Aug
26
Written by:
Bob Flynn
8/26/2009 5:31 PM
In the Holy Scriptures we have a standard of right and wrong upon which we can always depend for the general principles at least which should direct our actions, and in the voice of the Holy Spirit we shall always have the special guidance which we need in particular circumstances. But there are certain conditions which we must ever observe. "The meek will He guide in judgment." The yielded and willing heart will find His way. The selfish will, the heart that chooses its way and then comes to God to have Him indorse it, will be very likely to go astray. (A. B. Simpson, Danger Lines in the Deeper Life)
In Trust, Being Called, Abraham Obeyed
As we begin a new season of the year, perhaps it would be good to consider our spiritual seasons as well. This world, filled with the fallenness of man, brings with it a host of uncertainties and insecurities that pervert the intention of the original design. The only eyes that can see through this perpetual darkness are the eyes of faith. We must learn to walk by faith lest our lives be swallowed by the darkness. The learning must never cease, for each step will discover new hazards that require renewed sight to avoid. Whether we are babes in Christ or ancient saints, the requirement of the faith walk remains. Faith living is obedient living: we must apply the truths given us by holy writ ─ that are also inscribed upon our innermost parts. It matters not whether our feelings tend to lead us in an opposite direction, or perhaps circumstances arise that pressure us to alter course. Maybe we foresee negative consequences which would inundate us with aspersions from the “darkness dwellers” of the day. The season in which we live is the season in the kingdom where leaves do not wither but rather continue to bear fruit in the continuous season of God’s perfect light. Recognize that your enemy is also engaged in the salvation of souls (though it be counterfeit) and you will be mightily tested just as was the Patriarch Job. But when you appear on the other side of the fire, your life will have the purity of fine gold. For you were called into this faith by the very hand of the Almighty, and it is by this same hand He will lead you if you are obedient to follow. Hebrews 11:8 says that by faith Abraham obeyed (πιστει καλουμενος αβρααμ υπηκουσεν) — pistei kaloumenos abraam upekousen). Literally, “In trust being called, Abraham obeyed.” There is a reason the translators struggle with Ephesians 2:2, whether to render the phrase “the children of unbelief” or “the children of disobedience.” For unbelief and disobedience are toes on the same foot ─ contrasted with faith and obedience on the other. Therefore, we must be careful to watch our step! Will our steps lead to “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” by Whom we have been called? Will we steer a course of obedience into His glorious light ─ or meander in disobedience to be smashed upon the rocks of the “Prince of the power of the air?”
Bob Flynn, President/CEO
Job 23:10 But He knows where I am going. And when He tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. (NLT2)
Heb 11:8 It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. (NLT2)
ἀπείθεια apeítheia; gen. apeítheias, fem. noun from apeithḗs (G545), disobedient. Disobedience, unwillingness to be persuaded, willful unbelief, obstinacy. In the NT, it corresponds in its use with the verb apistéō (G569), to be unbelieving, opposing the gracious word and purpose of God; a stronger term than the syn. apistía (G570), disbelief, unbelief (Heb 3:12, Heb 3:19); hence we have the sons of apeitheías, disobedience, unbelievers, i.e., heathen, pagans (Rom 11:30, Rom 11:32; Eph 2:2; Eph 5:6; Col 3:6; Heb 4:6, Heb 4:11). (The Complete Word Study, General Editor: Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D)
Disobedience and unbelief have as their center, SELF. It is our SELF that rises to claim freedom over liberty, seizing the throne of our life from Him who has justly earned all honor and glory ─ as if our shield of arrogance would dare try to reflect the light of His righteousness.
Self lives on the selfishness of others, and uses the same principle in them for the gratification of its ends. Abimelech appealed to the men of Shechem by ties of race and blood, and by the inducements of their own self-interest. And so self-aggrandizement becomes a web of countless coils woven and interwoven with the selfishness of others, until hand joins in hand, and a thousand chords of mutual self-interest bind together political parties, commercial monopolies, criminal confederacies, and the baneful associations of evil men which so largely constitute human society. Each is bound to the other by his own selfishness, and the man who knows best how to play with the selfish passions of others makes them all tributary to his own needs, while the devil sits supreme as king over all. When you see a man appealing to the selfishness of others you may be very sure that he is selfishness incarnate.
We see self in partnership with Satan. Abimelech goes to the house of idols and gets the means for his unholy war from the temple of Baal. The devil is always ready to advance the funds to carry out any scheme of human selfishness. He is a very liberal investor in selfish trusts and sinful monopolies. You can always get money for a political campaign and a whiskey trust even when missionary societies are threatened with bankruptcy. Millions and millions of dollars are being thrown away every day in Satan's investments and sin's cooperative societies, and the cause of Christ is languishing by reason of the selfishness of its followers. The devil has his providences as well as the Lord, and the man who wants to plunge into the depths of Satan will find plenty of capital waiting his call and wonder often at his own success.
Then let us take another look, and gaze on Calvary. What is this that lacerates our Savior's brow and wreathes His gentle face with such a rude, tormenting crown? Ah! it is the old bramble again; it is the crown of thorns. What are those drops of blood that stain His face, and the tears that mingle with them and flow down His cheeks? Ah! they are the brambles of my selfishness; they are the thorns of my pride. It was this selfish "I" that I let not only crush my fellows, but even murder my Lord. It was not only for our sins He died, but it was for our selfishness, and in that death we die. (A. B. Simpson, Danger Lines in the Deeper Life)
As I look around the our world today I see that we have somehow, through the transition of the years, lost the essence of what it really means to be a Christian. For we, like the Jew, have been called for a special purpose to praise and glorify God and to exalt His name among the nations. We are as a people, set apart. There is a whole host of things whose origin is from this carnal reprobation that must not be part of our lives. The inhabitants of the satanic system may extol the virtues of the despicable habits they so much enjoy, because they are on the way to hell and are simply living their lives consistent with their character. But when those in the body of Christ start emulating this same wantonness that through holy wrath was abandoned unto eternal judgment, then contradiction of profession becomes a perversion concert casting aspersion toward Him who sits upon the throne of heaven by those called by His name.
When Paul wrote to Timothy, he said that all who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil. There is no room for compromise for those who are called of Christ. You bear His name and therefore have no business living as you please and doing what you want. For when you do, blasphemy will come from the world and rightly so. They'll say, "if that is Christ, I want nothing to do with Him." Are you a Christian? Is your life like a light upon a hill illuminating everything it touches or is it a “dark absorber” drinking in the contents of the cesspool?
But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light. "Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God's people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God's mercy." (1 Peter 2:9-10 NLT)
But God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and “All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil. (2 Timothy 2:19 NLT2).
In the Holy Scriptures we have a standard of right and wrong upon which we can always depend for the general principles at least which should direct our actions, and in the voice of the Holy Spirit we shall always have the special guidance which we need in particular circumstances. But there are certain conditions which we must ever observe. "The meek will He guide in judgment." The yielded and willing heart will find His way. The selfish will, the heart that chooses its way and then comes to God to have Him indorse it, will be very likely to go astray. (A. B. Simpson, Danger Lines in the Deeper Life)