Spiritual fruit – Wisdom From the Word

Delivered up and Raised

We are in the Easter weekend, Good Friday has passed, Resurrection Sunday is pending. The significance of this weekend is that we have a Saviour who was born to die, yet not just to die, but to also be raised. After all, Paul was clear about the prime significance of the resurrection.

¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. ¹⁴ And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. ¹⁵ Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up – if in fact the dead do not rise. ¹⁶ For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. ¹⁷ And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 1 Corinthians 15:13–17 (NKJV)

In Romans Paul is more succinct. Speaking of Jesus sacrifice he states it in simple terms.

²⁵ who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification. Romans 4:25 (NKJV)

The word ‘offenses’ refers to our transgressions or trespasses, in a word, Jesus was delivered up to crucifixion because of our sins. The other side of this is that Paul says Jesus’ resurrection was for our justification. Which means that we were pronounced righteous or acquitted of our sins through Jesus’ resurrection. Thus, Jesus’ death paid the penalty for our sins and His resurrection validated the efficacy of His sacrifice on our behalf.

We now move to Colossians for Paul’s further explanation of what transpired.

¹³ And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, ¹⁴ having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. ¹⁵ Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. Colossians 2:13–15 (NKJV)

Paul informs us that though we were dead, we were resurrected with Christ (made alive together with Him) and the charges against us (handwriting of requirements) were dismissed. The additional piece he adds is that Jesus’ sacrifice disarmed the spiritual powers arrayed against us. Thus, as we celebrate Easter let us give thanks for Jesus’ death and resurrection and by faith avail ourselves of the reality that our victory is not in our abilities. Our victory lies in embracing the fact of Jesus’ death and resurrection on our behalf and the truth that He is transforming us and bringing us to glory (Romans 8:28-30)!

Entering into Rest

Rest, a comforting word, yet at times we may question how attainable it is in our hectic culture. To understand how to attain rest it is important to understand the scriptural concept. If we go back to Yahweh’s original purpose in creation it says that He rested on the seventh day after completing creation (Genesis 2:2-3). This later became an established pattern in the ten commandments (Exodus 20:4) where the Israelites were commanded to honour and keep the sabbath day. One day of rest out of seven. However, we see a shift with the writer of Hebrews. In his long sermon, he contrasts historical understandings with a new covenant. The writer of Hebrews shows how the new covenant is better than the old, how the law is now written on our hearts rather than stone tablets, how Jesus’ priesthood is far superior to the Levitical priesthood and he addresses sabbath. He takes the concept of a sabbath day, a day of rest, and shifts it to the concept of rest as a state of being. Something we will now look at.

Initially the writer of Hebrews tells us two seemingly contradictory things. He tells us that rest is available and that as believers we have already entered it. Yet is that our experience? Here are the scriptures.

¹ Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. ² For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. ³ For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: “So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest,’” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. ⁴ For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; ⁵ and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.” ⁶ Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, ⁷ again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.” ⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. ⁹ There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. ¹⁰ For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. ¹¹ Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. Hebrews 4:1-11 (NKJV)

Contextually the passage tells us in verse 1 that rest is available to us and in verse 3 that we who have believed, that is those who have been born again, have entered into rest. Then verse 11 exhorts us to enter rest. Thus, we need to make sense of these seemingly contradictory messages. The answer lies in understanding the ‘already not yet’ nature of the kingdom. George Eldon Ladd was a famous American theologian and Baptist Minister (though he was born in Alberta). One of the concepts he popularized in the 20^th Century was the ‘already not yet’ nature of the kingdom of God. Jesus inaugurated the kingdom at His first coming, He will fully consummate it at His return. In this present state we can by faith lay hold of that which is not fully ‘yet.’ That is what Hebrews is getting at.

At the new birth we transferred kingdoms.

¹³ He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, Colossians 1:13 (NKJV)

By faith we lay hold of this reality when we recognize where we are seated and set our minds there.

²⁰ which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹ far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. ²² And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, Ephesians 1:20–22 (NKJV)

¹ If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. ² Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. Colossians 3:1–2 (NKJV)

Thus, when we recognize that spiritually we are already living in a place of rest (seated with Christ) we can taste of it and experience it now. If we desire rest then our next step is to by faith step into that which we already possess, to meditate on this reality so we tangibly experience it in our lives.

A Hearing Heart

As we conclude this year and prepare for the next, I thought it would be helpful to provide an area of focus given the transition to a new year is often a time of reflection for us. To that end we will look at the need to hear both Jesus’ voice and His heart and look at how our hearing requires a particular posture of our own hearts. We begin with a verse that is dear to me.

¹ The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. Proverbs 16:1 (NKJV)

Most translations have the word ‘plan’ rather than ‘preparations.’ Yet the Hebrew word means to arrange or set up, thus I think preparations is the better translation. Imagine inviting someone over for dinner. My wife prioritizes having everything ready before guests arrive, which means I need to have the same focus. So, there is a plan for the meal but most of the work is preparing more than planning. The table is set, the house is cleaned, and the food is ready, everything is prepared.

In the same way, Proverbs tells us that we need to prepare our hearts, get them ready for fellowship with Jesus. I recognize that we can pray at any time and place. The day before I wrote this I went for a walk with a friend. Afterward we stood on the edge of the parking lot with hands clasped and my hand on his shoulder and we prayed as people drove by. I thought, if someone asked what we were doing I would say, “We are praying,” as in, it should be obvious and normal, though it presently isn’t in our culture.

While acknowledging that we can pray at any time and place, there are times of prayer, our meetings with the Father, that require a different approach – preparation. That preparation may include the time we set aside, the place where we meet with Him, and very importantly in our culture, the distractions we avoid. Like much of our culture, I am prone to the distractions of social media. I know that if I want to sit with Jesus and hear His voice and heart, I need to deliberately set aside the things that can draw my heart away. In short, I need to obey the scriptural injunction and prepare my heart.

While preparation is important in terms of space and distractions, another aspect is hiding His word in our hearts so that when we need to hear from Him the Spirit can bring to mind and highlight scriptures that we know. David put it this way.

¹¹ Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You. Psalm 119:11 (NKJV)

We hide His word in our hearts by reading and meditating on His word and His character (Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:1-13, Romans 12:1-2, Philippians 4:8).

An example for me that I seek to integrate into all that I do is a verse from Psalms that I meditate on, reading and reflecting on it pretty much daily.

¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14 NKJV

Following David is a difficult task, and I find applying the first part of this verse much easier than the second. My words are generally just fine, my thoughts, not always the case. David began this Psalm extolling the grandeur of creation and then moved on to the immeasurable greatness of the Law before focusing in on how to walk uprightly before Him. Here is more context.

¹² Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. ¹³ Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression. ¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:12–14 (NKJV)

David is saying that if the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts are focused on Yahweh we will be kept from presumptuous sins and not engage in any great transgression. For me the additional part is that I will hear His heart. Paul presented this quite clearly in Galatians. He gave two lists of what we could choose to meditate on and then pointed out that we will reap from the field in which we choose to sow.

¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, ²¹ envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Galatians 5:19–23 (NKJV)

⁷ Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. ⁸ For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. ⁹ And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Galatians 6:7–9 (NKJV)

In conclusion, to hear His heart we need to prepare our hearts to hear and receive. That requires intentionality on our part, which includes setting aside undistracted times, hiding His word in our hearts, and cultivating an awareness of His presence in our hearts and minds throughout each day. This creates a prepared and properly postured heart.

A Note – In January I will present some apologetics material and anchor it in scripture. I present this to provide you with tools to defend our faith in a culture increasingly hostile to it and derisive of it. If there is a particular topic you would like covered, please comment and I will have a look and see if it is an area I have material on or can research.

Encounters

Encounters with the Living God can change us. Salvation, the new birth, is an encounter, an event that initiates a process. As we then walk with Jesus we should be growing and reflecting more of His character. Paul describes this ongoing process as Christ being formed in us (Galatians 4:19) and it is seen in his teaching around the works of the flesh in contrast to the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:19-26) and the sowing and reaping principle he presents (Galatians 6:7-10). The ongoing process of spiritual growth is built on daily faithfulness. Isaiah described is as ‘precept upon precept, line upon line (Isaiah 28:10).

In a faithful daily walk there are also moments or opportunities of encounter. There is an expression, ‘Character isn’t formed in crisis it is revealed.’ What we have daily sown into our lives is what will be revealed when we encounter a significant challenge. We see an example in the life of Isaiah in chapter 6, in particular, verse 3-7.

³ And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” ⁴ And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁵ So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.” ⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.” Isaiah 6:3–7 (NKJV)

Prior to this encounter, Isaiah had been prophesying judgement during the reign of Uzziah. After Uzziah died Isaiah saw Yahweh on the throne (John informs us this was Jesus – (John 12:37-41) and essentially said, ‘Oh no! I’m also in trouble!’ Isaiah shifted from pronouncing judgment on others to pronouncing it on himself.

When Isaiah saw Yahweh/Jesus on the throne he acknowledged that he was in need of cleansing. Then one of the seraphim flew to Isaiah with a live coal and when it touched his lips (Isaiah had been using his voice to pronounce judgment) said his inequity and sin were removed. As an aside, if you have an image of a cute cherubic figure in mind, banish that. Seraphim literally means ‘burning ones.’ These fiery creatures burned with holiness and zeal for Yahweh and His glory. Cherubim in scripture are similar, guardians of sacred space who protected Eden after Adam and Eve were banished and guard the ark of the covenant.

Now back to Isaiah’s encounter. The fruit of the encounter was a prophetic ministry that spanned decades (I once calculated it at 55 years, scholarly speculation varies from 40-60 years). It led to Isaiah prophesying Jesus’ birth, the restoration of the nation, the crucifixion and a number of other significant events with Isaiah being known as the ‘prince of prophets.’

Now the key here is not that Isaiah had an encounter, it is his response. I have sought to be faithful in my daily walk but I have also had encounters with His presence. I don’t claim anything like Isaiah’s experience, yet I once had an encounter where it felt like the Spirit unveiled eternity to me. It was a brief frightening experience that was only resolved in my heart and mind a couple of decades later. I trust that I responded correctly but don’t fully know. I do know that encounters with His presence are opportunities. Thus, I suggest, let’s daily walk with Him, seek His face and be prepared for encounters that drive our walk deeper.

PS – do you have something to share from your walk with Jesus?

The Tree of Life Part 2

We continue our exploration. Last week I provided the places in scripture where the tree of life is referenced and noted that qualitatively life is life in the Old Testament (OT). I then concluded by briefly pointing out Paul’s distinction between a soulish and spiritual life. The difference wasn’t in the word life, the distinction is whether the life we have is soulish life or spiritual life.

To clarify, as I noted in Genesis 2:7 Adam became a living being. The Hebrew literally says Adam became a living soul (nephesh in Hebrew). In quoting this in 1 Corinthians 15:45 Paul makes the distinction between Adam being a living soul and Jesus as the last Adam being a lifegiving spirit. In the Greek here, just as in the Hebrew in Genesis, the literal rendering of the word ‘being’ is soul and that is how it is still translated in the most recent version of the New American Standard Bible and the very recent Lexham English Bible.

Now we need to look at how the distinction between soul and spirit relates to the tree of life. The tree of life represents Jesus as our source of life. Adam and Eve, like us, had the opportunity to partake of a natural life and natural understanding, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or to partake of the tree of life, Jesus. We know something happened within them when they ate of the wrong tree. In a similar manner, something happens to us at conversion when we initially partake of Jesus, the tree of life. Paul described it in the following manner. First, he identifies the problem of partaking of the wrong tree in Ephesians. He points out that not only did we sin in our pre-conversion life, sin was in fact our very nature.

³ among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. Ephesians 2:3 (NKJV)

Paul then describes what happened when we partook of Jesus.

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

²¹ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)

We were spiritually regenerated when we had our first taste of the tree of life, Jesus. The question before us as believers then becomes twofold. It is a matter of how we continue to partake of Jesus and whether we will continue to partake of Jesus.

To be continued.

With Thanksgiving

A note to start. I don’t write my posts in advance. I generally compose them during the week and do my final edits in the morning before I post them. However, I had been working on a post for awhile and set it aside and planned to complete it for this week. However, last Sunday I was reading the following passage and the phrase the Spirit impressed upon my heart was “with thanksgiving.” It never occurred to me at that time that I was writing and this post that I was preparing it for the time of our Canadian Thanksgiving. For me that means this Thanksgiving is significant to the Lord. Now back to scripture.

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. ⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4–7 (NKJV)

For me personally not being anxious and praying are easy things to walk out. Where I need to grow is in thanksgiving. Verse 6 basically says that we are to let our needs be known to the Father, but in the process we are to include thanksgiving. The reason for that is what we will now look at.

There are a couple of things to reflect on. The first is that thanksgiving changes us not God. It brings our hearts to a place of rest in Him. In fact, that is Paul’s main point, when we bathe our prayer needs in thanksgiving His peace will guard our hearts and minds. Interestingly Paul says nothing about answers to our prayers, his focus is on the effect that pairing thanksgiving with our prayers makes. Now it is easy to say that but it is helpful to know how it works.

I remember lines from a childhood church song. “Count your many blessings, name them one by one and it will surprise you what God has done.” The whole refrain is below, published by Johnson Oatman Jr. in 1897.

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

This is another part of pairing thanksgiving and prayer, a recounting of our blessings.

Practically here are some simple examples.

Father;

I thank You that You have given me life and breath,
I thank You for access to Your word and freedom to worship You in spirit and truth in this land where I live,
I thank You that You supply all my needs according to Your riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:10),
I thank You that you have placed X and Y in my life.

Obviously, you can generate your own list. I simply know from both scripture and experience that when thanksgiving is part of our prayer life our perspective shifts and hearts come to a place of rest in Him. We are then left confidently expecting Him to do what is best for our lives in our service of Him.

As a closing note, the theme of Philippians is rejoicing and thanksgiving, something Paul practiced and taught. Philippians is one of Paul’s prison letters and I am sure as he wrote from prison in Rome he reflected back on his prison experience in Philippi, where we see that after he and Silas had been beaten and put in stocks they were praying and worshipping in the prison (Acts 16:25). Let’s emulate his heart and as another song says, “Give thanks with a grateful heart.”

Seeds

In the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8 Jesus says the harvest from the seeds depends on the condition of the soil. We see that in Jesus own ministry. He spent His earthly ministry sowing seeds and changing lives but the degree of change was commensurate with the commitment to Jesus’ message. What prepared the soil of Israel was John the Baptist’s forerunner ministry warning and exhorting people and calling the nation to repentance and baptism. Though we don’t have much recorded about it in the scripture we know that prayer also paved the way for Jesus’ ministry. One example is Anna.

³⁶ Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; ³⁷ and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. ³⁸ And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Luke 2:36–38 (NKJV)

This pattern of prayer and proclamation is evident in scripture and in every move of the Spirit I have studied in church history. We see it in the history of the Moravians and their 100-year prayer meeting that birthed modern missions. We see it in the life of Evan Roberts and others in the Welsh Revival, we see it in the intense travail of Frank Barlteman and others in the Azusa Street outpouring that birthed the worldwide Pentecostal Movement. I don’t know of a significant movement that arose without it

Now back to scripture regarding sowing. Like Jesus, Paul also addressed the issue of sowing. Below are a couple of examples, the first from 1 Corinthians.

⁵ Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? ⁶ I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. ⁷ So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. ⁸ Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 1 Corinthians 3:5–8 (NKJV)

Paul’s primary point to the Corinthians was that they were not to elevate one leader over another and choose to follow one over another as God is the source of fruitfulness. His other point is that the sowing or planting is our job, God gives the increase or harvest.

We also see Paul addressing sowing and reaping in Galatians.

Once more we see that the sowing is our responsibility and the fruit comes from the Spirit.

We see this principle of sowing and reaping on a broader scale in another place in scripture. Keep in mind Jesus’ seed sowing in His earthly ministry was His teaching along with the demonstration of the kingdom. Look at The Great Commission.

¹⁸ And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:18–20 (NKJV)

This is Jesus’ command for us to sow and see a harvest from all nations. An important piece here is we can view this as a command to make disciples from all nations, which is reflected in Matthew 24:14, Jesus’ message about the gospel of the kingdom. We could also look at Matthew 25:31-34 where Jesus refers to sheep and goat nations. In that some see a call for the church to disciple nations. Lastly, we could see The Great Commission as a call to do both. You decide.

I share all of this to lead to a point. I believe when we teach, we can sow seeds of righteousness in the lives of individuals, cultures and nations. I am Canadian and I know seeds of righteousness were sown in the founding of our nation. We were originally known as the Dominion of Canada based on Psalm 72:8, which is inscribed on the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

⁸ He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. Psalm 72:8 (KJV)

We can thus pray that this will be fulfilled and His dominion realized in our nation. This is but one example.

As I post this I have just returned from a vacation in Portugal. While there, as we traveled, I sought to discern what the Spirit wanted me to intercede for. I know that while historically there was a religious mixture in Portugal there were many seeds of the gospel and truth sown in the nation. At the beginning of our trip I was led to pray that apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, elders and intercessors would be raised up from among the people. Later while traveling through the countryside on more than one occasion He led me to pray that the spiritual seeds sown in this land would sprout and a harvest would come forth.

If we look at the pattern the Spirit led me to in prayer the main focus was on raising up proclaimers and intercessors. The latter part was for these seeds to come to life. I only saw this pattern upon reflection as I was led to write this, not while I was engaged in it. There were other things He led me to do but this example is sufficient.

This now comes back to each of us. In our lives let’s seek to follow Him each day and look for what He is leading us to pray and proclaim so that we see the fruit Jesus desires in our lives, cities and communities.

At Hand

I last wrote about the kingdom of God being within us and our ability as believers to access it via our ‘state of mind.’ That is, how we think about it. Here I will look at a related idea, starting with the following verses.

¹ In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ² and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Matthew 3:1–2 (NKJV)

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17 (NKJV)

¹⁴ Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:14–15 (NKJV)

Here we have John the Baptist and Jesus delivering the same message. There are two parts, the need for repentance and ready access. They both require choices to be made on our part. Repentance is a change of mind and heart that produces a change in behaviour and the phrase ‘at hand’ is a single Greek word that refers to something coming near or being close at hand, again, the idea of access.

Their message was that if the hearers changed their thinking and heart attitudes, they could have access to the kingdom. What is important is recognizing what Jesus in particular meant by the kingdom. Which He nicely summed up for us in a portion of what we call The Lord’s prayer.

¹⁰ Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10 (NKJV)

From Jesus perspective the kingdom being at hand was the authority of the kingdom being accessed and demonstrated.

While we can understand what Jesus meant looking back, neither John nor Jesus closest followers really understood what the kingdom being at hand meant.

We know from John’s interactions with Jesus, that like the prophets of old, he was being faithful in delivering the message Yahweh had entrusted to him, even though he didn’t fully understand it. In fact, even after he had publicly endorsed Jesus as “The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) he still struggled. After he was imprisoned, he sent two of his disciples to Jesus to ask, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3).

There is no need to be critical of John, after all, he did understand that the kingdom was accessible and whether he knew it or not his prophetic voice was beckoning people to a new era of kingdom authority that Jesus was ushering in. Even after walking in the benefits of this access to the kingdom His closest friends who heard all of His teaching and parables didn’t understand what they were accessing. That is evident based on what they asked Jesus just prior to His ascension.

⁶ Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷ And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. ⁸ But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:6–8 (NKJV)

What this means is that even though John and Jesus preached that the kingdom was accessible, at hand via repentance, those hearing didn’t understand what they were looking for or seeking to access! I also contend that even today, many of us who have been delivered, “from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son…” (Colossians 1:13) don’t fully grasp what has taken place, I know I don’t. This is what we will briefly look at now.

¹ For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, ² that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, ³ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:1–3 (NKJV)

This passage is related to Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:17 for wisdom and revelation. Once we have repented and have been born again, we have access to the kingdom through the King living in us by the Spirit because we have changed domains and dominions (Colossians 1:13). Paul’s prayer for the Colossians, and by extension us, is that we could come to a full assurance and understanding of what it means to have Christ in us and access to Him to extend His kingdom. We have spiritual authority, we have access to the throne of grace, we carry eternity in our hearts. These things, and many others in scripture, are available and I invite you to search them out. Additionally, Paul presents a number of the benefits we have in the rest of Colossians 2, 3 and 4.

Now for a simple example of accessing the kingdom that is at hand. As I write this I am in another country. I am here on vacation but I have been walking around seeking to know His heart and pray. Not that I am interceding every waking moment, but I am seeking to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading.

After we arrived a prophetic friend sent me an assignment. He had an image/vision of me standing on a barren hill praying and declaring some things over the country. We have been traveling to different places along the coast and in one locale as we were walking through the old town to hike along the coast, I saw a barren hill in the distance that I knew was the correct one. In the afternoon after our hike, I went back, hiked up the hill, and prayed and proclaimed over the area. Here is an important part. I prayed about what to pray before I went up the hill, prayed and spoke as the Spirit led, then hiked back down. I felt nothing other than a sense that I had been obedient and that I had done as the Lord asked. I now leave the results in His hands and continue to pray off and on during the day as we vacation, in this way accessing and extending the kingdom. There have been other examples on this trip but I encourage you to seek His face, extend His kingdom and share the results with others!

Holiness

Depending on our church background and experience you may have different views or understandings of what constitutes holiness. Thus, it seems we should begin with defining the term holiness before relating it to prayer.

In my experience holiness was generally presented as related to behaviour, a list of do’s and don’ts. While there are do’s and don’ts in scripture, our behaviour is to flow from our heart attitudes. Jesus put it this way.

⁴⁵ A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45 (NKJV)

What we carry in our heart is reflected in our words and actions that flow from our heart.

²³ Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23 (NKJV)

When we see that holiness is more about our heart attitude, we can begin to make sense of a phrase in Psalm 96:9, “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!” This was highlighted for me over thirty years ago through a song. I attended a church where one of the pastors, Gordon Dyck, wrote a song about holiness based on part of Psalm 96 (I don’t know if others contributed to the writing). I do remember the words.

I will worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness

Unto His throne room I now come

With my voice lifted up, hands raised on high

I will render the praise due unto His name

Worship the Lord!

Over my years of involvement in the church I haven’t regularly heard holiness linked to beauty, but there it is in scripture, “The beauty of holiness.” The concept of holiness is a reference to something set aside for a sacred purpose. This setting aside is a separation from darkness to reflect light. The word ‘beauty’ in Hebrew refers to an adornment, glory or attire. In essence the beauty of holiness is to be adorned with or attired in holiness! Holiness is the garment we are to wear as we worship!

While holiness in Psalm 96 is connected to wearing something. When we come over to prayer it is also connected to fragrance. The majority of people in the worldwide prayer movement are familiar with the harp and bowl model, the connection between worship and prayer.

⁸ Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. Revelation 5:8 (NKJV)

Incense has a fragrance. The point here is that our prayers have a fragrance.

If we reflect back on the tabernacle and temple the priest offering the incense had to wear specific garments and a label on the turban on his forehead that said, Holiness unto the LORD.

³⁶ “You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet: HOLINESS TO THE LORD ³⁷ And you shall put it on a blue cord, that it may be on the turban; it shall be on the front of the turban. ³⁸ So it shall be on Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord. Exodus 28:36–38 (NKJV)

Now if you are still with me, we need to put all of the pieces together. The high priest carried a fragrance (the incense), wore special garments and had holiness engraved on His forehead. His calling was to walk in a heart of holiness. Jesus was the ultimate representation of all of these symbols. Thus, Jesus could walk into dark places and not be tainted by them, He brought light to darkness because He was adorned with the beauty of holiness and carried the fragrance of heaven.

The more our hearts fully walk in and with Him the more fully we have the same effect on the environment around us and the more effective our prayer life. We are called to both be with Him and like Him. Let’s carry that awareness into the prayer closet and our daily interactions and live in the ‘beauty of holiness.’

Resilience

I took this picture on a recent hike. If you look in the bottom left corner of the picture you will see mature trees growing together far below. This one grew in a very inhospitable place and to me it represents overcoming adversity and difficulty.

This little tree, standing alone, is about 2,300 metres above sea level and surviving. It is here because a seed landed in this inhospitable spot, found a bit of soil, germinated and began to grow. I don’t know how old it is. In a regular setting in a town or city it may be three or four years old. At this elevation it may be ten or fifteen years old. It is much harder to survive and grow at this elevation with almost no soil. Yet, if it survives the snow and rain storms that will come its way, the long periods in hot sun and the lack of soil, something remarkable will take place. It will grow, produce cones and seeds, those seeds will fall on the rock and look for a place to germinate and eventually a community will grow up around this resilient little tree.

When we look at our lives Jesus encourages us to be like this tree. Well, not in so many words but through illustration.

⁶² But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:62 (NKJV)

The context is Jesus calling people to follow him but then excusing themselves because they have some other matters to attend to before they follow Him.

Let’s think this through. In Jesus day you plowed alone. There was an animal in front pulling the plow. Your job was threefold, guide the animal, guide the plow and make a proper furrow deep enough for whatever seeds you were planting. Growing up with a large garden under my grandfather’s work and oversight I learned different seeds required different spacing and depth to grow properly.

Now back to Jesus’ illustration and warning about looking back. A literal rendering of the Greek would be ‘look/looking in the behind.’ In this case not in the ‘behind’ of the donkey or ox but back behind yourself. Similar to the story of Lot’s wife. She looked back because she longed to remain in Sodom and she died with the rest of the people of Sodom because in her heart she was still there.

In plowing, if you were looking back the animal may keep going but the plow would not be making a straight furrow, not maintain the proper depth and would not be fit for sowing. If you were planting for your family, they would have no harvest as you wouldn’t have even properly completed the first step, preparing the soil for planting.

Jesus’ point is that to step into a new life you need to make a decision and stand alone, firm in your decision, not looking back and longing for your former life. It is well said that ‘God has no grandchildren.’ We are not saved by the faith of our parents, friends or a local church leader. We are translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light when we alone make that firm decision (Colossians 1:13).

Now, unlike the tree, we are immediately part of a family and have support around us. At the same time, we need to avail ourselves of this support, and like the little tree need to stand in spite of circumstances. Jesus promises us a fruitful life if we faithfully follow Him (John 15:5), He never promises an easy life.

In scripture we see Joseph betrayed by his brothers, as a slave betrayed by his owner’s wife and needing to resiliently stand, trusting Yahweh. We see Elijah standing against the prophets of Baal and the king and queen. We see Daniel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel and many others swimming against the tide of popular opinion. There are more in the great hall of faith in Hebrews 11. In difficult circumstances they all stood.

What they all had in common was a reliance on Yahweh and others they could lean on for support. Elijah had the school of the prophets and later Elisha. Daniel had his three friends, and others sought out other supports. They all found someone. The little tree is standing in difficult circumstances but it would do better with the support of added soil and regular watering. Thus, while it is a picture of resilience and we are called to be resolute in our decision to follow Jesus, our success is much more likely if we look to our fellow believers for support in our journey.

I close with something Billy Graham said decades ago. When asked the secret to success he responded, “Find a group of people and grow old together.” If you don’t have those people, seek them out.