Matt.26: 69 Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.
70 But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest.
71 And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth.
72 And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.
73 And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.
74 Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.
75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.
This story is told by all four gospel writers. When the Spirit says something once it is important, but when the Spirit sees fit to include a narrative in all four accounts it must have significance for all of us. But yet how often do we hear about this betrayal except in the token Easter pageants or services?
Who rends their clothes much less their hearts? We sit in the midst of a great apostasy and instead of being driven to a sanctuary of prayer we often sit as spectators and heresy reporters. Yes, we must warn. But do not be deceived, the shadow of this apostasy creeps over us day by day and infiltrates our own hearts and minds, and although we may not embrace the heretics of our day, we are still being systematically changed by its influence.
Peter denies even knowing his Lord. Because of the fear of man, Peter turns his back on Jesus. But soon Peter will be inhabited by a power not of this world. The one who now denies Jesus and warms his hands by the world’s fire will stand up publicly and preach Christ to the nations. The transformation is remarkable, and one day Peter will gladly give his own life for the cause of His Master.
But who could have foreseen what the church would do as a whole? Why would we follow in Peter’s footsteps and not the bloody footprints of our Wonderful Savior? Half the western church chases after heretics while the other half sleeps with them. To juxtapose the colossal sacrifice of the cross upon the hollow activity of the western organization that uses the name “church” is not only embarrassing, but it is an outright falsehood.
What if you had raised your child with all the love and affection you knew how to give, and yet when he became a man he rejected everything you ever said and in fact rejected you? God makes us and loves us and nurtures us and now He must endure a rejection that is so deep that His own church refuses to embrace Who He is in truth. Not only has the church changed His teachings, but they continue to systematically change Him as well. Oh how His heart must break. How the Spirit must grieve.
Have you ever dreamed about running from something but your legs could hardly move? Well even we who see the apostasy rolling in like great waves, even we seem to have feet of iron which resist us. We should be so broken and so moved and yet we are hindered by our own flesh and the unseen influences of this fallen world. Watch as most of the church betrays the Savior, but in our own circles we must beseech God to free us from ambivalence. Go ahead and deny it, but that only cements it more deeply.
I want more of Him, don’t you? I realize that I am in the quicksand of this fallen culture, and I also realize that through decades upon decades of decay the present expression of His church is actually a betrayal of what was His original creation. How much of this world captures us? We are drawn to the things of this world and many times we are ignorant of our own compromises. We are in desperate need of a mighty move of prayer that sees the Spirit bathe us in repentance and reveals a greater vision of the Risen Christ to our hearts. Without a glimpse of such a vision our eyes will continue to be filled with the temporal.
Oh how diabolical and clever is our flesh. It lusts after the things and systems of this world, but instead of presenting them as such, it patiently brings them into the church and our hearts and even deftly suggests that they are what God desires for us. And we who cling to the self label “orthodox” are quick to recognize that compromise in the prosperity movement and the emergent church and the liberal teachings and even the cults. But we remain blind to the multitude of fleshly incursions within our own brand. And like a person on a diet who trains his flesh to be satisfied with less and less, so have we become satisfied with less and less of Him. And we supplant that lack with being able to see and reject heretics.
Do we believe it is enough to resist entering the enemy’s camp even though we have established some camps of our own which burn fires of activity far away from Golgotha? I realize we must warn others concerning the great heresies of our time, but so often I grow weary of reading about Bell and Warren and Osteen and others. Searching for and finding false teachers does not satisfy my soul. Although it is necessary and beneficial to the body of Christ, and although I do from time to time feel led to expose them, we can never camp out there and think we are following Jesus. We have forfeited much ground ourselves.
One of the reasons that only a small handful of discernment sites ever link to me or reprint my posts is because of verbiage like this. But I try and allow the Spirit to speak through me and TO me first. Many cannot abide self examination except in the generic and doctrinal sense. Many also resist any correction on nationalism. But don’t we all desire to be more like Jesus? Isn’t that our calling and our heart’s desire? Then how can we even read the New Testament and be blind to just how much the fallen culture and the evangelical culture has ensnared us? And even among the literal and inerrant crowd we seem to see only what we want to see from God’s Word. As long as our doctrinal statements are orthodox we can relax and pull out our heresy slingshots. But all the while the Spirit wishes to have us gaze into the mirror of God’s Holy Word concerning our own refiner’s fire.
Betrayal is a grievous principle. It is not reserved for then greatest heretics among us. It is a subtle but powerful spirit which can patiently wait for its opportunities. It will take it victories in pieces and it can feed upon small and seemingly insignificant steps. It does not need an all out betrayal which can easily be spotted.
The little foxes are an assembly line for betrayal. If we are not even willing to place ourselves on the altar and allow a painful examination of our own spiritual health than we should not be exposing others. How many little foxes have built comfortable nests within your own heart and life? And mine? And these foxes are not just deceptive spirits of commission, they major in deceptions concerning omission as well. They convince us that because we do not get drunk or do drugs, and because we reject Rob Bell et. al., and because we faithfully trot down to our church of choice, then we must be walking in all His fullness. The little foxes sit very comfortable and unnoticed in church pews and pulpits.
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
And just where, pray tell, have these verses gone? Who denies themselves anymore? The entire ecclesiastical culture is built upon self worth and self aggrandizement. God wants to help everyone get where they want to go, and any setback must be endured as if it comes from Satan. New cars, new homes, new clothes, new televisions, and new almost anything are blessing from God the Santa Claus of all things material. But self denial? That is reserved for diets and athletes and foreign missionaries. But anyone who has ever had an encounter with the Risen Christ and His glory hates his own flesh. Anyone who genuinely desires to see and be more of Him desires to deny himself.
The early believers were persecuted for a variety of things, however they were not vociferous on those issues. They did not protest, they did not boycott, they did not vote, they did not speak out against sinners. So why were they persecuted? Because they denied themselves and walked in the Spirit of Christ Jesus. The Lordship of Christ was so powerful in their lives that two things happened. They drew many sinners to Christ through the testimony of their lives and word, and they drew much persecution because when sinners turn to Jesus the culture is threatened.
In Acts 16 we see Paul cast out an unclean spirit from a woman who was what we would call a palm reader or a card reader today. And the men who had made money off her were incensed. That is exactly what should bring persecution. Not a combative spirit and not fighting fire with fire. But when our lives are so filled with His presence and power that sinners are drawn to Christ, then the culture will rise up and some believers may even find themselves in prison. Until then we will have to suggest we are being persecuted because men say bad things about us or that sinners are legislating like sinners. And that kind of persecution makes money on books and conferences and T-shirts and banners, but it does not require any self denial. It is a clandestine form of betrayal that camouflages itself as standing for truth and morality when in effect it is a betrayal of the life and teachings of Jesus.
Think about this. Two men are friends. They are married and have children. One man, Bill, strikes up a flaming affair with a coworker and not only does he continue the relationship for several years, but he and his mistress make plans to get married some day. This man spends large amounts of money and time with his mistress and even some of his friends are made aware of his affair.
The second man, Jim, has never had an affair and he loves his wife and children. He does spend time with them and he remains faithful to his wife. However he becomes addicted to pornography. He continually gazes at other women and gratifies himself while looking at them. He never has a personal encounter with any women, however he practices his addiction almost daily without his wife’s knowledge.
Now I ask you, which one of these men was unfaithful to his wife? Yes, they both were. But imagine that the second man, Jim, gets caught by his wife in his addiction to pornography. What if he said,
“Yes, I am addicted to pornography. However I am not like Bill. I have never had a real physical relationship with another woman. So let us concentrate on Bill’s deep sin and let’s treat mine as minor and generic”. What if Jim showed all kinds of indicting photos of Bill and his mistress? What if Jim had hotel receipts that revealed Bill’s affair? What if Jim showed his wife documented evidence that Bill was actively involved with betraying his wife? Do you believe Jim’s wife would be satisfied and distracted enough to make room for her husband’s sin just because it is not as demonstrative as his friend’s is? Surely not.
But that is what some Christian camps do. Because Rob Bell’s heresy is so profound, and because Joel Osteen does not preach truth, and because Rick Warren is bringing all religions together, this camp refuses to admit their own sin and need for a spiritual awakening. And this is the camp named “orthodox”. We would claim a seat in this camp, but hopefully we could see that our “camp” needed much Spiritual correction and repentance. I can clearly see it in my own life. I believe the day I become satisfied and content with my spiritual journey is the day I begin to decay. The day I lay my head down at night and smile because I have exposede Joel Osteen is the day I begin to die.
A father has two sons. Before the father leaves on a trip he calls his sons before him. He shows them two piles of rocks and tells them that each of them must pick up these rocks and move them into a pit he has dug. He adamantly instructs them not to put the rocks in the shallow and closer pit, but carry them to the farther and deeper pit. Each of them must carry one of the rock piles. The sons nod and say they will do it.
The younger son begins to pick up his pile of rocks, but instead of placing them in the deeper pit he throws them in the more shallow pit which is much closer. In a few hours he is done. The older son walks inside and watches his younger brother throw the rocks in the wrong pit. He opens the window and shouts rebukes at his brother. As his younger brother finishes and walks back into the house, his older brother continues to rebuke and scold him. In fact, the older brother demands his younger brother leave the house. Even though the younger brother leaves the house, he still claims he lives there.
The older brother prints out a copy of his father’s instructions. He precisely reveals that the father had told them to place the rocks in the pit that was further away and deeper. He shows pictures of the rocks the younger brother has thrown in the shallow and closer pit. Everyone in the neighborhood is offended about the younger brother’s actions. They begin to form groups that show just how disobedient the younger brother’s actions were, and they refuse to allow him into their homes. They print all sorts of informative material about how the father specifically said the further and deeper pit was to be filled with those rocks. They print out statements which openly associate themselves with the further and deeper pit. They embrace the deeper pit. In fact, they gather every Sunday morning around the deeper and farther pit and sing songs and encourage each other, because, they believe in this deeper pit. And because they love this deeper pit it proves they love and obey the father.
But there seems to be one major problem. This deeper pit group has left many stones in the original pile, and even though they have thrown some of their stones in the deeper pit, they seem to ignore the fact that they have many stones still left in their pile and they no longer are actively carrying those stones into the deep pit. They seem satisfied with amount they have already carried, but they are very energetic about condemning the younger brother for his open disobedience.
Again, the question must be asked. Who is betraying that father? And the answer is both. God is not interested in degrees, He is interested in having His followers seek to be molded into the image of His Son. And though many have openly betrayed His Son, still others have ceased to sacrificially seek Him as well. The depth of the betrayal of others must not provide a shield for our own betrayal. We must take up our spiritual journey with the freshness and energy as if we had just met Christ. There are many rocks that are left to be carried, and that is not a distasteful task. It must be a labor of love.
All acts of disobedience, either of commission or omission, are betrayals of Jesus. If we have lost our fervent desire to be like Him every moment of every day, then we are in a state of betrayal. And with that kind of standard, let us deepen the stakes and lengthen the cords of our own spiritual tent.
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