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Aliens and Strangers?

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 Saturday, October 5, 2019

2 Chronicles 31:18 For in their office of trust they cleansed themselves and set themselves apart in holiness.

What an amazing passage that contains great revelation regarding holiness. For it implies that if we are truly trusting God that we are cleansing ourselves, setting ourselves apart unto holiness. Now the word holiness is often a misunderstood word. For those in the grace camp it is something the New Covenant believer has been excused from. We are under grace not the Law. On the other hand, those in the camp of law and legalism reduce holiness to outward focuses pertaining to jewelry, dresses, makeup and hair. Holiness becomes a posture, religious exercises, and do’s and don’ts. Yet, in reality God never excuses anyone from holiness. His Name alone is Holy not to mention His Person. It is foolish to mistake the grace of God for a license to sin, living as we please. Eternal life, His life that He shed His blood for, wasn’t cheap. And His Life is a call to sacrifice what pleases us for what pleases Him. It’s interesting to me that the Tabernacle of Moses had the Holy Place or the Inner Court and the Holy of Holy Place. How sad the average church goer naively believes that their attendance is enough. Many miss the analogy found in the Tabernacle of Moses. As you read the passages regarding the divisions in the Tabernacle you discover that it actually symbolized three different levels of true believers: outer court followers of Jesus, inner court followers and the rare, holy of holies citizen. Exploring the symbols of these sections reveals the different approaches to God. For the Bronze Altar is a symbol of Jesus’ cross and the Bronze Laver is a symbol of His Word and Spirit. These are only found in the outer court. Yet there are many attending church who have yet to face the cross of Christ, kneeling at His feet in sacrifice and surrender. Not to mention taking the time to wash in the water of His Word and Spirit. Heaven weeps why we pat ourselves on the backs, and wink over our ignorance of His Word, and unwillingness to die daily with Him. The average church attender hasn’t even made it through the Door of the Tabernacle, let alone the outer court. 

Scripture sounds a warning in Hebrews 12:14 Strive to live in peace with everybody and pursue that consecration and holiness without which no one will [ever] see the Lord. Some would argue that we have already been made holy, and that’s true, but it’s only half of the truth. Remember His Sword is two-edged. When Bible believing Christians focus on one truth while denying another they assure their journey will have them tumbling head first, into a ditch. To seek to see the Lord requires that you acknowledge His Holiness. You will not see Him with out it. 

For years I wrestled over a more practical definition for holiness. I discovered that it meant “set apart” but that didn’t clarify the depths of its meaning. So I prayed and meditated on its meaning. It’s my humble opinion that He gave me the following definition: Holiness is being distinctly unique, or different from all that is average, middle of the road, or ordinary. It’s abnormal compared to others normalcy. It’s pushing aside all that would distract from the prize of the pursuit. Unique implies that you have no equal, without a like, or equal. It involves being peculiar, or unusual. Now when we apply this definition to our pursuit of God, praying, worship, witnessing, ministry, fellowship, and or time spent in the Word of God with the Spirit of God – would you say, or could you say that the deck is stacked in your favor? Do you have an equal in your pursuit of God or are others passing you by in their devotion, passion and pursuit? Holiness moves us from kindergarten Christianity to Olympian Christianity. When we add to this Jesus’ exhortation of reaping and sowing you discover how little we invest into the things of the Kingdom. 

How is it that in our culture we applaud the athlete who sacrifices all to excel in sports, or the scholar who studies overcoming, and paying the price to reach Educational heights, or the artist reaching past the boundaries of expectation with it’s stifled boxes of predictability, to a place of creative achievements. Yet when it comes to spiritual achievement we place the high bar on the ground where any blind man can hop over? Holiness is a call to raise the bar high. 

Isaiah 6:1 states: In the year that King Uzziah died, [in a vision] I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and the skirts of His train filled the [most holy part of the] temple. 

The good news? Ephesians 4:8-10 Therefore it is said, When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive [He led a train of vanquished foes] and He bestowed gifts on men. [But He ascended?] Now what can this, He ascended, mean but that He had previously descended from [the heights of] heaven into [the depths], the lower parts of the earth? He Who descended is the [very] same as He Who also has ascended high above all the heavens, that He [His presence] might fill all things (the whole universe, from the lowest to the highest).

Jesus descended so that we could ascend in holiness. Seek the Lord in the beauty of holiness, and taste and see that the Lord is good. Chew on that.

Somethings Wrong?

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How is it that an individual can read, and study the Bible and not hear God speak? How is it that they can know about God but not recognize the various ways He communicates personally? Why do millions of church attenders rarely, if ever, compare and contrast their life to the lives of Biblical characters who heard from God – on a regular basis? Why hasn’t the connection been made that somethings missing in their walk with God? 

Within Evangelical Christianity there’s a contradiction between doctrine and practice. We are taught that we have a personal relationship with God. We are taught that prayer should be made  for direction regarding major decisions. Yet the question is, “How do you know God is speaking? How do you distinguish between your own thoughts, the devil and the Spirit of God in you? What prevents us from hearing God? Is there a connection between the Word of God and Hearing God speak? What is it – other than knowing how He has spoken in the past?

In John 15:3 Jesus states:You are cleansed and pruned already, because of the word which I have given you [the teachings I have discussed with you].

The Amplified Translations choice of words, “cleansed” and “pruned” come pretty close to the original meaning. The Greek word,“ka-tha-ros,” means to be: “purged, cleared away, purified; pruned and cut back from worldly idolatry, adulteration, and admixture; cleansed from dirt.” If the word sounds familiar it’s because it is. Our English word  “cauterize” is derived from it. It’s defined as “to sear; burn away; deaden; render insensible” The Hebraic understanding of cleansing conveys a similar idea. Holiness, sanctification and burning were words chosen to describe the process Christ spoke of. At the “burning”…. bush, God told Moses to remove his sandals because he was standing on holy ground. Hebrews 12:29 states: “our God is a consuming fire.” Pentecost describes tongues of fire that came and rested upon the people’s “minds” as they were baptized in the Holy Spirit and with…Fire.

So is there a connection between being cleansed, pruned, “burned” or sanctified by the Word that enables us to hear and recognize the ways that He speaks? In other words, will how you relate to the Word insure your ability to remain in a relationship, communing, or conversing with Jesus? When you allow the Word to “burn” your life, thinking, actions, and intentions to the ground does that bring greater clarity?

What’s puzzling to me is that our generation has greater access to the Words of God yet seem much duller in hearing and recognizing the ways that He speaks. How did New Testament believers have a greater relationship with God while not possessing a written copy of the Bible? Even more puzzling is the fact that even though the Word has the power to connect it’s readers and listeners with the Voice of God there are so many who read, and even teach it, yet don’t hear God. How is it that you can read, study, and even memorize it and not have an intimate relationship with God? How is it that when we reached the conclusion we needed to embrace Jesus as our Savior and Lord that we heard His Still, Small Voice? Even though we were anything but holy, and our minds were elsewhere – we still recognized our need for Him. Was that a sovereign act of grace?

Church attenders for centuries have been distancing themselves from making connections between their lives and the Words of God. But what’s startling is that less and less people are reading it presently. In a comprehensive fashion our generation seems to be sealing their fates to ever knowing God. Romans 1 speaks of the Last Days in which the people do not think God worth the knowing. Can there be any doubt that we are living in the Last Days? I believe that cultural ways of believing and thinking are trusted more than God’s Word leaving church attenders unable to recognize how far they have fallen from God. Our spiritual senses simply grow duller and duller. May we all have an awakening, calling for a new reformation, leading to the transformation of the Body of Christ. Jesus is coming back for a Bride that is equally yoked to Him. Why would we ever entertain the idea that He wants a Bride that doesn’t know Him, or long to know Him?