Where Is Mine Honor?

May the Watchers Become Warriors

"A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a Father, where is mine honour? And if I be a Master, where is my fear?" Malachi 1:6a

I was reflecting last month how every spiritual problem we deal with has its roots in not knowing how to relate to God as our Father.  A number of recent conversations on fatherhood have only served to reinforce this observation.  Why do I say this?  Because the Father's remedy for man was to sacrifice His Son so that we could be reconciled to Him and know His ways (John 1:18; II Corinthians 5:19).  This is the answer for all mankind: to know the Father and be known by Him.

Last week, I was asked to speak on a blog talk radio show regarding the article "Biblical, Godly Authority", which caused a little stir amongst some Christians on Facebook.  What was the big deal?  Asserting that God's authority is patriarchal, stating that there is an order God has established for the home & church, and daring to contend that there is anything like "authority" in the Body of Christ to which we are called to submit.  Even some who said they heard and agreed with the talk show still contacted me to contest these same points again; demonstrating that they really didn't understand what was said at all.

There continues to be a blindness in man's heart as to what it means to know God as our Father and the key to this understanding is found in repentance.  It is not until we turn from sin (align our view of sin with God's) that we can know God in this way.  Unless we do, we will never be able to walk in God's perfect will for our lives.

God Himself wants to be honored as a Father.  Yet if we do not understand what this means, how can we offer Him the reverence He seeks from us?

Perfect in One

Why Is Fellowship of the Saints Important?

"And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."  John 17:22-23

As I was reading the Scriptures this morning, the following phrase stuck out to me "perfect in one".  Last week, I shared with a brother, "Jesus said that He wants us to be one as He and the Father are one, so we should seek to know what that means."  Then of course, we went on in the conversation and I didn't think of it again.  :-)  Yet as I was reading this morning and came across that phrase, God brought back that conversation to mind and said, "This is why you are to be one."

It is God's desire for His people to be "one" the way the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit are one.  God is one because the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are in harmonious agreement with one another, sharing one mind and one spirit (I John 5:7).  They are united and abide together in love, because they each glorify the other (John 13:31-32, 14:13, 15:26, 17:4; Acts 3:13; Hebrews 5:5; Philippians 2:9; I Peter 4:11).

Years ago, a brother once shared with me an understanding he felt God had given him on the importance of the Trinity.  God is love, and the essence of love is selflessness.  The very nature of selflessness almost requires that its manifestation involve more than one person.  How can I demonstrate that I am selfless if I am an island all to myself, never having the opportunity to consistently deny myself for the sake of another?  True love is in giving of one's self for another.  For true love to be exemplified, it needs to be shared; and that requires interaction with more than just one's self.  Hence, the significance in God being a Trinity is to reinforce the fact that God is love.

In the Secret

"Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen." Deuteronomy 27:15

Our bodies are the temple of God and only if we are sanctified and set apart for Him can we dwell with Him in the "Most Holy Place" or the secret place within us; our spirit man.

Seek God and ask Him to reveal any idols and abominations which would prevent His Holy Spirit from filling us completely or prevent us from hearing His voice. Nothing is hidden from God.

"But Jonathan Saul's son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself." I Samuel 19:2

When your enemies encompass you about and seek to destroy your very soul, remember to find shelter in the secret place with God and abide there with Him. He is able to and He will sustain you.

"He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies." Psalm 18:11

As discussed in the Paradigm Shift - Part 2, the darkest of moments are oftentimes when we are closest to experiencing God's power.  It is in the darkness where the great light shines forth even more.  To quote that from that article again,

"Your emotional condition is not necessarily your heart condition. Allow this piercing of the heart, for out of the wound shall pour forth all that festers and infects you. Surrender it into My hands with genuine repentance, believe and I shall heal you; you shall have a new heart. I shall shine My light into the darkness, and shall shine light upon your heart. Then shall you see clearly; then shall you know my glory in the face of My Son."

Why Does Sorrow Exist?

Revealing the Mystery of Iniquity

Pastor Gary Price of Omega Church & Ministries Center will be speaking on this topic next month in South Carolina as he addresses the underlying cause of cultural and societal decay, as well as outlining how we - the Church - should respond.

The admission to the meeting is free and the details are as follows:

DATE: March 7, 2012

TIME: 7:30 pm

LOCATION:  Thomas Sumter Academy
                          The Auditorium
                          5265 Camden Hwy
                          Rembert, SC 29128

Conclusions to Offering Violence

I have not included on the blog all parts of Thomas Watson's book "The Christian Soldier: Heaven Taken By Storm", but some key portions which I felt would be most impactful and relevant for the day in which we live. The following is the last portion I will post here which sort of sums up his teachings on the Christians' use of violence in the faith.

If you have not read the other sections, I highly recommend that you do.

Hindrances, Directions, & Conclusions to Offering Violence

I shall, in the next place, lay down some rules or directions on how to get this blessed violence.

Take heed of those things which will hinder this violence for Heaven.

Take heed of unbelief. Unbelief is a great remora, for it is discouraging. When a Christian is working for Heaven, unbelief whispers thus, 'To what purpose are all these pains? I might just as well sit still. I may pray, and not be heard; I may work, and have no reward; I may come near heaven, yet miss it' Jer viii.12. 'And they said, there is no hope.' Unbelief destroys hope; and if you cut this sinew of religion, all violence for Heaven ceases. Unbelief raiseth a cloud of despondency in the heart. Alas, you will never be able to go through the work of religion.  There are so many precepts to obey; so many temptations to resist; so many afflictions to bear, that you will succumbere oneri, fall under the burden; you will tire in your march to Heaven.

Unbelief raiseth jealous thoughts of God, it represents him as an austere master, and that if we fail in so little a punctilio, he will take the extremity of the law upon us. This discourageth the soul in the use of means. Unbelief doth as Sanballat and Tobiah and to the Jews, Nehem. vi. 9. 'They all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work.' O take heed of unbelief; it destroys this holy violence. We read of Jeroboam's arm being withered, 1 Kings xiii. 4. Unbelief withers the arm of the soul, that it cannot stretch itself forth to any spiritual action. Unbelief doth the Devil the greatest kindness; it makes way for his temptations to enter, which do so enchant and bewitch us that we cannot work. Beware of this sin: believe the promises: God 'is good to the soul that seeketh him,' Lam. iii. 25. Do but seek him with importunity, and he will open both his heart and Heaven to thee.

Arrows of Reproof and Apostasy

In Part 9 of Thomas Watson's "The Christian Soldier: Heaven Taken By Storm", he discusses why the proper use of spiritual violence is a protection against apostasy.

Part 9 - Arrows of Reproof and Apostasy

Out of this text I may draw forth several arrows of reproof.

It reproves slothful Christians who are settled on their knees: they make a lazy profession of religion, but use no violence. -- They are like the lilies, which toil not, neither do they spin. The snail, by reason of its slow motion, was reckoned among the unclean, Levit. xi. 30. St. Augustine calls idleness the burial of a man alive. There are some faint wishes, oh that I had Heaven! but a man may desire venison, and want it, if he does not hunt for it. Prov. xiii. 4. ‘The soul of the sluggard wisheth and hath nothing.’

---- Neque mola, neque farina ----

Men could be content to have the kingdom of Heaven; but they are loath to fight for it. They choose rather to go in a feather bed to Hell than to be carried to Heaven in a ‘fiery chariot’ of zeal and violence. How many sleep away, and play away, their time; as if they were made like the Leviathan, to play in the sea! Psalm civ. 26. It is a saying of Seneca, ‘No man is made wise by chance.’ Sure it is, no man is saved by chance, but he must know how he came by it, namely, by offering violence. Such as have accustomed themselves to an idle, lazy temper will find it hard to shake off, Cant. v. 3. ‘I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on?’ The spouse had laid herself upon the bed of sloth, and though Christ knocked at the door, she was loath to rise and let him in. Some pretend to be believers, but are idle in the vineyard. -- They pretend to make use of faith for seeing, but not for working; this faith is fancy. O that Christians had a spirit of activity in them, 1 Chron. xxii. 16. ‘Arise and be doing, and the Lord be with thee.’

We may sometimes learn of our enemy. The Devil is never idle; he ‘walketh about,’ 1 Peter v. 8. The world is his diocese and he is every day going on his visitation. Is satan active? Is the enemy upon his march com­ing against us? And are we asleep upon our guard? As Satan himself is not idle, so he will not endure that any of his servants should be idle. When the Devil had entered into Judas, how active was Judas! He goes to the high priest, from thence to the band of soldiers and with them back to the garden, and never left till he had betrayed Christ. Satan will not endure an idle servant; and do we think God will? How will the heathen rise up in judgment against slothful Christians! What pains did they take in the Olympian games: they ran for a garland of flowers, and do we stand still who run for a crown of immortality? Certainly, if only the violent take Heaven, the idle person will never come there. God puts no difference between these two, slothful and wicked, Matt. xxv. 26.‘Thou wicked and slothful servant.’