An old gospel song has profound meaning for me. It says, "Jesus has a table spread / Where the saints of God are fed / He invites his chosen people, come and dine."
What an exciting prospect: The Lord has spread a table in the heavenlies for his followers! Jesus told his disciples, "I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom" (Luke 22:29–30). Hungering for him means that, by faith, we also are seated at this table.
When the apostle Paul instructs, "Let us keep the feast" (1 Corinthians 5:8), he means let us understand clearly that we have been assigned a seat in the heavenlies with Christ at his royal table. Paul is saying, "Always show up. Never let it be said your seat is empty."
The sad truth is that the church of Jesus Christ simply does not comprehend what it means to keep the feast. We do not understand the majesty and honor accorded us by having been raised by Christ to sit with him in heavenly places. We have become too busy to sit at his table. We mistakenly derive our spiritual joy from service instead of communion. We do more and more for a Lord whom we know less and less. We run ourselves ragged giving our bodies and minds to his work, but we seldom keep the feast.
The one thing our Lord seeks above all else from his servants, ministers and shepherds is communion at his table. This table is a place for spiritual intimacy, and it is spread daily. Keeping the feast means coming to him continually for food, strength, wisdom and fellowship.
Ever since the Cross, all spiritual giants have had one thing in common: They revered the table of the Lord. They became lost in the vastness of Christ. They all died lamenting that they still knew so little of him and his life.
Our vision of Christ today is too small, too limited. A gospel of "vastness" is needed to overcome the complicated and growing problems of this wicked age. You see, God does not merely solve problems in this world—he swallows them up in his vastness! Someone with an increasing revelation of Christ's vastness need fear no problem, no devil, no power on this earth. He knows that Christ is bigger than it all. If we had this kind of revelation of how vast he is, how boundless, measureless, limitless and immense, we would never again be overwhelmed by life's problems.
Paul is an example to us. He was committed to having such an ever-increasing revelation of Christ. In fact, all he had of Christ came by revelation; it was taught to him at the Lord's table and made truth to him by the Holy Spirit. Remember, it was three years after his conversion before Paul went to spend time with the apostles in Jerusalem, and he stayed with them only fifteen days before continuing his missionary journeys. He later said, "By revelation he made known unto me the mystery" (Ephesians 3:3). The Holy Spirit knows the deep and hidden secrets of God, and Paul prayed constantly for the gift of grace to understand and preach "the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Ephesians 3:8).
The Lord is looking for believers who are not satisfied with sifting through all the conflicting voices to find a true word. He wants us to hunger for a revelation of him that is all our own—a deep, personal intimacy.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
FROM THE BATTLEFIELD OF FAITH
When Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, it wasn't because he'd heard revival was breaking out there. He wasn't a discouraged preacher looking for someone to impart something of God to him. No—he states clearly, "I went up…to Jerusalem…by revelation and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach" (Galatians 2:1–2). Paul went to Jerusalem to share a mystery that God wanted to reveal to his people.
This godly man had his own full, glorious revelation of Christ. He didn't learn the doctrines he preached by shutting himself in a study with books and commentaries. He wasn't some isolated philosopher who dreamed up theological truths, thinking, "Someday my works will be read and taught by future generations."
Let me tell you how and where Paul produced his epistles. He wrote them in dark, damp prison cells. He wrote them while wiping the blood from his back after being scourged. He wrote them after crawling from the sea, having survived another shipwreck.
Paul knew that all the truth and revelation he taught came from the battlefield of faith. And he rejoiced in his afflictions for the gospel's sake. He said, "Now I can preach with all authority to every sailor who's been through a shipwreck, to every prisoner who's been locked up with no hope, to everybody who has ever looked death in the face. God's Spirit is making me a tested veteran, so I can speak his truth to everyone who has ears to hear."
God hasn't turned you over to the power of Satan. No—he's allowing your trial because the Holy Spirit is performing an unseen work in you. Christ's glory is being formed in you for all eternity.
You'll never get true spirituality from someone or something else. If you're going to taste God's glory, it's going to have to come to you right where you are—in your present circumstances, pleasant or unpleasant.
I believe one of the great secrets of Paul's spirituality was his readiness to accept whatever condition he was in without complaining. He writes, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content" (Philippians 4:11).
The Greek word for content here means "to ward off." Paul is saying, "I don't try to protect myself from my unpleasant circumstances. I don't beg God for relief from them. On the contrary, I embrace them. I know from my history with the Lord that he's doing something eternal in me."
"That ye may be able to bear it…" (1 Corinthians 10:13). The word bear which Paul uses here implies that our condition isn't going to change. The point is for us to bear up under the situation. Why? God knows that if he changes our condition, we'll end up destroyed. He allows us to suffer because he loves us.
Our part in every trial is to trust God for all the power and resources we need to find contentment in the midst of our suffering. Please don't misunderstand me—being "content" in our trials doesn't mean we enjoy them. It simply means we no longer try to protect ourselves from them. We are content to stay put and endure whatever is handed to us, because we know our Lord is conforming us to the image of his Son.
This godly man had his own full, glorious revelation of Christ. He didn't learn the doctrines he preached by shutting himself in a study with books and commentaries. He wasn't some isolated philosopher who dreamed up theological truths, thinking, "Someday my works will be read and taught by future generations."
Let me tell you how and where Paul produced his epistles. He wrote them in dark, damp prison cells. He wrote them while wiping the blood from his back after being scourged. He wrote them after crawling from the sea, having survived another shipwreck.
Paul knew that all the truth and revelation he taught came from the battlefield of faith. And he rejoiced in his afflictions for the gospel's sake. He said, "Now I can preach with all authority to every sailor who's been through a shipwreck, to every prisoner who's been locked up with no hope, to everybody who has ever looked death in the face. God's Spirit is making me a tested veteran, so I can speak his truth to everyone who has ears to hear."
God hasn't turned you over to the power of Satan. No—he's allowing your trial because the Holy Spirit is performing an unseen work in you. Christ's glory is being formed in you for all eternity.
You'll never get true spirituality from someone or something else. If you're going to taste God's glory, it's going to have to come to you right where you are—in your present circumstances, pleasant or unpleasant.
I believe one of the great secrets of Paul's spirituality was his readiness to accept whatever condition he was in without complaining. He writes, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content" (Philippians 4:11).
The Greek word for content here means "to ward off." Paul is saying, "I don't try to protect myself from my unpleasant circumstances. I don't beg God for relief from them. On the contrary, I embrace them. I know from my history with the Lord that he's doing something eternal in me."
"That ye may be able to bear it…" (1 Corinthians 10:13). The word bear which Paul uses here implies that our condition isn't going to change. The point is for us to bear up under the situation. Why? God knows that if he changes our condition, we'll end up destroyed. He allows us to suffer because he loves us.
Our part in every trial is to trust God for all the power and resources we need to find contentment in the midst of our suffering. Please don't misunderstand me—being "content" in our trials doesn't mean we enjoy them. It simply means we no longer try to protect ourselves from them. We are content to stay put and endure whatever is handed to us, because we know our Lord is conforming us to the image of his Son.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
WALKING WITH GOD
"Enoch walked with God" (Genesis 5:24).
The original Hebrew meaning for walked implies that Enoch went up and down, in and out, to and fro, arm in arm with God, continually conversing with him and growing closer to him. Enoch lived 365 years—or, a "year" of years. In him, we see a new kind of believer. For 365 days each adult year, he walked arm in arm with the Lord. The Lord was his very life—so much so that at the end of his life, he did not see death (see Hebrews 11:5).
Like Enoch, who was translated out of life, those who walk closely with God are translated out of Satan's reach—taken out of his kingdom of darkness and put into Christ's kingdom of light: "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son" (Colossians 1:13).
Enoch learned to walk pleasingly before God in the midst of a wicked society. He was an ordinary man with all the same problems and burdens we carry, not a hermit hidden away in a wilderness cave. He was involved in life with a wife, children, obligations and responsibilities; Enoch wasn't "hiding to be holy."
"Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him" (Genesis 5:24). We know from Hebrews that this verse speaks of Enoch's translation, the fact that he did not taste death. But it also means something deeper. The phrase he was not, as used in Genesis 5, also means "he was not of this world." In his spirit and in his senses, Enoch was not a part of this wicked world.
Each day as he walked with the Lord he became less attached to the things below. Like Paul, he died daily to this earthly life and he was taken up in his spirit to a heavenly realm.
Yet while he walked on this earth, Enoch undertook all his responsibilities. He cared for his family: he worked, ministered and occupied. But "he was not"—not earthbound. None of the demands of this life could keep him from his walk with God.
Hebrews 11:5 says clearly: "Before his [Enoch's] translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." What was it about Enoch that pleased God so much? It was that his walk with God produced in him the kind of faith God loves. These two verses cannot be separated: "Before his [Enoch's] translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him" (Hebrews 11:5-6).
We hear this latter verse often, but rarely in connection with the former. Yet throughout the Bible and all of history those who walked closely with God became men and women of deep faith. If the church is walking with God daily, communing with him continually, the result will be a people full of faith—true faith that pleases God.
All around Enoch, mankind grew increasingly ungodly. Yet as men changed into wild beasts full of lust, hardness and sensuality, Enoch became more and more like the One with whom he walked.
"By faith Enoch was translated." This is an incredible truth, almost beyond our comprehension. All of Enoch's faith was focused on the one great desire of his heart: to be with the Lord. And God translated him in answer to his faith. Enoch could no longer bear to stand behind the veil; he just had to see the Lord.
Our brother Enoch had no Bible, no songbook, no fellow member, no teacher, no indwelling Holy Spirit, no rent veil with access to the Holy of Holies. But he knew God!
"He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Hebrews 11:6). How do we know that Enoch believed God was a rewarder? Because we know that is the only faith that pleases God—and we know that Enoch pleased him! God is a recompenser, a remunerator, that is, one who pays well for faithfulness. How does the Lord reward his diligent ones?
There are three important rewards that come by believing God and walking with him in faith.
1. The first reward is God's control of our lives. The person who neglects the Lord soon spins out of control as the devil moves in and takes over. If only he would fall in love with Jesus, walking and talking with him! God would soon show him that Satan has no real dominion over him and this person would quickly allow Christ to control him.
2. The second reward that comes by faith is having "pure light." When we walk with the Lord, we are rewarded with light, direction, discernment, revelation—a certain "knowing" that God gives us.
3. The third reward that comes with a walk of faith is protection from all our enemies. "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper" (Isaiah 54:17). In the original Hebrew, this verse is translated as: "No plan, no instrument of destruction, no satanic artillery shall push you or run over you, but it will be done away with."
The original Hebrew meaning for walked implies that Enoch went up and down, in and out, to and fro, arm in arm with God, continually conversing with him and growing closer to him. Enoch lived 365 years—or, a "year" of years. In him, we see a new kind of believer. For 365 days each adult year, he walked arm in arm with the Lord. The Lord was his very life—so much so that at the end of his life, he did not see death (see Hebrews 11:5).
Like Enoch, who was translated out of life, those who walk closely with God are translated out of Satan's reach—taken out of his kingdom of darkness and put into Christ's kingdom of light: "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son" (Colossians 1:13).
Enoch learned to walk pleasingly before God in the midst of a wicked society. He was an ordinary man with all the same problems and burdens we carry, not a hermit hidden away in a wilderness cave. He was involved in life with a wife, children, obligations and responsibilities; Enoch wasn't "hiding to be holy."
"Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him" (Genesis 5:24). We know from Hebrews that this verse speaks of Enoch's translation, the fact that he did not taste death. But it also means something deeper. The phrase he was not, as used in Genesis 5, also means "he was not of this world." In his spirit and in his senses, Enoch was not a part of this wicked world.
Each day as he walked with the Lord he became less attached to the things below. Like Paul, he died daily to this earthly life and he was taken up in his spirit to a heavenly realm.
Yet while he walked on this earth, Enoch undertook all his responsibilities. He cared for his family: he worked, ministered and occupied. But "he was not"—not earthbound. None of the demands of this life could keep him from his walk with God.
Hebrews 11:5 says clearly: "Before his [Enoch's] translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." What was it about Enoch that pleased God so much? It was that his walk with God produced in him the kind of faith God loves. These two verses cannot be separated: "Before his [Enoch's] translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him" (Hebrews 11:5-6).
We hear this latter verse often, but rarely in connection with the former. Yet throughout the Bible and all of history those who walked closely with God became men and women of deep faith. If the church is walking with God daily, communing with him continually, the result will be a people full of faith—true faith that pleases God.
All around Enoch, mankind grew increasingly ungodly. Yet as men changed into wild beasts full of lust, hardness and sensuality, Enoch became more and more like the One with whom he walked.
"By faith Enoch was translated." This is an incredible truth, almost beyond our comprehension. All of Enoch's faith was focused on the one great desire of his heart: to be with the Lord. And God translated him in answer to his faith. Enoch could no longer bear to stand behind the veil; he just had to see the Lord.
Our brother Enoch had no Bible, no songbook, no fellow member, no teacher, no indwelling Holy Spirit, no rent veil with access to the Holy of Holies. But he knew God!
"He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Hebrews 11:6). How do we know that Enoch believed God was a rewarder? Because we know that is the only faith that pleases God—and we know that Enoch pleased him! God is a recompenser, a remunerator, that is, one who pays well for faithfulness. How does the Lord reward his diligent ones?
There are three important rewards that come by believing God and walking with him in faith.
1. The first reward is God's control of our lives. The person who neglects the Lord soon spins out of control as the devil moves in and takes over. If only he would fall in love with Jesus, walking and talking with him! God would soon show him that Satan has no real dominion over him and this person would quickly allow Christ to control him.
2. The second reward that comes by faith is having "pure light." When we walk with the Lord, we are rewarded with light, direction, discernment, revelation—a certain "knowing" that God gives us.
3. The third reward that comes with a walk of faith is protection from all our enemies. "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper" (Isaiah 54:17). In the original Hebrew, this verse is translated as: "No plan, no instrument of destruction, no satanic artillery shall push you or run over you, but it will be done away with."
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