THE
PROGESSIVE MOVEMENT
to
HUMAN
GLORY
I
Pet.5: …Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and
be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the
humble.
Acts 20:19 19 Serving
the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations…
Considering the
greatness of God and the weakness of man it should be an almost natural thing
to be humble. And considering what man desperately needed and what God has
graciously provided, humility should be a given among those who have come to eternal
life through faith in Christ Jesus. And yet the reality is that not only is
humility an elusive trait, but we as believers have by and large ignored it, to
say nothing of earnestly seeking it. This is most unfortunate and even grievous
since it strikes at the very core of what it means to be a follower of Christ.
But there is a
most repulsive residual effect of rejecting a consistent pursuit of godly
humility and that is that where there is no humility then human hubris and even
idolatry rises in its place. As humility is the path to glorifying God, so is
self righteousness the path to human glory which is little more than a sham and
a mirage. Can there be anything more despicable and hollow than the pretence
called human glory? The only glory man can have must be only through Christ
Himself and even that reflects back to our Wonderful Redeemer! Humility is essential
if we hope to worship Christ is spirit and in truth. But the western church has
rejected such humility and so doing our worship is not only unacceptable in His
sight, but it is repulsive arrogance. With all our elaborate music and visuals
we have in large part been worshiping our worship and not the Risen and
Glorified Christ.
Phil.2:
If there be therefore any consolation in
Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels
and mercies,
2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of
one accord, of one mind.3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
This
portion of Scripture is a mind bending profound teaching which when understood
and embraced with deep meditation cannot but alter our minds, our hearts, and
our entire beings. So often glossed over or used to present who Christ was
and what He has done, one of the obvious teachings is overlooked or at least
minimized. Do you have ears to hear and hearts to receive? Well all of us must
repent on a consistent basis when we consider what the Spirit has demanded of
us as it pertains to humility. Can you take undistracted time to meditate upon
what Jesus has done and the humility He embraced just by coming in the likeness
of sinful man?
I mean
just the incarnation is a colossal exhibition of selfless humility that is far
beyond us. That God would come in the likeness as one of His enemies is quite
the human conundrum if we ever stop to give it the appropriate meditative
understanding. I have had many times when I did not even like myself, and yet
the Creator comes in my likeness when in fact He created man in His own
likeness. The depth of that kind of humility cannot be plumbed by the human
mind although it should be honored by those who know Jesus.
But as
we honor the incarnation we are called to emulate the essence of its humility.
Even that is a great and privileged calling. But we are not allowed to stop
there. You see Bethlehem was just the beginning of the eternal plan of our
inconceivable Savior. Before the first light shined; before the first star was
formed; before the trees were made or the waters covered the earth or the dry
land appeared; before the first whale or dog or lion was created or even before
the dust swirled into a human being called Adam, God’s plan had already been
set by His eternal decree. And hidden inside that eternal plan were aspects
that were unfathomable to the natural mind. In fact that is exactly why so many
reject God’s offering of redemption today.
The
natural man cannot understand the things of the Spirit, and the thought that
God would come as a man and even die such a gruesome and public death when He
could have destroyed us all is foreign to the self interests of man. We desire a
God of great power who is on our side and who hates those who we hate and gives
us what we want. A suffering and dying Jew on a Roman cross is actually repulsive
and at odds with our human imagery as to what our superhero god should look
like. At the core of our fleshly desires is a god who is actually a God-like
human who represents us in divine form. Yes, the natural man wants a prototype
human we can call “god”. And this god will give us everything we want and be
answerable to all our demands and wishes. A genie, if you will.
But of
course all that is diabolical nonsense. The Creator laid aside the power of His
deity for a short season, and in an act beyond all understanding, this Creator
became obedient unto death, even the death of that rugged cross. Oh my…oh my.
Can you not feel the goose bumps and the tears welling up? What kind of love
can this be? And there must be a word that soars way beyond the word “humility”
as it pertains to what Jesus suffered at the cross. But gaze deeply at the cross
and that Redeemer and all that blood and gore, and as you attempt to reconcile
such a scene please also remember that the abject humility you are seeing is
what the Spirit uses to call us into our own humility.
The
template for the believer’s humility is not just allowing a car to cut in front
of you, or holding open a door for someone else, or not replying to someone’s
criticism of you. Oh no, our template is this cross. I have a very difficult
time imagining what that kind of humility looks like and reveals itself in an
earthly life because the church has spent such an embarrassingly little time
even speaking about it to say nothing of a sacrificial pursuit of it. Think
about that. What must be our spiritual template finds little room in the
church. And when humility is dealt with it is some shallow definitions that
cost little and reflect a Gandhi-like essence and not the essence of the
Suffering Redeemer.
So with
all the bellicose rhetoric and the political speech and the verbal invectives
leveled at sinners, where is the cross and the humility that must come with it?
With all the television evangelists and their superhero status what kind of
Jesus is being presented? With all the patriotic hubris and national pride
where did that cross go? You see, we have taken that cross and repacked it with
what makes us happy and what makes us feel superior when in fact that is
completely at odds with what the cross is and what it calls us to. That is
exactly why the cross is absent from Christian television because it distracts
people from all the messages of prosperity and elevated self images.
But let
us turn our full attention to our Redeemer and His cross. It is not enough to
reprove false teachers and heretics, or even to point out the obvious
compromise of the visible church. Let us submit to the Spirit and take
responsibility for our own lives. I look at my own life and see so many
violations of the Spirit as it pertains to the humility to which I have been called.
How many of my thoughts are wrought with self righteousness? How can I allow my
mind to feats upon the hubris of television and politics and American
superiority and yet claim to be following Jesus? Yes, let us all take an
uncomfortable inventory and set our hearts to be circumcised by the scalpel of
His Word until we are once again in pursuit if His very heart. This will take
more than just the obligatory head knowledge or a benign checklist. This is a sacrificial
and sacred journey within an eternal realm. This is what it actually means to
follow Jesus.
Now is
the time to reject the continuing movement toward human glory and see it for
the lie that it is. We have been granted salvation’s grace through that
majestic cross. It is now time to pick up our own cross and follow Him.
4 comments:
Amen Rick,
Most christians do not want to hear that they are in need, daily, of Messiah. They cover their ears and shout back saying they don't want to hear such things as this. It is offensive to them that we all are in need of remembering the Christ and His cross, daily.
I believe that coming soon here in the U.S. is persecution of true believers in Jesus, and that persecution will have its origins in the church. I say this because of what I read in Matthew 10:17. But we need to read the whole chapter to be able to know what we are to be doing.
After kneeling at that cross and repenting and asking for forgiveness of your sins, don't you want to hear from Jesus as He says Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you whole. It makes you want to continually be in His presence giving glory to God for His great mercies. I am made whole only because of Jesus and His cross.
My simple words cannot express the healing power that comes over me as I feel the cleansing blood of Jesus as it washes away my sin.
Praise Jesus!
Joel
Just an affirmation and a bit of digressing; I'd say its a big understatement that Phil. 2:1.... is mind bending!
I like to point out the Word of God in its entirety is mind bending, to those without the Spirit or with!
Take for instance how many times an unbeliever unwittingly affirmed with their own "amen" after someone prayed the Lord's Prayer? That is not a prayer anyone ought to foolishly pray! What are we agreeing too when saying "amen" to the Lord's Prayer? THY KINGDOM COME! THY WILL BE DONE! Ah don't you know praying that prayer or affirming it is like turning on a light in a dark room! What happens to the darkness when the Light comes on?
BOOM!
Amen.
I'm thinking of Jesus washing his disciples feet. Then, I think of pastors who say to the unchurched looking for a church, that they have to pay them if we want to attend their church. Meaning, we have to pay them 10% of of our salary to them for services rendered.
Jesus, who being equal with God, who freely gave His life, must weep when he sees how dysfunctional many deceived followers are.
I'm finding that no place of worship is without faults and deception and misinterpretation in at least one thing. If a church teaches strength in one area, it fails to obey in another area. If a denomination indoctrinates it's people on one letter of the law, then it ignores other letters of the law. No one church has arrived and that's not an excuse to accept what churches are doing today.
Humility. The only true church that I experienced with true humility, albeit with works, was Catholic church. Fundamentalist churches and evangelical churches and the pentecostal movements,
one would think, would embrace that type of humility that Bro. Rick teaches here, but it's very rare to be found. I don't want to package them all the same and say all of these lack humility, but in general, today, they've adopted this attitude of pride and exaltation of themselves, where they want men's praise, for being blessed with spiritual gifts. The lack of humility and lack of meekness is so prevalent with the clergy, and I can't describe what I'm feeling about this.
I can't even go to sites, those who say they are unyoked with the world, and who raise their hands unto God to worship and there's no longer any power in it. On one video, a pastor turned around and complimented his choir on their choice of dressing and looking "holy". He said he was proud of their women. They use scripture which says, "Be ye holy for I am holy". The Lord commanded OT Israel to be holy under the old covenant. But, these christians forget that only God IS holy, and that they can never aspire to be perfect like Him, nor reach a holiness plateau ever ever.
Those who think themselves holy, or think their hair "holy" have lost "humility". It appears humble on the outside, but on the inside it could very well be full of dead men's bones. Pride and a lack of humility is everywhere in every denomination; no one is immune. I need to check myself also.
I can't understand how off the beaten track pastors have gone and how Jesus, being equal with God, made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant - and how the hubris and sinful pride of today's churches don't reflect servanthood, but rather lording it over and making demands from secular governments. I pray the veils are lifted off of eyes.
J.
Jesus said in Mathew 10:22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.
Persecution will come from all who hate the true Jesus. Persecution will come from ungodly law makers, from those in leadership positions in business, from irresponsible government leaders and politicians, and from rebellious religious leaders that hate the word of God, mirroring exactly what occured when Jesus and His disciples were persecuted.
Jesus also said in Mathew 10:28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Let's be encouraged for God has blessed Christians with a new nature which delights to praise the perfect work of Jesus on the cross!
It is the non-Christian who isn't hungering and thirsting for righteousness that doesn't want to hear that they are in need, daily, of the Messiah. They are apt to cover their ears and sometimes shout back saying they don't want to hear such things as this.
It is offensive to those living totally self-reliant, prayerless, impure lives to hear that we all are in need of remembering the compassionate, courageous Christ and His cross, daily.
Our righteous LORD said in Mathew 10:38 “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
Saying Amen to the words of Jesus is only truly blessed by God if we are saying it with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
Hypocrites who specialize in uttering a plentiful number of Amens already have their reward.
Josef Sefton
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