John 7:37-53
37 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, "Surely this man is the Prophet."
41 Others said, "He is the Christ."
Still others asked, "How can the Christ come from Galilee? 42 Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?" 43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. 44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.
45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him in?"
46 "No one ever spoke the way this man does," the guards declared.
47 "You mean he has deceived you also?" the Pharisees retorted. 48 "Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law — there is a curse on them."
50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 51 "Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?"
52 They replied, "Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophete does not come out of Galilee."
[The earliest and most reliable manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53-8:11.]
53 Then each went to his own home.
Observations for living today:
On the last and greatest day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the priest would bring a golden vial of water from the pool at Gihon Spring (fount of Siloam) and pour it on the sacrifice on the alter, most likely a reflection upon the water Moses drew from the rock in the wilderness. The Nation’s hope for the fulfillment of the coming of the Messiah (Num 20:8-11; Ps 78:15-16; Zech 14:8,16-19) united everyone’s heart and mind on the salvation and life God promised to Abraham. Jesus told those assembled He was the fulfillment of what they were looking for. He did not quote specific chapter and verse, but told them their hopes were addressed completely in the Scripture (cf. Joel 2:28; Isa 44:3; Isa 55) and just as the people came to the prophet Moses to be saved from dying of thirst in the wilderness, so Jesus would save them if they were thirsty and came to Him to drink from God’s well of salvation. He is the rock out of which the life giving Spirit of God would flow. Whoever believes Jesus and follows Him faithfully, will become a part of the continuous flow of living water (Jn 4:14), i.e., an ongoing cause and effect of His work, similar to His reference to a grain of wheat dying to generate the next crop of life-giving food (Jn 12:24).
People come to those representing God to better understand reality and they expect to hear the truth. Paul wrote the problems in the world are the direct result of the godlessness and wickedness of men. The rebellion against God by the angels in the heavenly realm, migrated to mankind in the Garden of Eden, and it continues to manifested itself in men who replace the truth today with lies and call it wisdom. The reality is, rebelling against God results in futile thinking and is the direct consequence for following the foolish desires of the human nature (Ro 1:18-29). This will always happen when God gives specific instructions on what to do and man is not careful to do it right. Consider Moses, face to face with God in the “Tent of Meeting,” being told what and how to get water for God’s people in the wilderness. When Moses let his emotions take charge, he changed what was supposed to be said and done; he hit the rock twice and addressed the people focusing their attention on his brother and himself, instead of just speaking to the rock. Because he failed to follow what God said to him, neither Aaron nor Moses were allowed to enter the promised land with the people. Jesus, however, has a ministry superior to Moses, because He always did what He saw God doing and spoke what He was told to say, so the world would know He did exactly what the Father commanded (Jn 5:19; 8:26, 28, 38, 40; 12:49; 14:10, 24, 31).
Three serious conditions are associated with understanding God’s truth and the fulfillment of His salvation proclaimed by Jesus in God’s temple during the greatest day of the Feast of Tabernacles:
1) you must be thirsty,
2) you must come to Jesus, and
3) you must drink!
1. The Pharisees who sent the guards to arrest Jesus to stop Him from revealing the truth were not thirsty: they thought they had no need of salvation from God, because they were not like everyone else, lowly, uneducated and sinful. Nicodemus, however, was thirsty and had sought out Jesus to get a drink to satisfy his thirst previously, which is why he stood up to their perversion of justice. He still had not committed completely to Jesus, nor drank the water Jesus offered; but he would (Jn 19:39).
2. Consider what happens when you are really thirsty, when you come to the one God sent, and drink deeply from the well He provides. If you really believe, you will accept and believe “with certainty” the words Jesus spoke are from God, just like the Apostles did (Jn 17:8). The amazing hope His words generate today is established in the unchangeable character of God and the fact the Father always answers the prayers of His Son. We are confident the Father heard the prayer of His Son in John 17, knowing those who saw and heard Jesus speak those words were also filled with His Holy Spirit according to God’s purpose to show how much He loves us.
3. Belief comes in stages – some considered Him a prophet, others the Messiah, i.e., Christ. What do you consider Him and as with Nicodemus, where are you in meeting God’s conditions for success? Similarly, thirst is satisfied in stages; first to address the acute dehydration and then to fulfil the requirement to maintain the body. Drinking as with eating is not a one-time event, but demands a continued drinking experience to remain vibrant and alive. The first drink stops the dying, continuing to drink brings the fullness of life.
Water quality is important. One can compare drinking good water to eating a healthy diet. Ignore this fact of life and life threatening conditions will rapidly develop. If the wrong food and water is consumed, one could eat and/or drink themselves to death quickly, specifically, one could be starving while eating or dying of thirst while drinking. Rabbit Starvation is caused by eating only low/no fat animal meat exclusively. It quickly leads to death by starvation, while eating continuously, even to the extent the stomach becomes stretched (distended). Drinking saltwater vs fresh has a similar impact, it does not satisfy thirst and the salt in the water overwhelms the body’s cellular processes and quickly kills you.
It is important to note the parallel between the physical and the spiritual. The body and the spirit have critical needs that must be met to grow and remain healthy. What you feed the spiritual part of your being is actually more important than what you feed the physical. This physical body is temporary and will be replaced with a new physical permanent body (1 Cor 15). What you feed the spiritual part of your being is exceptionally more important; eat or drink the wrong stuff and you kill yourself, while desperately taking in more and more, trying to satisfy an overwhelming hunger or thirst. Human nature tries to satisfy itself on the wrong food and drink. The immediate result, poisons the soul, increases the desire for more and leads very quickly to a death spiral, which, without a supernatural intervention, leads to a permanent death of the soul. John describes this kind of death after dying as the second death—a permanent separation from God’s grace eternally, with no hope of salvation (Rev 20: 6, 12-15; 21:6-8, 22-26; 22:1-7).
Reality is, we are not human beings having a temporary spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a temporary human experience. Jesus understood this when He addressed the people’s desire for God’s salvation. If you live life following the desires of the human nature, if you consume only food to satisfy the appetite of your human nature and avoid healthy food and water, missing out on the food and drink God presented 2000 years ago, you are in reality one of the walking dead, eating and drinking yourself to a permanent second death.
A quote capturing the essence of this concept is, “You are what you eat.” Perhaps one of the best examples of this idea is found in the life of the person who first used the phrase in 1863, Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872). He attended the University of Heidelberg and the University of Berlin to prepare for a career within the church, but was diverted when he joined a group of Philosophers known as the “Young Hegelians” and ended up satisfying his human nature on worldly thoughts, becoming an atheist philosopher, whose writings significantly influenced Karl Marx’s views. (Steven Shapin, Never Pure: Historical Studies Of Science As If It Was Produced By People With Bodies, Situated In Time, Space, Culture, And Society, And Struggling For Credibility And Authority, Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010, 568 pages, pg 235 (ISBN 978-0801894213)).
The example of the Jewish leadership also shows us what happens when you ignore the “words of God,” thinking you have attained superior wisdom, with a righteousness apart from all others; healthy, wealthy and wise, lacking nothing, and needing nothing (cf. Rev 3:14-22). If one considers oneself a child of Abraham, one must ask the question, if your God is the creator and sustainer of all things, and your religious institutions reflect the glory and power of such a God; where is the Ark of the Covenant and what happened to the Temple with its required sacrifices? Perhaps the answer will be found listening to the words God has spoken! Ezekiel saw and heard what God would do: remove the leadership who failed to represent Him, and do it Himself. The early Church rejoiced in this the new covenant between God and Man; Paul wrote of it in his letter to the Hebrews, quoting the Jewish Scriptures: God Himself will teach His people, write His law on their mind and put it in their heart, and place His (only) faithful servant to be a shepherd over them (Heb 8-10; quotes Jer 31:31-34 and fulfils Ez 34 and Jer 3:14-18).
Jesus established God’s new covenant, speaking the words the Father’s gave Him, doing everything exactly the way the Father wanted it done (Jn 14:10, 24, 31).
Reality in Christ:
“The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the full light of day. The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you choose, what you think, and what you do is who you become. Your integrity is your destiny . . . it is the light that guides your way.” (Heraclitus Greek Poet, Philosopher)
You become what you think about, what you feed on daily; it colors your decisions and leads you to a destination. If your thinking is governed by your human nature, you satisfy human desires, but if you live by and in the Spirit, governed by your spiritual nature, you satisfy the things of God. Always remember what happened to Peter when he allowed his human nature to lead him. Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked him after Jesus explained God’s plan for saving mankind. Jesus immediately called Peter “Satan,” warning him to keep his focus off of human concerns and keep it on things God cares about (Mat 16:15-28; Lk 9:20-27; Mk 8:31-38).
Things to think about often (daily for new Christian) as they will most definitely shape your destiny.
- Who is not my friend? James 4:4
- Who is my friend? Luke 7:33; John 15:13-15
- Who am I? Luke 7:47
Who is not my friend.
Knowing your enemy, who it is, what will be done, when and how it will be done is a function of vigilance.
“All warfare is based on deception” (Sun Tzu, The Art of War, Ch. 1, para 18). Information is critical to success in warfare. Information will shape your opponents next action, just as it does yours, and if you believe a lie, you could lose more than a battle, perhaps your failure could cascade into losing the entire war. Misinformation is just as critical as having accurate information. You want accurate information about your enemy, but on the other hand, you would like your enemy not to have any information regarding your situation. I if he does get some information of your situation it would best if it was wrong, i.e., thinks you are weak where you are strong or strong when you are weak.
Stealth is very popular in warfare because it alters how critical information is understood. The most popular form of stealth is to be invisible. Being invisible enables you to see and hear things to your benefit, or to position yourself so you can use your weapons more effectively. An enemy who has mastered the art of stealth has just dramatically improved his chance of successfully defeating you.
Your enemy is invisible or using stealth when you:
- do not know the one who wants to destroy you;
- do not know what he can do or wants to do, where, when, or how;
- think you are in no danger; or
- think you are stronger than he is even if he does attack.
We are at war with the enemy of God, “not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” whose suppression of truth and lies beguile ignorant people who think they are wise (Rev 12: 7-9, 17; Eph 6:12, 13). Knowing who your struggle is against, is like knowing you have a problem, it is only half the solution, and what to do about this very big, serious problem, is the other half. I used to tell my children every problem has a solution, but implementing the solution is never easy. I learned this from the Prussian general, Carl von Clausewitz, who wrote, “War is very simple, but in War the simplest things become very difficult” (On War (1832), Bk 1, Ch. VII, para 2). As a Naval warrior trained by the US Army, I know this to be true. As a Christian warrior engaged daily as Paul described above, I can testify the solution is simple, but very difficult to do, and will require the utmost courage and commitment every moment of the rest of one’s life—putting on the full amour of God (Eph 6:11). If there are any doubts, that it can be done or should be done, read William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour (Complete & Unabridged) – The Ultimate Book on Spiritual Warfare.
Who is my friend? Jesus was talking to His disciples on the night He was betrayed and what He said to them was exceptionally important. He told them He would no longer call them “servants” but, instead, He would call them “friends” (Jn 15:15)! Why was it important for them to know this? He wanted them to understand very clearly just how much God loves them and how important they are to God’s business. The war of all wars is being fought and Jesus wants them to know clearly where they stand in God’s eyes. “As the Father loved me, so have I loved you. . . so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. . . everything that I learned from the Father I have made known to you. . . I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” He only had one condition for them to maintain this standing, “You are my friends if you do what I command. . . This is my command: Love each other.” And then He closed His discussions with them with the greatest prayer ever prayed; a prayer to be memorized and continuously remembered daily by every Christian who believes Jesus to be the Son of the living God (Jn 15-17).
God and Jesus are one, and they both are “Friend” to us. This is the message of the gospel: reconciled to God, no longer considered an enemy, but a true friend (Ro 5:10; 2 Cor 5:18; Col 1:22).
How many times did God tell us something awesome—incredibly hard to believe—while saying, “do not be afraid”? Whether God was speaking through a prophet, angel, or the very Son of God incarnate, His intent was, is and will always be the same: I know you are going to have difficulty understanding this, it is going to scare you, but trust me, I will not mislead you or let you down, and you will not be disappointed if you believe what I am saying.
To the Twelve Apostles sent out to proclaim His message to the lost sheep of Israel, Jesus told them not to be afraid of those they would face who could kill their body, but could not harm their soul. Instead, He wanted them to understand the one who could kill both the body and the soul, loved them very much. To make it clear, He told them the Father was aware of every sparrow sold in the market place (two for a penny), and not one of those birds fell to the ground without the Father knowing about it. They were far more important birds, in fact, God’s awareness of their life was so detailed, He was aware of and had given every hair on each of their heads a number. Now here is the awesome and scary, if you can see it from their perspective. They were not to worry about what to say when called to testify in front of the elite of this world— “it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Mat 10:26-42; Lk 12:1-12). No pressure, all they had to do was believe what God said is true.
To each of us, God says, have no fear, believe in me, I love you and know where you are and what you face. Fear has no place in the life of one who has been redeemed by God, because God’s Spirit dwells within them; they are no longer a slave to fear, for they are His child—God is our Daddy (Ro 8:15)! God, in Christ has destroyed the power of Satan, eliminating first the chains of human nature binding us to sin; transforming us by replacing our nature with His nature, thereby reconciling us to God. Then through the knowledge of God with His Holy Spirit dwelling within us, He cleanses our conscience so the fear of death/dying/disappointing God is gone. Satan is utterly destroyed, his dominion over those who believe God’s message has been removed, and he in turn is bound by God’s reality, to be cast into the depths of the abyss away from the presence of God on judgment day. All who are alive are so because they believe God’s words—they live by their faithfulness (Heb 2:14-18).
The Father is building something new, something not bound by the physical or temporal laws of this world. Rather, He is building a dwelling for Himself, whether you call it a house or temple, it is like nothing we have seen or experienced before (Heb 3). Jesus is the capstone of what God is building, a rock—a living Stone for those who believe, giving them a spiritual nature so they can be part of what God wants for a dwelling place (1 Pet 2:1-10). For those who do not believe, Jesus becomes “a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” (1 Pet 2:7 quoting Isa 8:14). Paul put it this way: “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life” (2 Cor 2:15-16).
This new building is what God really wanted—not sacrifices and offerings—but a body who would do His will; and in Christ and through Christ, God has/is/will make this a reality. The Law was a shadow of the what was to come (Heb 10:1; Col 2:1). But Christ is not a shadow of something to come; He is the Reality! We are not waiting for something to happen, it has already happened and it is the reality in the heavenly realm even now. We are waiting for God to complete His work and enter into His rest where we will join Him (Heb 4). As a friend of God, with God as a friend, we need to stop thinking as humans and think as “Spiritual Beings” who God put the Spirit of Christ into! We need to drive fear out of our life and know we are alive in and with Christ now. This reality (fact/truth) is not going to change—our bodies might get weaker and even die, but the eternal spirit God gave us will not, and when God establishes the “new order,” and our bodies become imperishable and immortal, where will the fear of death be known and who will it affect? (1 Cor 15:54; Rev 21:5)
From the very beginning God warned us of living in fear. When Cain was afraid he had lost his standing with God and was consumed with anger; his human nature focused his thinking on his brother’s success. God saw the danger saying: “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it” (Gen 4:7). I do not think God was referring to Cain’s sacrifice, but was warning him about his thinking, what he was focused on and about to do!
The danger anger brings is not the emotion, but the overwhelming focus on thinking about what to do! When you use the emotion anger generates to do good, what is really right, you will be accepted by God. If you let the anger focus you on evil, Satan will overcome you, master you, and destroy you. James told us, regarding sin, “each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:14). And the way to change what you are thinking, avoiding temptation— “Submit yourselves, then to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you (James 4:7-8). What you focus on, effects what you become; you become what you eat or feed on!
If we are all like sheep that have gone astray, then the “Good Shepherd” is our best friend (1 Pe 2:25; Jn 10:14; Rv 7:17).
Who am I? Really? If what I think about I become, then what I do must reflect what I believe.
When Jesus was criticized by the religious elite for associating with “sinners”, He said, “wisdom is proved right by all her children.” The wisdom of God is not proven by the pronouncements of leaders, priest or preachers, it is in fact proven by its results: the lives and actions of God’s children, both the Son of God and all those who follow in his footsteps (Lk 7:35).
Think about what God cares about – reflect what Paul wrote on being “Christian”
God revealed a new type of righteousness
“that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith’ [Hab 2:4 by his faithfulness]” (Rom 1:17).
You have the fullness of God, do not be fooled by the world
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Col 2:8-14).
Take off the old self and put on the new self
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature. . . since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Col 3:1-5, 9-10).
Living by one’s faithfulness is observable, seen in what you do—how you do it
“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” (Rom 8:5-9)
In Christ we are “a new creation” and we see everything from a new point of view
“Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. . For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. . . We live by faith, not by sight. . . So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. . . So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Cor 5:1, 4-5, 7, 9-10, 16-17).
Check your own actions, but be careful not to compare yourself against others
“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. . . Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load (Gal 5; 6:1-5).
Scary vs Hopeful
Give some thought to the following ideas; compare them to each other, to help you maintain a focus on what you think about—a negative and a positive, one a scary touch of reality to counter the other or to balance the hope for a new future. Both are necessary to maintain connected to what is real; lose one or give one too much attention and the imbalance will cause you to spin out of control. Understanding the negative is possible only when you can live without fear.
Scary part first. Regarding breaking faith with God by not doing what He said, either intentionally or unintentionally; Paul wrote,
“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Heb 10:26-31).
Whatever happened to “Sin” and “Shame”. Christians today seem to be comfortable with not listening to God, i.e., irreverence is an indication of unbelief in the power of God! Ignoring sin is a form of strategic stupidity. Anyone who thinks on judgment day, when they come face to face with God and say, “I didn’t know” or “I don’t know why I did it;” that such a weak excuse for sinning will work any better for them than it did when my 8-year-old used it to explain his disobedience to me, is as immature as an 8-year old.
Who do you think God will be more upset with, discipline or punish to a greater degree – the Hebrews in the wilderness (Num 15:22-41) or the Christians of 2016? What part of His character influences your answer most: His righteousness, power, justice, unchanging nature, etc.?
To think God’s justice for all the injury deliberate sinning did to the innocent will go unnoticed is misguided. Do you think His love for the sinner, ignores the pain of those offended and injured by those who sinned? Those who do not consider the impact of their sin and pray for blanket forgiveness without intense regret/remorse accompanied by continuous sorrow and tears as part of their repentance, do not make a case for justice.
Perhaps this is why all sincere Christians pray for forgiveness with tears and sadness for all the injuries resulting from both intentional and unintentional sins; for all of us know we have sinned, even if we do not know how much it affected others. Chapter 4 of James addresses the conflicting desire dwelling within each of us, and counseled us on how to live victoriously: “Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. . . Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins” (vs 9 & 17).
While not dwelling on it, but never forgetting it either, remember; everything will be laid bare, thoughts and attitudes (Heb 4:12-13) alike; and every careless word will be accounted for on judgment day, “for by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Mat 12:36-37).
Finally, the really hard and scary part, read 1st John and measure yourself carefully, not to justify yourself, but to first accurately understand yourself and then to understand how much God loves all of us. Do not be afraid, fear is Satan’s finest weapon, forged in a kiln of lies. Let the truth John heard be part of what you think about, knowing we cannot imagine the beauty of what he saw and had the privilege to physically experience.
Now for the positive side, one of hope for those who remain faithful to God. Listen to what John heard during his revelation (Rev 2:7, 10-11, 17, 26-29; 3:3-6, 11-13, 17-22), to what Jesus promised those who did what was right while in the body. To those who overcome He will:
-- give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
-- give the crown of life . . . will not be hurt at all by the second death.
-- give some of the hidden manna (bread of God) . . . will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.
-- give authority over the nations— 'He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery'—just as I have received authority from my Father. . . will also give him the morning star.
-- be dressed in white. . . will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.
-- will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.
-- will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.
CONCLUSION:
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle” (Sun Tzu, The Art of War, Ch. III, para 18).
Written between 500-450 BC to explain why military campaigns were lost. The quote reveals why so many Christians find themselves defeated by the evil surrounding them; why instead they are wounded, dying and confused by their lack of victory against sin. Success calls for a serious warrior ethos; to continually believe God, to put on the “new self” eliminating the weakness of human nature and to live without fear, trusting God’s character as a Father. God tempts no one to sin, but allows our belief (faith) in Him to be proven; therefore, if anyone needs wisdom to understand what is happening, ask “Daddy”! (Mk 14:36; Ro 8:15; Gal 4:6; Jas 1, 4)
Who’s not my friend. Do not be friends with those who are at war with God. How you will treat those who are at war with God, is another discussion, but for now just knowing who is not your friend is enough. Note: Jesus said to love your enemy and pray for him, not to be led by him or believe his lies; all prayer for an enemy should begin with, “forgive them for they know not what they are doing.”
Who is my friend. Understanding God’s character is important. One needs to first grasp the fundamentals of the Gospel to understand what truth is, then add knowledge gained through experience, i.e., practical application—do what the Word said. God loves you and if you believe Him everything will be more than okay.
Know myself. American Indian analogy says when two dogs are fighting for control of a man, the one the man feeds the most will win. Have an honest discussion about where you are and where you need to go; what to or not to do, understanding what you are doing tells a lot about who your real father is. Fact is, you cannot serve two masters. You are bound to one or the other, in this there is no both.
Prayer:
Father, you created us and have always loved us; everything you have done or said has always been for our benefit. Thank you for not giving up on us, even when we ignored you and chose instead to walk away from you. Help us as we return, to become wise again, to better understand how foolish we have been so we will never again make the mistake of doubting your truths. Thank you for sending your Son so we could see your truth and find our way back to you. Like the people in the wilderness seeking freedom from slavery and the lost Samaritan at the well thirsty for relief from the brutal heat of life, we come to the one your sent to us for a drink; your love and mercy are more than refreshing, they are necessary for us to become what you created us to be.
Father help me understand the truth you have given me today and to avoid the confusion created by the lies of enemy. Save me from the fog of war surrounding me, from deception planted by those around me and especially from the darkness hiding within me. Fill me with your Holy Spirit so I can see and understand the foolishness of my rebellion and so I will always choose your wisdom. Thank you for the redemption and transformation you are working in my life. Strengthen me with your Holy Spirit, so I will remain courageous and live without fear, keeping my focus on what it means to live by faith. Help me to always be steady, to not get become impatient, but to know with certainty, when things are hard and seem hopeless, you know exactly what is happening to me and you will not let me fail if I keep trusting that you love me. Thank you for letting me know your plan of reconciliation and for a brother who gave Himself so I could stand again in your presence.
37 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, "Surely this man is the Prophet."
41 Others said, "He is the Christ."
Still others asked, "How can the Christ come from Galilee? 42 Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?" 43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. 44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.
45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him in?"
46 "No one ever spoke the way this man does," the guards declared.
47 "You mean he has deceived you also?" the Pharisees retorted. 48 "Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law — there is a curse on them."
50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 51 "Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?"
52 They replied, "Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophete does not come out of Galilee."
[The earliest and most reliable manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53-8:11.]
53 Then each went to his own home.
Observations for living today:
On the last and greatest day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the priest would bring a golden vial of water from the pool at Gihon Spring (fount of Siloam) and pour it on the sacrifice on the alter, most likely a reflection upon the water Moses drew from the rock in the wilderness. The Nation’s hope for the fulfillment of the coming of the Messiah (Num 20:8-11; Ps 78:15-16; Zech 14:8,16-19) united everyone’s heart and mind on the salvation and life God promised to Abraham. Jesus told those assembled He was the fulfillment of what they were looking for. He did not quote specific chapter and verse, but told them their hopes were addressed completely in the Scripture (cf. Joel 2:28; Isa 44:3; Isa 55) and just as the people came to the prophet Moses to be saved from dying of thirst in the wilderness, so Jesus would save them if they were thirsty and came to Him to drink from God’s well of salvation. He is the rock out of which the life giving Spirit of God would flow. Whoever believes Jesus and follows Him faithfully, will become a part of the continuous flow of living water (Jn 4:14), i.e., an ongoing cause and effect of His work, similar to His reference to a grain of wheat dying to generate the next crop of life-giving food (Jn 12:24).
People come to those representing God to better understand reality and they expect to hear the truth. Paul wrote the problems in the world are the direct result of the godlessness and wickedness of men. The rebellion against God by the angels in the heavenly realm, migrated to mankind in the Garden of Eden, and it continues to manifested itself in men who replace the truth today with lies and call it wisdom. The reality is, rebelling against God results in futile thinking and is the direct consequence for following the foolish desires of the human nature (Ro 1:18-29). This will always happen when God gives specific instructions on what to do and man is not careful to do it right. Consider Moses, face to face with God in the “Tent of Meeting,” being told what and how to get water for God’s people in the wilderness. When Moses let his emotions take charge, he changed what was supposed to be said and done; he hit the rock twice and addressed the people focusing their attention on his brother and himself, instead of just speaking to the rock. Because he failed to follow what God said to him, neither Aaron nor Moses were allowed to enter the promised land with the people. Jesus, however, has a ministry superior to Moses, because He always did what He saw God doing and spoke what He was told to say, so the world would know He did exactly what the Father commanded (Jn 5:19; 8:26, 28, 38, 40; 12:49; 14:10, 24, 31).
Three serious conditions are associated with understanding God’s truth and the fulfillment of His salvation proclaimed by Jesus in God’s temple during the greatest day of the Feast of Tabernacles:
1) you must be thirsty,
2) you must come to Jesus, and
3) you must drink!
1. The Pharisees who sent the guards to arrest Jesus to stop Him from revealing the truth were not thirsty: they thought they had no need of salvation from God, because they were not like everyone else, lowly, uneducated and sinful. Nicodemus, however, was thirsty and had sought out Jesus to get a drink to satisfy his thirst previously, which is why he stood up to their perversion of justice. He still had not committed completely to Jesus, nor drank the water Jesus offered; but he would (Jn 19:39).
2. Consider what happens when you are really thirsty, when you come to the one God sent, and drink deeply from the well He provides. If you really believe, you will accept and believe “with certainty” the words Jesus spoke are from God, just like the Apostles did (Jn 17:8). The amazing hope His words generate today is established in the unchangeable character of God and the fact the Father always answers the prayers of His Son. We are confident the Father heard the prayer of His Son in John 17, knowing those who saw and heard Jesus speak those words were also filled with His Holy Spirit according to God’s purpose to show how much He loves us.
3. Belief comes in stages – some considered Him a prophet, others the Messiah, i.e., Christ. What do you consider Him and as with Nicodemus, where are you in meeting God’s conditions for success? Similarly, thirst is satisfied in stages; first to address the acute dehydration and then to fulfil the requirement to maintain the body. Drinking as with eating is not a one-time event, but demands a continued drinking experience to remain vibrant and alive. The first drink stops the dying, continuing to drink brings the fullness of life.
Water quality is important. One can compare drinking good water to eating a healthy diet. Ignore this fact of life and life threatening conditions will rapidly develop. If the wrong food and water is consumed, one could eat and/or drink themselves to death quickly, specifically, one could be starving while eating or dying of thirst while drinking. Rabbit Starvation is caused by eating only low/no fat animal meat exclusively. It quickly leads to death by starvation, while eating continuously, even to the extent the stomach becomes stretched (distended). Drinking saltwater vs fresh has a similar impact, it does not satisfy thirst and the salt in the water overwhelms the body’s cellular processes and quickly kills you.
It is important to note the parallel between the physical and the spiritual. The body and the spirit have critical needs that must be met to grow and remain healthy. What you feed the spiritual part of your being is actually more important than what you feed the physical. This physical body is temporary and will be replaced with a new physical permanent body (1 Cor 15). What you feed the spiritual part of your being is exceptionally more important; eat or drink the wrong stuff and you kill yourself, while desperately taking in more and more, trying to satisfy an overwhelming hunger or thirst. Human nature tries to satisfy itself on the wrong food and drink. The immediate result, poisons the soul, increases the desire for more and leads very quickly to a death spiral, which, without a supernatural intervention, leads to a permanent death of the soul. John describes this kind of death after dying as the second death—a permanent separation from God’s grace eternally, with no hope of salvation (Rev 20: 6, 12-15; 21:6-8, 22-26; 22:1-7).
Reality is, we are not human beings having a temporary spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a temporary human experience. Jesus understood this when He addressed the people’s desire for God’s salvation. If you live life following the desires of the human nature, if you consume only food to satisfy the appetite of your human nature and avoid healthy food and water, missing out on the food and drink God presented 2000 years ago, you are in reality one of the walking dead, eating and drinking yourself to a permanent second death.
A quote capturing the essence of this concept is, “You are what you eat.” Perhaps one of the best examples of this idea is found in the life of the person who first used the phrase in 1863, Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872). He attended the University of Heidelberg and the University of Berlin to prepare for a career within the church, but was diverted when he joined a group of Philosophers known as the “Young Hegelians” and ended up satisfying his human nature on worldly thoughts, becoming an atheist philosopher, whose writings significantly influenced Karl Marx’s views. (Steven Shapin, Never Pure: Historical Studies Of Science As If It Was Produced By People With Bodies, Situated In Time, Space, Culture, And Society, And Struggling For Credibility And Authority, Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010, 568 pages, pg 235 (ISBN 978-0801894213)).
The example of the Jewish leadership also shows us what happens when you ignore the “words of God,” thinking you have attained superior wisdom, with a righteousness apart from all others; healthy, wealthy and wise, lacking nothing, and needing nothing (cf. Rev 3:14-22). If one considers oneself a child of Abraham, one must ask the question, if your God is the creator and sustainer of all things, and your religious institutions reflect the glory and power of such a God; where is the Ark of the Covenant and what happened to the Temple with its required sacrifices? Perhaps the answer will be found listening to the words God has spoken! Ezekiel saw and heard what God would do: remove the leadership who failed to represent Him, and do it Himself. The early Church rejoiced in this the new covenant between God and Man; Paul wrote of it in his letter to the Hebrews, quoting the Jewish Scriptures: God Himself will teach His people, write His law on their mind and put it in their heart, and place His (only) faithful servant to be a shepherd over them (Heb 8-10; quotes Jer 31:31-34 and fulfils Ez 34 and Jer 3:14-18).
Jesus established God’s new covenant, speaking the words the Father’s gave Him, doing everything exactly the way the Father wanted it done (Jn 14:10, 24, 31).
Reality in Christ:
“The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the full light of day. The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you choose, what you think, and what you do is who you become. Your integrity is your destiny . . . it is the light that guides your way.” (Heraclitus Greek Poet, Philosopher)
You become what you think about, what you feed on daily; it colors your decisions and leads you to a destination. If your thinking is governed by your human nature, you satisfy human desires, but if you live by and in the Spirit, governed by your spiritual nature, you satisfy the things of God. Always remember what happened to Peter when he allowed his human nature to lead him. Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked him after Jesus explained God’s plan for saving mankind. Jesus immediately called Peter “Satan,” warning him to keep his focus off of human concerns and keep it on things God cares about (Mat 16:15-28; Lk 9:20-27; Mk 8:31-38).
Things to think about often (daily for new Christian) as they will most definitely shape your destiny.
- Who is not my friend? James 4:4
- Who is my friend? Luke 7:33; John 15:13-15
- Who am I? Luke 7:47
Who is not my friend.
Knowing your enemy, who it is, what will be done, when and how it will be done is a function of vigilance.
“All warfare is based on deception” (Sun Tzu, The Art of War, Ch. 1, para 18). Information is critical to success in warfare. Information will shape your opponents next action, just as it does yours, and if you believe a lie, you could lose more than a battle, perhaps your failure could cascade into losing the entire war. Misinformation is just as critical as having accurate information. You want accurate information about your enemy, but on the other hand, you would like your enemy not to have any information regarding your situation. I if he does get some information of your situation it would best if it was wrong, i.e., thinks you are weak where you are strong or strong when you are weak.
Stealth is very popular in warfare because it alters how critical information is understood. The most popular form of stealth is to be invisible. Being invisible enables you to see and hear things to your benefit, or to position yourself so you can use your weapons more effectively. An enemy who has mastered the art of stealth has just dramatically improved his chance of successfully defeating you.
Your enemy is invisible or using stealth when you:
- do not know the one who wants to destroy you;
- do not know what he can do or wants to do, where, when, or how;
- think you are in no danger; or
- think you are stronger than he is even if he does attack.
We are at war with the enemy of God, “not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” whose suppression of truth and lies beguile ignorant people who think they are wise (Rev 12: 7-9, 17; Eph 6:12, 13). Knowing who your struggle is against, is like knowing you have a problem, it is only half the solution, and what to do about this very big, serious problem, is the other half. I used to tell my children every problem has a solution, but implementing the solution is never easy. I learned this from the Prussian general, Carl von Clausewitz, who wrote, “War is very simple, but in War the simplest things become very difficult” (On War (1832), Bk 1, Ch. VII, para 2). As a Naval warrior trained by the US Army, I know this to be true. As a Christian warrior engaged daily as Paul described above, I can testify the solution is simple, but very difficult to do, and will require the utmost courage and commitment every moment of the rest of one’s life—putting on the full amour of God (Eph 6:11). If there are any doubts, that it can be done or should be done, read William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour (Complete & Unabridged) – The Ultimate Book on Spiritual Warfare.
Who is my friend? Jesus was talking to His disciples on the night He was betrayed and what He said to them was exceptionally important. He told them He would no longer call them “servants” but, instead, He would call them “friends” (Jn 15:15)! Why was it important for them to know this? He wanted them to understand very clearly just how much God loves them and how important they are to God’s business. The war of all wars is being fought and Jesus wants them to know clearly where they stand in God’s eyes. “As the Father loved me, so have I loved you. . . so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. . . everything that I learned from the Father I have made known to you. . . I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” He only had one condition for them to maintain this standing, “You are my friends if you do what I command. . . This is my command: Love each other.” And then He closed His discussions with them with the greatest prayer ever prayed; a prayer to be memorized and continuously remembered daily by every Christian who believes Jesus to be the Son of the living God (Jn 15-17).
God and Jesus are one, and they both are “Friend” to us. This is the message of the gospel: reconciled to God, no longer considered an enemy, but a true friend (Ro 5:10; 2 Cor 5:18; Col 1:22).
How many times did God tell us something awesome—incredibly hard to believe—while saying, “do not be afraid”? Whether God was speaking through a prophet, angel, or the very Son of God incarnate, His intent was, is and will always be the same: I know you are going to have difficulty understanding this, it is going to scare you, but trust me, I will not mislead you or let you down, and you will not be disappointed if you believe what I am saying.
To the Twelve Apostles sent out to proclaim His message to the lost sheep of Israel, Jesus told them not to be afraid of those they would face who could kill their body, but could not harm their soul. Instead, He wanted them to understand the one who could kill both the body and the soul, loved them very much. To make it clear, He told them the Father was aware of every sparrow sold in the market place (two for a penny), and not one of those birds fell to the ground without the Father knowing about it. They were far more important birds, in fact, God’s awareness of their life was so detailed, He was aware of and had given every hair on each of their heads a number. Now here is the awesome and scary, if you can see it from their perspective. They were not to worry about what to say when called to testify in front of the elite of this world— “it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Mat 10:26-42; Lk 12:1-12). No pressure, all they had to do was believe what God said is true.
To each of us, God says, have no fear, believe in me, I love you and know where you are and what you face. Fear has no place in the life of one who has been redeemed by God, because God’s Spirit dwells within them; they are no longer a slave to fear, for they are His child—God is our Daddy (Ro 8:15)! God, in Christ has destroyed the power of Satan, eliminating first the chains of human nature binding us to sin; transforming us by replacing our nature with His nature, thereby reconciling us to God. Then through the knowledge of God with His Holy Spirit dwelling within us, He cleanses our conscience so the fear of death/dying/disappointing God is gone. Satan is utterly destroyed, his dominion over those who believe God’s message has been removed, and he in turn is bound by God’s reality, to be cast into the depths of the abyss away from the presence of God on judgment day. All who are alive are so because they believe God’s words—they live by their faithfulness (Heb 2:14-18).
The Father is building something new, something not bound by the physical or temporal laws of this world. Rather, He is building a dwelling for Himself, whether you call it a house or temple, it is like nothing we have seen or experienced before (Heb 3). Jesus is the capstone of what God is building, a rock—a living Stone for those who believe, giving them a spiritual nature so they can be part of what God wants for a dwelling place (1 Pet 2:1-10). For those who do not believe, Jesus becomes “a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” (1 Pet 2:7 quoting Isa 8:14). Paul put it this way: “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life” (2 Cor 2:15-16).
This new building is what God really wanted—not sacrifices and offerings—but a body who would do His will; and in Christ and through Christ, God has/is/will make this a reality. The Law was a shadow of the what was to come (Heb 10:1; Col 2:1). But Christ is not a shadow of something to come; He is the Reality! We are not waiting for something to happen, it has already happened and it is the reality in the heavenly realm even now. We are waiting for God to complete His work and enter into His rest where we will join Him (Heb 4). As a friend of God, with God as a friend, we need to stop thinking as humans and think as “Spiritual Beings” who God put the Spirit of Christ into! We need to drive fear out of our life and know we are alive in and with Christ now. This reality (fact/truth) is not going to change—our bodies might get weaker and even die, but the eternal spirit God gave us will not, and when God establishes the “new order,” and our bodies become imperishable and immortal, where will the fear of death be known and who will it affect? (1 Cor 15:54; Rev 21:5)
From the very beginning God warned us of living in fear. When Cain was afraid he had lost his standing with God and was consumed with anger; his human nature focused his thinking on his brother’s success. God saw the danger saying: “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it” (Gen 4:7). I do not think God was referring to Cain’s sacrifice, but was warning him about his thinking, what he was focused on and about to do!
The danger anger brings is not the emotion, but the overwhelming focus on thinking about what to do! When you use the emotion anger generates to do good, what is really right, you will be accepted by God. If you let the anger focus you on evil, Satan will overcome you, master you, and destroy you. James told us, regarding sin, “each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:14). And the way to change what you are thinking, avoiding temptation— “Submit yourselves, then to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you (James 4:7-8). What you focus on, effects what you become; you become what you eat or feed on!
If we are all like sheep that have gone astray, then the “Good Shepherd” is our best friend (1 Pe 2:25; Jn 10:14; Rv 7:17).
Who am I? Really? If what I think about I become, then what I do must reflect what I believe.
When Jesus was criticized by the religious elite for associating with “sinners”, He said, “wisdom is proved right by all her children.” The wisdom of God is not proven by the pronouncements of leaders, priest or preachers, it is in fact proven by its results: the lives and actions of God’s children, both the Son of God and all those who follow in his footsteps (Lk 7:35).
Think about what God cares about – reflect what Paul wrote on being “Christian”
God revealed a new type of righteousness
“that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith’ [Hab 2:4 by his faithfulness]” (Rom 1:17).
You have the fullness of God, do not be fooled by the world
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Col 2:8-14).
Take off the old self and put on the new self
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature. . . since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Col 3:1-5, 9-10).
Living by one’s faithfulness is observable, seen in what you do—how you do it
“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” (Rom 8:5-9)
In Christ we are “a new creation” and we see everything from a new point of view
“Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. . For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. . . We live by faith, not by sight. . . So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. . . So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Cor 5:1, 4-5, 7, 9-10, 16-17).
Check your own actions, but be careful not to compare yourself against others
“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. . . Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load (Gal 5; 6:1-5).
Scary vs Hopeful
Give some thought to the following ideas; compare them to each other, to help you maintain a focus on what you think about—a negative and a positive, one a scary touch of reality to counter the other or to balance the hope for a new future. Both are necessary to maintain connected to what is real; lose one or give one too much attention and the imbalance will cause you to spin out of control. Understanding the negative is possible only when you can live without fear.
Scary part first. Regarding breaking faith with God by not doing what He said, either intentionally or unintentionally; Paul wrote,
“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Heb 10:26-31).
Whatever happened to “Sin” and “Shame”. Christians today seem to be comfortable with not listening to God, i.e., irreverence is an indication of unbelief in the power of God! Ignoring sin is a form of strategic stupidity. Anyone who thinks on judgment day, when they come face to face with God and say, “I didn’t know” or “I don’t know why I did it;” that such a weak excuse for sinning will work any better for them than it did when my 8-year-old used it to explain his disobedience to me, is as immature as an 8-year old.
Who do you think God will be more upset with, discipline or punish to a greater degree – the Hebrews in the wilderness (Num 15:22-41) or the Christians of 2016? What part of His character influences your answer most: His righteousness, power, justice, unchanging nature, etc.?
To think God’s justice for all the injury deliberate sinning did to the innocent will go unnoticed is misguided. Do you think His love for the sinner, ignores the pain of those offended and injured by those who sinned? Those who do not consider the impact of their sin and pray for blanket forgiveness without intense regret/remorse accompanied by continuous sorrow and tears as part of their repentance, do not make a case for justice.
Perhaps this is why all sincere Christians pray for forgiveness with tears and sadness for all the injuries resulting from both intentional and unintentional sins; for all of us know we have sinned, even if we do not know how much it affected others. Chapter 4 of James addresses the conflicting desire dwelling within each of us, and counseled us on how to live victoriously: “Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. . . Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins” (vs 9 & 17).
While not dwelling on it, but never forgetting it either, remember; everything will be laid bare, thoughts and attitudes (Heb 4:12-13) alike; and every careless word will be accounted for on judgment day, “for by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Mat 12:36-37).
Finally, the really hard and scary part, read 1st John and measure yourself carefully, not to justify yourself, but to first accurately understand yourself and then to understand how much God loves all of us. Do not be afraid, fear is Satan’s finest weapon, forged in a kiln of lies. Let the truth John heard be part of what you think about, knowing we cannot imagine the beauty of what he saw and had the privilege to physically experience.
Now for the positive side, one of hope for those who remain faithful to God. Listen to what John heard during his revelation (Rev 2:7, 10-11, 17, 26-29; 3:3-6, 11-13, 17-22), to what Jesus promised those who did what was right while in the body. To those who overcome He will:
-- give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
-- give the crown of life . . . will not be hurt at all by the second death.
-- give some of the hidden manna (bread of God) . . . will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.
-- give authority over the nations— 'He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery'—just as I have received authority from my Father. . . will also give him the morning star.
-- be dressed in white. . . will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.
-- will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.
-- will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.
CONCLUSION:
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle” (Sun Tzu, The Art of War, Ch. III, para 18).
Written between 500-450 BC to explain why military campaigns were lost. The quote reveals why so many Christians find themselves defeated by the evil surrounding them; why instead they are wounded, dying and confused by their lack of victory against sin. Success calls for a serious warrior ethos; to continually believe God, to put on the “new self” eliminating the weakness of human nature and to live without fear, trusting God’s character as a Father. God tempts no one to sin, but allows our belief (faith) in Him to be proven; therefore, if anyone needs wisdom to understand what is happening, ask “Daddy”! (Mk 14:36; Ro 8:15; Gal 4:6; Jas 1, 4)
Who’s not my friend. Do not be friends with those who are at war with God. How you will treat those who are at war with God, is another discussion, but for now just knowing who is not your friend is enough. Note: Jesus said to love your enemy and pray for him, not to be led by him or believe his lies; all prayer for an enemy should begin with, “forgive them for they know not what they are doing.”
Who is my friend. Understanding God’s character is important. One needs to first grasp the fundamentals of the Gospel to understand what truth is, then add knowledge gained through experience, i.e., practical application—do what the Word said. God loves you and if you believe Him everything will be more than okay.
Know myself. American Indian analogy says when two dogs are fighting for control of a man, the one the man feeds the most will win. Have an honest discussion about where you are and where you need to go; what to or not to do, understanding what you are doing tells a lot about who your real father is. Fact is, you cannot serve two masters. You are bound to one or the other, in this there is no both.
Prayer:
Father, you created us and have always loved us; everything you have done or said has always been for our benefit. Thank you for not giving up on us, even when we ignored you and chose instead to walk away from you. Help us as we return, to become wise again, to better understand how foolish we have been so we will never again make the mistake of doubting your truths. Thank you for sending your Son so we could see your truth and find our way back to you. Like the people in the wilderness seeking freedom from slavery and the lost Samaritan at the well thirsty for relief from the brutal heat of life, we come to the one your sent to us for a drink; your love and mercy are more than refreshing, they are necessary for us to become what you created us to be.
Father help me understand the truth you have given me today and to avoid the confusion created by the lies of enemy. Save me from the fog of war surrounding me, from deception planted by those around me and especially from the darkness hiding within me. Fill me with your Holy Spirit so I can see and understand the foolishness of my rebellion and so I will always choose your wisdom. Thank you for the redemption and transformation you are working in my life. Strengthen me with your Holy Spirit, so I will remain courageous and live without fear, keeping my focus on what it means to live by faith. Help me to always be steady, to not get become impatient, but to know with certainty, when things are hard and seem hopeless, you know exactly what is happening to me and you will not let me fail if I keep trusting that you love me. Thank you for letting me know your plan of reconciliation and for a brother who gave Himself so I could stand again in your presence.
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