  They can become boring.  Expressing emotion for the sake of being emotional or intellectual pursuit for the sake of intellectual completeness cannot get you through life, because you will find the end of them.  Misplaced or ‘man made’ passion will defuse and burn itself out because it has nothing to sustain it.  That’s why Heaven will never be boring.  You see since God is infinite in all things, we will be constantly finding new beauty and new glory of God every time we see Him, even in a glorified and perfect body.  Eternity will be spent in complete awe and learning of something new and beautiful of God every day.

 

If you are a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you.  The Holy Spirit not only regenerates our souls and gives us communication to the Father through Christ, but it also gives us conscience.  But the most important thing the Holy Spirit will do is to keep a fire that will burn forever in you.  A fire for God.  Passion from God that made you seek Him, passion from God that will never go out, passion for God that will never exhaust.

When you were first saved and started repenting of your sins, your eternal life started.  Your quest and hunger for God was first realized at that moment.  We have already started the Heavenly process of finding out new things of God.  But because we still have fallen bodies and deceitful hearts there are stumbling blocks that keep us away.  That’s where the Spirit comes in to bring you back.  If God began a good work in you, He will finish a good work in you.  God will always come back to you when you run away, disciple you, and put you back on the path.

 

If you have ever asked can this life get worse,

If you have ever asked where God has gone,

If you have ever asked why we lack inspiration in our daily lives, it’s because we have forgotten about the Holy Spirit dwelling within us giving us passion that comes directly from God!  Yes, our life on earth can and probably will get worse.  But it will be of no matter if we trust in God and give Him all the glory!  Yes it seems like God is no longer here, but that’s not because He left, it’s you because you did!  When we can’t ‘feel’ God or ‘know’ God it’s because we are leaning on either emotion or intellect to take us to Him.

 

Only by the passion of the Holy Spirit will bring us to God.

 

John Piper - http://downloads7.sermonindexmedia3.com/17/SID17087.mp3

Paul Washer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J471VobaZks

Amidst all the blackness

“Follow me.”
-Jesus Christ

 

One of the things God has been placing on my heart (or rather slapping me upside the head) with recently is the mystery that He still holds in my life. The unexplainable yet undeniable truth and presence He has within me and life around me, and in fact to all creation.

Antinomies for example. An antinomy is when you have two truths that sit side by side, seemingly in direct opposition to each other but yet both undeniable. For instance I believe in both the Sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. Man is predestined to his eternal salvation or damnation yet is still held accountable for the words and deeds of his life. This is an antinomy. I could try to explain but that’s entirely a whole different note

One of the simplest antinomies we all as Christians believe in and yet hardly realize is that God both loves Himself and loves the bride of Christ. You see when you have an infinitely beautiful, perfect and powerful God it is not wrong nor is it obscene for Him to say, “Look at me! I am all things good and beautiful. I am the epitome of all that is holy.” God does all things for His own glory. And He does so rightfully.

Yet He loves us. He still sent His son, Christ Jesus, the very personification of both God’s love and man’s complete and total depravity, to take on the burden that is ours and to bring us in communion with a holy God.

How can God, being all things infinitely good, take His eyes off of Himself to love us?

You see it’s easy to say God is all powerful because we serve Him, and we know if we serve Him and love Him by following His word, we are justified and so excused from eternal hell. It also just as easy to say that God loves us because His incredible and amazing work in our lives is evident and we are met with grace and mercy each day.

In what we perceive of logic and wisdom, these things cannot go together. You cannot have omnipotence and free will. You cannot have glory and love. God can’t become man and we can’t come to Him.

It is impossible, simply impossible to have a relationship with Christ and not see these things! You wouldn’t be any kind of Christian if you haven’t stepped back and said, “Now wait a minute, I don’t get this.” In your searching for God and His wisdom, in pursuit of sanctification you have come across things that you cannot explain, and at times feared believing because you could not properly defend it with doctrine or apologetics.

The only way you’re going to find the truth in these matters is by denying yourself which is the method of sanctification, and seek God. Just God! Only Him. Lock yourself in a closet and don’t come out till He’s spoken to you. Why would an atheist care if God is completely Sovereign or if He has some understanding for man’s own will? Why would an atheist care if it were both?

To a person who isn’t regenerate would think of these things as scandals. And that’s what the Gospel is to a person who does not seek God…a scandal. Are you ashamed of the scandal of Jesus Christ? Are you one of God’s own fools? Would you take up your own cross or present yourself a living sacrifice upon a fiery alter?

I cannot stand, keep dry-eyed or hold myself up when I am in fullest realization my mortal body can carry me when I realize that God has saved me. When I give Him my broken and contrite heart, that’s the only time I see things with heavenly wisdom. He saved me just as I was, He came down from the Throne and spilled His blood to cover my iniquities.

That’s where passion comes from. The fuel of my eternal passion for God is that He saved me. Isn’t salvation enough

“Here you may suppose the Father to say, when driving his bargain with Christ for you: 

Father: My Son, here is a company of poor miserable souls, that have utterly undone themselves, and now lie open to my justice! Justice demands satisfaction for them, or will satisfy itself in the eternal ruin of them: What shall be done for these souls?

And thus Christ returns:

Son: Oh my Father, such is my love to, and pity for them, that rather than they shall perish eternally, I will be responsible for them as their surety; bring in all thy bills, that I may see what they owe thee; Lord, bring them all in, that there may be no after-reckonings with them; at my hand shalt thou require it. I will rather choose to suffer thy wrath than they should suffer it. Upon me, my Father, upon me be all their debt.

Father: But, my Son, if thou undertake for them, thou must reckon to pay the last mite, expect no abatements; if I spare them, I will not spare thee.

Son: Content, Father, let it be so; charge it all upon me, I am able to discharge it: and though it prove a kind of undoing to me, though it impoverish all my riches, empty all my treasures, yet I am content to undertake it.”

-John Flavel

God save America

“Behind the debris of our solemn supermen and imperial diplomatists stands the gigantic figure of a person; because of whom, by whom, in whom and through whom mankind may still survive; the person of Jesus Christ.”

-Malcom Muggeridge 

 

Having been a supportive Republican, a moderate Republican, a staunch Independent and now something that goes without a title, I would like to show you what God has shown me about politics. Especially in light of this political season where we have many people proclaiming to follow the Lord running for the office (in fact…all of them have), but yet the fruit has yet to be seen.

I know that many of you at times find yourself amidst a political struggle, because you can’t decide who’s better fit for office. A lesser of two evils sort of scenario. I confess it’s happening to me more frequently, in fact the last few elections of any political office I see in retrospect I have never agreed to a comfortable level with any candidate.

I know it’s hard to find a candidate that you can agree on 100%, or even 85%, but in recent years and the conviction God has placed on my heart, the numbers are dwindling. I see more and more of my brothers and sisters in Christ being hoodwinked by the slightest trick of these men and women running for public office and claiming to follow Christ at the same time.

Let me quote part of a sermon by Alistair Begg as a conclusion to this note. His words are far better than mine, and he brings God’s truth to light better than I can.

“Tonight on earth, it’s total confusion.

You see the collapse of the City of Man should not be seen as the curtailing the building of the City of God. As distracting and distressing the actions of the wicked may be, when we focus on the fact that God is on His throne we can view the tottering foundations and crumbling occasions in a totally different fashion.

And at a time where there are unique opportunities for the Gospel, at a time where people are asking deep seated questions because they recognize the foundations are crumbling too, and at a time where they are just about prepared to drink a cup of coffee and seek a sensible answer, the bombastic ugly ‘Christian’ is manning the battiers (battle mounts) of right wing politics! Joining coalitions, endorsing political agendas, advancing legislative remedies, and in doing so with every further move we lose the ability to say with Paul, “We do not wage war the way the world wages war.”

The church cannot say it, because it wouldn’t be true.

The tragedy that since the foundations are being destroyed and since activism is a very large part of our culture, the Christian the determines that they will become an activist. It isn’t wrong it become an activist. It is wrong to become a slanderer, it is wrong to become combative and ugly and it is wrong to forget that separates me from some guy who tonight is boozing it up in some saloon; is not that I’m smarting than him, but it’s the grace of God to me.

So until the church learns how to cry, the church loses any right to shout. Until we learn to do what we’ve been told to, we dare not do what has been granted to us with no mandate at all.

Here’s the strangest thing, if I may make an aside. Conservative Christianity hammered for the longest time mainline Christian churches in America. For what? Their desertion of the Gospel and their commitment to politics. They said, ‘These people do not preach the Gospel because they are so involved in politics. Look at them! They’re arm in arm with the Sandinistas, with the Liberators, with the Freedom Fighters, of what a bad group of people they are!’

Well did we get inoculated from their condition? Don’t we see ourselves in the mirror?

For the last 2 decades we’ve been doing the same thing. Oh, it’s not left wing liberalism, it’s right wing radicalism. The foundations are being destroyed and we know we must do something, we’re not going to run but we’re sure going to stay and fight so we’re wielding arms with all these strong concoctions of people.

We will re-construct our society by coercive legal and political means. We will establish some sort of legal misrepresentation of God’s kingdom; We’re like the disciples in the garden of Gethsemane; out with the swords ready to chop the people’s heads off and Jesus is putting ears back on all around us saying, ‘Guys have you learned nothing in 2,000 years?! Didn’t you read what I wrote in the book that my kingdom is not of this world? If it were my servants would come and fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But the reason that they don’t is because the very crushing of my body is going to be the blood that fuels the birth of my church.’

Listen, God has no special countries.”

Blessed are those…

“The sacrifices to God are a broken spirit, a broken heart and a contrite heart – these things, O Lord, you will not despise.”

Psalm 51:17

 

I would like to save this first space to thank those who again read these notes and comment on them, it is a blessing to know that people who know the heart of God also seek mine and take time to see what is in mine. It is an honor and a privilege to do so.

I also would like to say that there have been a few requests for me to write my own testimony, but as proven by the transcribed testimony of Paul Washer, this meager text hardly does it justice. However I can urge you to watch on youtube.com the two messages of brother Paul’s that I wrote, the names are ‘We’re Losing It’ and ‘Isn’t It Enough? (Paul Washer’s Secret)’ If God so desires, I would be happy to give you my testimony in person.

But now on to the main reason for this note. Again God is laying upon my heart more truth that just burns within me. I can’t hold it back from myself nor can I hold it back from sharing it with others. You see that’s what truth does when you’re really seeking God…it overtakes you and burns like a forrest fire without cease.

As you might have guessed it all started when I was listening to a sermon by brother Paul. Often does his expounding on holy Scripture lead me to truth, this time is no different. His main message was on The True Gospel, a 6 part series on the basics of the Gospel (can you imagine that? 9 hours just to cover what he considers the basics?). He quoted the first verse of the Beatitudes, which I will also quote momentarily.

What caught my attention was the larger context of which Jesus was speaking. You see when we read the Bible, the enemy is working at his absolute best to make sure you misunderstand what you are reading. He takes great strides in making sure our inherently evil hearts miss the very defining point of what Jesus says. The majority of the time it’s the application of His words to our own hearts. Yes we may understand the meaning, we can even understand the application to those whom He was preaching physically to. Yet we so often forget that these words were written down for us to read, understand and apply for all time.

Let me quote the verses of the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:3:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the Sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake.

Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is the reward in Heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

If you’re like me you’ve memorized that verse in the past and remembered it to some degree. Probably from Awana or some bible study you’ve done. If you’re like me you read that too fast and missed the application. You see your deceitfully wicked heart is at play already. Amazing isn’t it? If those words lacked conviction, truth or just didn’t jump off the screen and smack you upside the head your heart is lying to you. If your eyes glazed over and you started reading in the iambic pentameter you are being mislead.

Like much of what Jesus said in His short ministry on earth, these words are for both the believer and the unbeliever. Everyone at all times can come to these verses and find application. But where? Where have I been mislead and where does this application take place?

One of the most common lies our hearts will tell us when reading the Bible is, “I’ve done that.” or something along the lines of, “That’s not me.”

If you read those verses and agreed on the reward because you’re already a Christian but didn’t see yourself in the first part, you’ve been deceived. But how Andrew can this be? I know you’re trying to tell me something important but I’m not getting it. This doesn’t directly apply to me.

But it does. Let me explain a little further.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.”

There are two aspects to this verse. It implies only one thing. If you are poor in spirit (aspect one), then a citizenship in the kingdom of Heaven (aspect two) is granted to you (implication). That’s it. Period. These are the blessings to those who in aspect one realize they are needing, and if they seek Him the blessing (aspect two) is given them. Now place in context what you said to yourself earlier. ‘I’m not poor in spirit but I am going to Heaven.’ It just doesn’t fit. The poor in spirit will enter Heaven. Still not convinced? Show me an example in the New Testament where someone great in spirit followed Christ, and to them was granted salvation.

Another thing you have to look our for is legalism where it doesn’t belong, which is another trick of the enemy to get you confused and to take you off the mark.

Am I saying that I have to be poor in spirit 24/7 and then I can enter Heaven? I thought salvation was by faith and not works? If I have to be sad and mournful all the live long day this doesn’t match up with other Scripture, where is there joy of my salvation?

No. This is not saying that you have to be perpetually poor in spirit. It’s not even saying that any reaction you have needs to start with being poor in spirit. The emphasis on this is totally flipped.

Salvation is by faith and faith alone, not by works. Nothing you can do on the arm of your own strength is worthy to be presented to God. Placing yourself in a place to be poor in spirit would be doing the same thing, trying to achieve favor of God by your works. What the verse is saying that we need to recognize that we are already poor in spirit because of our actions, our inherently evil nature that separates us from God. All we can do is come to Him as we are; broken, contrite and poor in spirit. Once we realize that there is absolutely nothing that we can do that change our position in our separation from God there is no where else to go or nothing else to do but be broken.

That’s where God does what He does for eternity – love us unconditionally. Like a Father who never tires of seeing us, who will always run into a run to scoop us up in His arms as dirty as we are, He will take us as we are. Like a loving Husband to an unfaithful wife, He will say “I will always take you back.” But we can’t be swept away by His love and grace until we recognize where we are.

Poor in spirit, mournful and meek, hungry and thirsty, persecuted.

Testimony

“Long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin and natures night,

thine eye diffused a quickening ray, I woke, the dungeon flamed with light.

My chains fell off, my heart was free;

I rose went forth and followed thee.”

-Charles Wesley

 

Here I have transcribed from a video the personal testimony of Paul Washer. Now for one reason why I am doing this is because his testimony resembles my own. Situations and circumstances were different, but God worked in the same way. Please read and understand.

“As a young man in ministry I was privileged with being around a lot of very very old and very very godly men. They would talk to me. These were men of God. Baptists, very so much, reformed (some of them), people not given to enthusiasm or emotions or any other thing like that. Devout men. 

They would talk to me about the power of God. They would talk to me about the presence of God. Not as men quoting stories they had read, but whom with their own eyes had sought after God. I would into the streets of Austin, Texas and preach. I was afraid, there was no boldness, there was no power, there was nothing. I would always hear the voices of these old men.

One day I decided that enough was enough, I was going to seek Him till I find Him or until I die. I went into a closest and said I would not leave this closet until I know God.

15 minutes later I feel asleep. My roommates came in and found me asleep in the closet. So I took an alarm clock with me, set it for every 15 minutes. I pray for maybe 5-10 minutes, fall asleep, the clock would go off and I’d pray again.

This was my prayer. I didn’t pray for China, I didn’t pray for the presence of God in the sense of my ministry, I asked for one thing.

‘Lord you said if I seek you I will find you. You said it, you said it Lord. You would reveal yourself to me, you would let yourself be found by me if I seek you.’

Night after night after night, for months, for 2 and 3 hours a night, simply sitting there on my knees.

‘Lord it’s been 4 months, it’s been days, and you still have not come.’ I would sit there. ‘Lord I’ve been here for 3 hours and you have not come.’

Day after day and night after night, then one day our church was out on Spring Break, and all the college students were going to a Bible Study ski trip to Colorado, but I felt the Lord call me out to west Texas. To the hill country, where it’s barren. I walked on top of those hills for 3 days like a wild man. If you had seen me, you would have thrown me into an asylum. I was picking up rocks and I was throwing them.

Literally and physically picking up rocks and throwing them at the sky, screaming, ‘God I must know you! You must come! You must! I can’t live like this anymore, I can’t live just reading books, I can’t live just reading about revivals, and people who knew somebody who knew somebody who knew you!’ And nothing happened, so I went home.

Another several weeks passed, but one night, He came. I said, ‘Father I can’t….please come.’ And He came. I was thrown down on the ground, and I don’t know for how long in the fetal position covering my head with my arms thinking that God had come to kill me. The presence of God in a way that in one second more of my sin and my need, His glory and power was revealed.

All of a sudden, every bit of fear was taken away. I was filled with such joy, and my mouth shot open verse after verse from the Psalms, from everywhere else, passages I had read. Just coming forth, praises to Him.

I can tell you it has been 20 years and the presence of Christ is more real to me than anyone of you in this room.

You want holiness in your life? Run to Him, and stay there till He comes.”

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlaCzmYBpUQ

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Below is a more detailed explanation of brother Paul’s testimony, if you’ve read this far please don’t stop.

“Let me tell you about my Jesus. Let me testify about my Lord.

22 years ago I woke up in my apartment half naked, having drunk myself almost to death. I noticed I was cold, and I felt something on my face. What was I laying in? I stumbled to my feet and went to the mirror, turned on the light, and this very distinguished, eloquent preacher; lost and without Jesus had spent the entire night in his own vomit.

Let me tell you about my Jesus.

He has saved me when I was such a wretch, you wouldn’t have run over me with your car. But my Jesus, He bought me with His blood.

My Jesus, He came to me and my Jesus took away my sin, my Jesus took away my shame.

O hail the power of Jesus’ name! Let angels prostrate fall, bring forth the royal diadem and crown Him Lord of all!

That’s my Jesus. I glory in my weakness, and I glory, yea even in my sin!

Sometimes young men will ask me, ‘Brother Paul! What is your secret? How is it you preach the way you do?’

He found me in a pool of vomit; that’s my secret. That there are not many wise or noble, I am the chief of all sinners, I was the lowest of the low and that’s what Jesus does. That’s my secret.

I had nothing! That’s my secret!”

 

A Living Sacrifice

I was thinking the other day about Romans 12:1.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” -NIV

What exactly is a living sacrifice, and what does it look like we aren’t following Him but try to offer something anyway?

Let’s determine and dissect the two main words in this verse for context, living and sacrifice.

What is living? Living is action of something that is alive. Person/Animal that as a consciousness, self awareness and independent thought process. In this case we’re talking about a person, so we add on that we are reflections of the Image of God as well as an eternal soul that’s destiny lies in the antinomy of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility.

What is sacrifice? For further context we deduce that this is talking about the burnt offering given in accordance to Hebrew law. According to Hebraic law the burnt offering was offered in this manner; a goat or lamb was selectively taken from a herd and brought to a priest for blessing. The priest would bless the animal and then slaughter it. The blood was then sprinkled on the alter, the remains were placed on top the alter and then set aflame. Now obviously the animal had no choice in the matter, the only reason is was chosen was because it considered spotless before the priest by it’s own genetic makeup.

So what makes a living sacrifice? Again we’re facing an antinomy paradox of having two wills – seemingly incongruent to each other – working in perfect harmony. The independent and free will of the living person and the chosen offering taken from the herd to be presented to God.

So the application of this ‘two truth paradox’ is to combine them and law it against holy scripture to see if it is true.

As Christians we are called by God out of the dead to become alive to Him. God has called and we have answered. We willingly (after conviction by the Holy Spirit, which comes only by God’s sovereignty) go before the alter, slaughter ourselves and place our lives on the alter to burned. Just imagine the position of literally killing yourself so fall down on a burning alter knowing there is no chance for returned and that all that resembled you is being destroyed.

Incredible, isn’t it?

I think too often in our daily walk with Christ; knowing we are called to present ourselves as living sacrifices, take up our cross and follow Him – we holiday wrap ourselves in a little box with a Christian label on top and give ourselves as a gift to a surprised and blessed God.

God does not desire gifts, nor blessings nor half offerings. In our best thoughts and desires apart from God we are like Icarus falling from the heavens with our wings of melted wax, or the disciples in the garden of Gethsemane; out with the swords ready to chop the evil people’s heads off. God desires a broken and contrite heart, because only then when we are truly broken and burned can He use us in a manner that is according to His good and perfect will.

I liken the final image of a burning, living sacrifice to that of the burning bush that God used to speak through to Moses after he left Egypt.

For a third time now we see this antinomy-paradox of an object on fire but not burning. In fact the Bible says that the bush was blossoming and bearing good fruit. Is this not how we are supposed to look to the outside world? Those of whom who are on the outside looking in?

A willing piece of creation, both fully burning and fully bearing good fruit, used by God to bring others into the Kingdom all in conjunction to His omnipotent sovereignty.

Lazarus

Have you ever wondered what you would do to frighten Lazarus after he’d been raised from the dead?

What would you do to threaten him? “Lazarus, I’m gonna kill you?”

Caligula* said, “I’m gonna kill you!” He says, “Ha ha ha!”

Caligula says, “Stop ha ha ha-ing I’m gonna kill you as I’m killing all the Christians!”

He doubles over in uncontrollable laughter comes up for air and says, “Caligula haven’t you heard? Death is dead! Death is dead!”

How do you frighten someone who’s already been there, and knows the one who’s going to let him out?

But just think. . .of stepping on shore and finding it Heaven. . .of touching a hand and finding it God’s hand. . .of breathing new air and finding it celestial. . .of waking up in glory and finding it home.

Ladies and Gentlemen, your hope and mine in Christ is that one day we will be with God. One day we will be with Him. We look back upon history and what do we see?

Empires falling and rising.

Revolutions and Counter Revolutions, both accumulated and both dispersed.

Shakespeare has spoken of the rise and fall of great ones that ebb and flow with the moon. I’ve heard a crazed cracked Austrian announce to the world the establishment of the German Reich that would last a thousand years, I’ve seen an Italian clown saying he was going to stop and restart the calendar with his own ascension to power, I have seen America more wealthy and in terms of military weaponry more powerful that the rest of the world put together so that if the American people had so desired they could have outdone a Cesaer or an Alexander in the range and scale of it’s conquest.

Hitler and Mussolini dead remembered only in infamy. Stalin is now a forbidden name in the regime he helped found and dominate for some 3 decades, America is haunted by fears of running out of the precious fluids that keep the motorways roaring and the smog settling, all in one lifetime.

All in one lifetime, all gone with the wind.

Behind the debris of the fallings of our solemn supermen and imperial diplomatists, is the gigantic figure one person, because of whom, by whom, in whom and through whom mankind may still survive.

The person of Jesus Christ.

Isaiah calls Him, ‘Wonderful Counselor’, Peter looks at Him and says, ‘You are the Christ the Son of the Living God’, the Apostle Paul; Saul at that time in Acts chapter 9 says, ‘What shall you have me to do, Lord?’, Thomas raised his hand and touched His side and said, ‘Thee my Lord and my God’, when Pilate looked at Him said ‘Are you the Christ?’ He said, ‘You have said it’. When the priest looked at Him and said, ‘Are you the Son of God?’, He said ‘You are right in stating that I am the Son of God’. In John chapter 14 He says, ‘In my Father’s house there are many mansions, if it were so not so I would tell you, I go to prepare a place for you so that where I am you may be also.’

Lord where are you going? If we don’t know where you are going how are to find the way?

“I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No man comes to the Father except through me.”

Show us the Father, Lord!

“If you have seen me you have seen the Father…I and my Father are one.”

-Ravi Zacharias
http://www.relevantrevolution.com/mp3/ravi-lord.mp3

*Caligula was a first century Roman Emperor who was deeply insane, and started killing Jews and Christians alike for not worshipping him.