The Rule of Self and the Rule of God
The Rule of Self and the Rule of God
The Rule of Self
The Rule of God
The Rule of Self
I WILL; I WILL; I WILL; I WILL; I WILL
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. (Isaiah 14:12-15)
It may be true that much of the Christian religion is the head of man on the Body of Christ.
As we consider the history of mankind, one fact stands out. It is not often that any person, religious or not, seeks to abandon his or her own plans and motives and seek the will of God in every aspect of his or her life.
The story of man is that of the creatures of the dust doing their own thinking, planning, imagining, hoping, scheming, speaking, and acting. I believe God has let this self-direction proceed for six thousand years so angels and people can understand the folly, frustration, and destruction that has resulted from our kicking God's upstairs that we might pursue our own course.
Read the newspaper today and tell me I am incorrect. Isn't it true that people try one method and then another to bring righteousness, love, joy, and peace? Have we succeeded? What is our next plan?
Would you believe that God did not give us a mind so we could direct our own life but so we could one day learn to acknowledge God in all our ways?
Our natural mind, our physical mind is the enemy of God. Think of that!
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:7)
Our brain is not the enemy. It is neutral, a computer in our head, so to speak.
Our mind is the way we perceive the world. The mind that is hostile toward God began, I believe, when Adam and Eve rebelled against the command not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It is the human desire to be independent. After all, God walked around in the garden in Eden. They could have asked God if He had changed His mind concerning the forbidden tree. But they did not.
God is here among us in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are free to ask Him about everything we do. Do we, or do we not, ask God about everything in our life? If not, why not? Does the Bible tell us that God will gladly give us wisdom if we ask?
I do not understand how I discovered that all people (and this will be true in the coming world of righteousness) are not to be directed by their own mind but by the Mind of Christ in every aspect of their life. It probably arose in my understanding because I have a fierce desire to be obedient to God in all matters. This is a gift, I know, and I am thankful for it. It is a gift worth praying for!
In any case, I realize that all we think, all we say, and all we do are to be brought to Christ for His wisdom and power.
This may seem like a difficult way to live. It absolutely is not! It is no more difficult to keep acknowledging Christ than it is to carry our daily load of worry, concerns, problems, and frustrations without Christ.
It does require that we keep looking to Jesus all through the day and night. Perhaps this is what the Apostle Paul meant by praying without ceasing. Do you suppose?
There is sin, and then there is self-will. These two realms of spiritual darkness keep us in chains. They both are evil. But the most destructive is self-will.
Think for a moment about the Tabernacle of the Congregation. Standing just before the Veil that concealed the Most Holy Place was the Altar of Incense.
The Altar of Incense represents worship. But that worship represents a giving over of our will to the will of God. Saying "Not my will but Yours be done" is the highest expression of worship. Did you know that?
In order to proceed from the Holy Place into the Most Holy, and the Persons of Christ and God, we have to ask God to help us give over our will to Him. Until we do this we cannot possibly come to the fullness of the stature of Christ.
The River Jordan portrays symbolically the same death to our will. Until we say, and mean, "Not my will but Yours be done," we cannot cross over into our inheritance, the Land of Promise.
You know, there is quite a bit of praise and worship in the current Christian churches in America. But it seems to me it is not always true that "Not my will but Yours be done" accompanies the "worship." After all, singing praises accompanied by beautiful music is pleasant. It does not always proceed from the cross.
This reminds me of a passage in the Book of Hebrews:
And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant. (Hebrews 9:3,4–NIV)
It appears that the priests presumptuously moved the Altar of Incense from its position in the Holy Place into the Most Holy Place alongside of the Ark of the Covenant.
By moving the Altar of Incense the priests destroyed the symbolism. It gives the impression that worship and praise are all God wants; but such is not the case.
It is the Ark that is all important, not the Altar of Incense. The Ark represents the Day of Atonement, the time in which God is reconciled to the people. The Day of Atonement deals with our sin and self-will. We can be filled with sin and self-will and sing beauteously to the Lord (actually to ourselves). But the sin and self-will in our personality are not dealt with!
We worship, worship, worship, and never turn over our will to God!
When God was looking for someone to preside over His Kingdom, His new world of righteousness, His response to the original rebellion, He chose the Word.
The Word, having been with God the Father from untold aeons past, had never been tested in obedience until God sent Him to the earth. Perhaps dying and passing into the spirit world will not make us obedient. After all, disobedience began in the spirit world around the Throne of God!
Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. (Hebrews 5:8)
The lesson continued until the climax in the Garden of Gethsemane.
"Not My will but Yours," cried the Son of Man and Son of God. It was this decision that saved the world and insured the eternal Kingship of Jesus Christ. No other man, even strengthened by an angel, could have passed this test.
The fear was that Christ would never see His Father again!
There was another man, far less perfect than God's Lamb. He made an agonizing ascent up Mount Moriah because God asked him to offer his son as a burnt offering. He had waited a quarter of a century for this boy, a cheerful, bright lad.
"What will I tell Sarah when I return alone?"
As imperfect as he had been in his life, he believed God. His faith resulted in his stern obedience to God, as genuine faith always does.
What a miniature forerunner of Gethsemane! And thus Abraham became the father of all who believe.
If you or I are to have a role of leadership in the new world of righteousness, we too shall have our Gethsemane, but not exceeding what we are able to bear. Will we say at that time, "Not my will but Yours be done"?
The lessons of the Bible inform us that God has to move our will out of the way before He can accomplish His purposes in and through us.
The Apostle Paul had endured so much opposition that he had the sentence of death in himself that he should trust God who raises the dead rather than himself. The Book of Second Corinthians recounts some of Paul's suffering.
In addition, Paul was afflicted in some manner, perhaps with an infection in his eyes, so that God's power might not be hindered by Paul's abilities.
Jacob was brought to the end of himself before he became Israel.
I notice in the church in Smyrna that God permitted Satan to put some of the saints in prison. If they were to gain the crown they had to remain where they were placed until God granted release.
We overcome by loving not our life unto the death. It is death to the rule of self that is at issue. God is not interested in our ambitions or creativity. He desires that His Kingdom come to earth, meaning His will is to be done in every particular.
The installation of God's will in the earth will not be accomplished by the ability of people but by the Spirit of God!
Do you want God to rule your life, or would you prefer to have your own way in many situations? Be wise. "Let go and let God." Enter His rest so you can discover what He has planned for you from the beginning of the world.
Think for a moment about humanism and democracy. When I refer to "humanism" I am not speaking in a Renaissance, cultural sense, but of the system of thought that places human being and their rights and welfare above God.
In today's world, democracy often is thought of as being "Christian." It assuredly is not. It is the operation of the will of the people as they seek to govern themselves. How can the rule of people be the same as the Kingdom of God, in which or God's will takes the place of our will?
Likewise the philosophy of humanism which seeks the rights and welfare of human beings is a masterful ploy of Satan. It places our happiness above the desires of God.
How do you think a humanist would feel about God having His Son suffer as He did? A humanist would have nothing to do with such an assault upon the "rights" of Christ.
In numerous instances, the best things that happen to us take place when we suffer or are denied our "rights." It is through suffering and denial that we grow in Christ.
We cannot be a disciple of the Lord Jesus until we are willing to have our most fervent desires denied to us for so long a period that we place our hopes in Heaven and plod along, one faithful step after another.
God is far more concerned with our obedience than He is with our "happiness."
"I am shut up and cannot come forth," the psalmist groaned. Have you ever been there?
Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth. (Psalms 88:8)
Do you think God has forsaken you while you are seeking to be popular? No, He is refining your inner nature so in the resurrection the personality of Christ will be seen in you.
Humanism and the Bible do not see eye to eye.
As far as democracy is concerned, Christ and His saints will have to govern the nations with the rod of iron righteousness for a thousand years, because of the self-will that has been encouraged by the concepts of humanism.
Antichrist is "against Christ." He is against the rule of Christ and favors the rule of himself. It is as simple as that, revealing that both humanism and democracy are forms of the antichrist spirit.
Even after a thousand years, when the great I WILL is released from the Bottomless Pit, many of the citizens of the Kingdom of God will gladly join with Satan and seek to overthrow the camp of the saints. God shall destroy them all with fire, which certainly is not a nice humanistic thing for God to do!
The world tells us we should be "in control." The psychologists and the teachers tell us we should be "in control." In some instances the religious leaders encourage us to "go forth and do great things for God."
But I tell you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, all of this accent on what we poor creatures of dust are supposed to do in order to gain righteousness, love, joy, and peace will come to nothing of eternal value.
The greatest prayer anyone ever will pray is, "Father, not my will but Yours be done."
I heard one "minister of the Gospel" state that if we pray for someone who is sick to be healed, and then say, referring to God, "Your will be done," that we do not have faith. Can you imagine, telling us that if we say, "Not my will but Yours be done" it is because we do not have faith?
"Not my will but Yours be done" is the greatest declaration of faith any human being ever will make! The statement by the minister revealed that she still believed in the rule of self. ("If we pray for someone to be healed, and we have 'faith,' then they should be healed whether or not it is God's will.") Perhaps without realizing it, this is what she was declaring.
Do you believe our "faith" should insist that our will be done whether or not God agrees? I certainly do not!
When we take the position that we have been crucified with Christ and now it is not we who are living but Christ who is living in us, we then are oriented properly to the new covenant. The Law of Moses, which governs only the living, no longer has authority over us. We are free to flow with the will of Christ as it is revealed to us.
There is a false "rest" in which we become indecisive. It is true rather that we are not to wait for Christ to "move us." We are to blunder ahead in our customary fashion, but always praying for Christ to guide us. We acknowledge Him in all our ways.
He who obeys Christ, obeys God. He who disobeys Christ, disobeys God. He who ignores Christ and seeks to rule himself, ignores God and will end up in misery.
God's commands are not grievous. To follow Christ carefully, always obeying Him in every detail, certainly is a delightful manner in which to live.
I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. (Psalms 40:8)
Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight (Psalms 119:35)
The Rule of God
The "rule of God" is another way of saying the "rest of God." It is a way of living in which every thought, word, and action is part of the will of Christ for us. Such a way of living may seem impossible of attainment. It is not impossible at all!
It is the way Christ lives by the Father and in the Father.
As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. (John 6:57)
Eating Christ's flesh and drinking His blood is a ceremony we observe in church. Actually, it is supposed to be the way we live. What we do in church is to remind us that this is how we are to conduct our life.
As we keep calling on the name of Christ to enable us to overcome sin, Christ feeds us in the spirit realm with His body and blood. This is to be happening continually. It is not difficult. Such is the normal Christian life.
The rest of God is one of the principal, if not the principal, topic of the Book of Hebrews. The key to understanding the rest of God is the following passage:
Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, "So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'" And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. (Hebrews 4:3–NIV)
The key is this: "His works have been finished since the creation of the world."
God's works have been finished since the beginning.
This statement means that every aspect of your life and my life was completed at the time of the creation. Also, a role in the Kingdom of God was assigned to us.
Thus our discipleship is a most wonderful adventure, discovering each day what God has planned for us!
God has stipulated in advance the affairs of our life. God has set forth in advance our role in the Kingdom of God.
Now, here is the issue.
Our full grasp of the marvelous inheritance God has planned for us depends on the choices we are making every day. Paul spoke of taking hold of that for which Christ took hold of him.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. (Philippians 3:12–NIV)
It appears from the above that our life and our role in the Kingdom are not just handed to us. We have to keep pressing forward. In the case of Paul, this is a remarkable statement, given the progress he already had made.
Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:11)
Compare Paul's attitude with that of today where believers are taught that once they "accept Christ" the next stop is Heaven!
So we have to keep pressing forward in Christ at all times. Why is this? It is because of the "rule of self." Our "self" has its own ideas of what we should be thinking, speaking, and acting and keeps seeking to exert itself in place of the rule of God.
We understand, therefore, that our Christian discipleship is a contest between the rule of self and the rule of God.
All of our waking moments this battle continues. The Book of Hebrews compares it with Israel entering Canaan. Our old self can be compared to the Canaanites. Canaan was their home for several generations. They were fighting for their very existence.
So it is with us. Our self-rule is our familiar way of existing. The idea of giving over to God the governing of our life may not appear possible, or practical, or necessary, or enjoyable.
But it is entirely possible, practical, necessary, and enjoyable if we will press into the exchange wholeheartedly and not cling to our idols.
We have to have faith and courage, and a strong desire to please God, if we are to submit to His will to this extent.
But there is no other way. When we do not give over our will to God we are nothing more than rebellious religious dust, even though we have received gifts from the Holy Spirit and have been a minister of the Gospel.
We are religious dust and of no use whatever in the new world of righteousness that is coming.
Why is this? It is because the Kingdom of God is God in Christ in the saints. It is not anointed man. John the Baptist was an anointed man. But Jesus told us he who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than John, and John was the equal of the greatest of the prophets.
John and the prophets were anointed flesh and blood. But, as Paul told us, flesh and blood cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
This is why we have to be born all over again.
Perhaps we need to get a fresh glimpse of Jesus Christ. Christ is the beginning and the end of everything. You and I are of no account unless we are part of Christ. It has pleased the Father that everything be wrought in Christ.
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:15-20–NIV)
If it is true that the Son is the image of the invisible God;
If it is true that Jesus Christ is the firstborn over all creation;
If it is true that in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him;
If it is true that He is before all things, and in him all things hold together;
If it is true that He is the head of the body, the church;
If it is true that He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy;
If it is true that God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Christ, and through Christ to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross;
If it is true that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of all things, including you and me and our role in the Kingdom of God;
And if it is true that God's works have been finished from the beginning; then it appears to me that our business in life is to find our where we fit in the universal Christ. Can you agree with me on this?
As I have stated on several occasions, it is not difficult to become part of Christ and to flow with Him as He flows with the Father. We can rule ourselves, or we can flow with the thinking, speaking, and acting of the Godhead.
It seems kind of stupid to trust in our little dust pile when we could become part of the galactic Christ and share His Life and His inheritance. How do you feel about this?
A voice says, "Cry out." And I said, "What shall I cry?" "All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever." (Isaiah 40:6-8--NIV)
That Word is CHRIST!