The Rule of Self and the Rule of God'
The Rule of Self and the Rule of God
The Rule of Self</p>
The Rule of God
The Rule of Self</p> I WILL; I WILL; I WILL; I WILL; I WILL </p> 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.