MATCH, MISMATCH, LOVE AND THE MAKER
Courtship,
Marriage and the Place of Sex
When courting,
remember the prohibition (I Corinthians 6:15‑18,9).
Observe that
the body for a Christian is a sort of temple for the Lord by the Spirit (see
also Ephesians 5:1‑6).The body is for the Lord, not for loose use (I Corinthians
6:9) of any kind. It is constructed for a purpose Avoid its abuse in any form,
but rather consecrate it ‑ Romans 12:1‑2,13:14.
What,
says Paul, will you, as a member of the body of CHRIST, join THAT body to a
harlot!
I Corinthians 6:15.
Sex is a highly
specific and specialised way of expressing affection, joined with the potential
for having, in the love it symbolises, a fruit in children to be loved with the
same love. As the child is conceived in love, so it needs and should have love
Insincerity in sex or marriage can thus blight the child, if the distortion of
purity of any kind in spirit leads to a withholding from the child, or a
division in the loves. The child, for its part, is at once a physical expression
of love, a giver and a receiver. You see, if you go astray in your earlier
parts, the child tends to be compromised in the end.
Indeed, sexual
aberration, like stunt flights, is perilous, and in one moment of error can
infect emotions, body and spirit. No one admires gluttony, and in marriage the
restraint which love imposes. Imposes ? but is it in the last resort, an
imposition to delight in the interests of what you cherish! Rather restraint as
occasion requires, it graciously inspires... It should covenantally be a work of
kindness (cf. I Corinthians 13). Love is irreplaceable, and no amount of laws
and prescriptions can replace it; yet when it is there, these advices are as dew
to the grass in the morning. They fit and complete what is already prepared.
How far off from
all of this is perversion! This, whether its harlotry, its use or provision -
like using flowers instead of tar on a road surface - or into the same sex
actions in an extravaganza of disregard of the divinely made and manifest
design, or with channeling to animals in a way perhaps less corruptive to the
other party, but if possible, still more of a caricature of the image of your
life - from God: this, through defilement, is asking for judgment. Its
historical antecedents are seen abruptly in Jude 7!
All such things
are to use equipment at the physical level, astutely designed and aided by
protective devices, co-ordinated in a way a child can understand, with a wanton
and vexatious disregard of its Creator, so vast, that the divinely decreed death
penalty in the Old Testament, for theocratic Israel as it as at that time, does
not surprise. This is to be found in Leviticus 18:22-30, 20:7-17. Indeed various
gross acts of sexual disrgard, racially, ethically and personally are most
rigorously condemned in these 2 chapters, just as sexual innovation and excess,
abuse and misuse, is exposed and condemned in Ephesians 4:31-5:4, where it is
justly associated with other passionate pre-occupations of the spirit.
There is a
spiritual background, perhaps in the form of a vacancy, to much carnal action,
whether it be a tempest of a moment, or of some length, and the causes of any
indulgence, do not necessarily stem from a given basis, but may be simply an
outlet for some other trouble. Whatever, however, the immediate cause, the
result is the same in this, that it violates the word of God, and wisdom.
In fact,
Romans 1:17-31 makes it clear
that there is a whole co-ordinated system of sin which naturally follows from
replacing the supernatural with the natural, the creation with the Creator, as
the practical basis of belief, action or thought. Such aberration is equipped
with a prognosis which readily includes tempestuous psychic sin as well as
physical aberration, the unnaturalness of taking 'nature' for God, becoming the
ruin of human nature.
Its essence ?
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"Because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God,
nor were thankful,
but became futile in their thoughts,
and their foolish hearts were darkened.
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Professing to be wise, they became fools...
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Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness in the lust of their hearts,
to dishonour their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for
the lie ...
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For this reason God gave them up to vile passions ...
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And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,
God gave them over to a debased mind ...
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backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things...
"
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PERSPECTIVE
Thus, it is not merely the physical, but the religious, the refined, the pure,
the realistic assessment of holiness to God which is here invoked in the Bible,
and this in the Old Testament no less than in the New, so that Israel as a
nation is shown that its purpose is not itself, and that its call to serve
God is not to be used, to be diverted to follow any lust which suibjugates the
person to reckless passion, indifferent loving, or casual intemperance.
Whether this be in sex or
some species of religious vagrancy, whether in worshipping what iws NOT the
Designer, or a marring of the design which he made, it is mere abuse of
privilege. God does not back such godlessness, although He is most kind to those
who repent, and has gone to the uttermost to provide for a simple transference
of guilt, yet this ONLY when there is an entire construction of the personality
in the first place, or a cleansing, in the second (II Corinthians 5:17ff., John
1:7-8). Faith being what it is, there is no question of saying one thing and
doing another, though as with King David, if a fall occur, there is a lift from
the Lord to the ways of truth once more. It is no small matter which then occurs
(Psalm 51 attests this most eloquently!). Even a child may fall, but we do not
expect any child to make a practice of falling, as if it were a means of
locomotion! (I John 3:9 declares that those born of God do not make a PRACTICE
of sin (actual translation), and this is just as clear as is the announcement
that any imagination that you are without sin is mere delusion (I John 1).
A GLANCE AT HISTORY
Let us pursue a
little the case of Israel, since history in its simplicity of overview, can
annul special pleading for the present, relatively easily!
In the prophets, God
indicates that He brought Israel into the land as a model, an example to testity
of God (Isaiah 43:21 for example), so that to descend, to accimatise itself to
athe unsustainable abuses of spirit, body and mind to be found all too easily in
the surrounding cultures to its new land, those indeed which were being judged
BY GOD THROUGH ISRAEL in the day of Joshua, yes, and which had been foreseen
from centuries before (cf. Genesis 15:15-17) would come close to constituting a
religious fiasco (you see something of this element in Isaiah 1!). Indeed, it
came according to these same prophets, to constitute a wantonry of prodigious
proportions (Ezekiel 16, 13, Hosea 7, cf. Deuteronomy 32).
How prodigious was this desecration
of divine design and intent, of holiness, this Israel was to find, as it went to
its eventual climax of ruin, where invasive passion from godless nations were
used to expose its inveterate moral nakedness (Deuteronomy 32:19ff.), and indeed
this very imagery is used (Ezekiel 16:35ff.). Poor Israel: it got what it
gave! and only by mercy did it continue at all (cf. Jeremiah 31:18ff.).
Such was God's comment, such was
God's warning - and the warning in the prophets was long, but not for ever (cf.
Hosea 7:6 - 8:7). Israel had some great times, great kings and great reigns, but
in the end, folly divided the nation into two sections, and carted off the
Northern segment altogether (II Kings 17), equipped officially with its chosen
idols, and then called 'Israel', while the South, carrying the name 'Judah'
(which was part of it), and which dwelt with Jerusalem in its midst, this had an
exile of 70 years pre-announced by the prophet Jeremiah (25) and suffered
extraordinarily (II Chronicles 36, Lamentations): and all this, long before
Christ came, and was duly crucified with unchaste spiritual passions. Loving
appeals, reminders, exhortations, rejected, and the grounds of their successive
disciplines were cited repeatedly in Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Micah to name
only some, and indeed, the fact that it would be a series of aggravated
penalties had been made clear from the time when Moses wrote Leviticus! (26).
How tender is the truculence, but how
irrepressible is the holiness which, mercy despised by man, comes from God!
Where all else fails, then judgment speaks its own language (cf. Ezekiel
12:21-28, 20:48-49, 21:1-17, where you see the people daring to mock God's
patience, and the onset that must come to meet their clamant clamours of body,
mind and spirit!).
An entire disregard of the fear of
the Lord, which is clean (Psalm 19) and of His testimonies is cited, while in
Hosea, the prophet is required to marry a harlot, who yet commits adultery and
has to be redeemed, to show in terms of sexual licence, the religious follies of
the land. These of course had issued not only in idolatrous disregard of the
true God, but in callousness, injustice (Ezekiel 22, Micah 7:3-4, 5-9), greed,
misuse of youth, moral blindness and spiritual apathy. Indeed, it looks very
much like so many nations now, whether increasingly, USA, Australia, England,
Europe, not to mention Asian countries, and of course, the wild profusion in
Islam at the carnal level, in biblical terms, is inveterate, women often being
multiple for one man, and frequently so circumscribed that it is a virtual
assault on humanity at the domestic level (Proverbs 5:15-19,
Ephesians 5, and see Beauty for Ashes...
Ch. 7, More Marvels...
Ch. 4, Cascade... Ch. 10,
*1).
Alas, the condition of Israel
was very like that to be found at present in much of the Gentile peoples, where
even here in Australia, we have reported in the news, one body called a church,
and one from considerable historical foundations, regressing from already having
homosexual elders, as freely acknowledged, now laying the line for parallel
preachers, perverted pastors in biblical terms, people who by the word of the
living God are excluded from the kingdom of heaven - I Corinthians 6:9, in their
present way, leading the people! where ?
Such a display of negligence towards
the word of God is precisely what the prophets in Israel constantly exposed, and
what a key King rigorously removed from the kingdom (II Kings 23:7), amongst the
other expressions of carnal lust, be it in spirit, mind or body which he purged;
yet they played the fool after his time, and met judgment with a force which
paralleled their own former calumniation of the commandments for our good, and
not for evil. Indeed, even this day as one writes, this fall of a church once
held in considerable repute, at least as to its antecedents, has happened.
Never, since formed by an amalgamation, fully committed to the Bible, it now
leaves its text with the accelerations of a drag race.
Yet how tenderly the Lord entreated
His people, as He does yet, and how graciously He shows the relief yet to come,
but only in the case of Israel, after profound judgment and utter purgation
(Hosea 11:1-8, Jeremiah 30:12-17, 31:27ff., 30:20). Meanwhile, for that nation
in its historical exhibition in the prophets, what do we find ? It is this: that
as perversity of spirit and body (Ezekiel 16:48ff.) became rampant -
chronic, so judgment became inexorable, and ruin inveterate (Lamentations):
mercy being spurned (Jeremiah 17:19ff.) with the same highmindedness that led to
its initial need!
How Israel suffered, has suffered...
Just as it first left the commands that implemented purity and peace (lamented
so poignantly by the Lord as seen in Isaiah 48:17-20), so at least the nation
killed its own Messiah, yes Him who was for all nations (Genesis 12): all bonds
broken but the love of God who yet remains faithful to promise (Ezekiel
39:22ff., 37:5ff.). Thus has He brought back the nation to its own land as
promised (SMR Appendix A, cf. Galloping
Events Ch. 4, Isaiah 42, Ezekiel 36-39),
and thus does He wait until the time comes (as in Romans 11:25) for their
awakening! The Gentiles (cf. Romans 11: 187ff.), when they likewise kill the
word of the Lord, and dismiss the Christ from their hearts, His commands from
their midst. Israel suffered for unbelief, and it does not cease to be such when
in the hearts of Gentiles, with their own provocative passions and idols.
It is time, then, to look at the New
Testament.
NEW TESTAMENT
In the New Testament,
the Church is no longer theocratically found in the nation, for the clientele is
international. Yet the penalty of homosexuality, to take one prong of the
dissolution, both spiritual and sexual promiscuity, in all its godless
diversity, adultery both spiritual and physical, fornication both religious and
sexual, that galaxy of sexual folly available: this is not there, any less
severe.
The case is this, in
the New Testament, that such practitioners are excluded from the kingdom of
heaven. Sexual perversion in particular is lumped with kidnapping and other
gross acts of violation (I Timothy 1) , indeed even with covetousness (I
Corinthians 6:9-10). Such things are not included (cf. Revelation 21:8). Repent
by all means, but that change of heart is immiscible with the misery of
malediction, since it is a matter of faith which works, and working, has that
fear of the Lord which is not craven, any more than is the fear of a huge log,
bringing blessed warmth, should it fall out of the fire place craven. It is a
matter of recognising reality, and being humble in the face of truth. Two into
one will not go with integrity, and the way of the Lord is one: it does not
suffer division and revision. It stands.
See in particular I
TImothy 1:9010, I Cor. 5:11-12, 6:9-10, Romans 1:22-32 on these matters.
Wantonry of various species
in such scriptures as thee, is seen in a descent of spirit into the pit of
irregularity and ruin, in a coalescing climate of such rebellion against God,
that its source and destiny look alike. (Cf. Jude 3-7 and refer to News
44, 88).
SEXUAL OBESITY,
DEFORMED DESIRE, SPIRITUAL ANOREXIA
All
these things - sexual obesity, deformed desire, spiritual anorexia, depleted
love, sex, defiled mock marriage or relationships more broadly invented as a
butt for push, a victim for self-expression or a sordid, self-willed
substitute for actual love - are uniformly rejected in all the Bible, just as
are other defilements of that magnificent image (Genesis 1:27) that man bears
from God.
Physical expression of love, where
its eventual outcome in procreation is designer-inbuilt, is worse than
meaningless unless spiritual, personal love precedes it, like a midwife. Love so
expressed, if indeed love be present, will naturally express itself in other
ways as readily. The physical is but one of these, and sexual involvement is but
one of the physical ways, for even the eyes can mate.
Thus in Ephesians 5, you see the
divine prescription, which for love, is also a divine description! This is its
way.
Let us take an illustration, then. If
the husband is to be tempted to make final decisions since bafflement between
two has no resolution mathematically, yet they are to be made with a sacrificial
love which has its exemplar in the love of Christ for the Church! (Ephesians
5:24-28). There is no use of power to seduce, to abuse, to seek gratification,
but rather to delight, to deliver and to care! As Christ took His orders as
Messiah on earth, from His Father (cf. John 12:48-50, 7:16).
The rule of such love is incandescent
with desire for the wife's joy and need, allowing for any weakness with
solicitude, not pressing, not demanding but rejoicing in sincerity, integrity
and grace. These two sides balance, her willingness, if need be, for a
presidential vote being cast by the husband, and his insistence on sacrificial
tenderness on her behalf. Such 'orders' are easy to obey, and in any case, what
need is there of order when there is harmony, peace, agreed objectives and
mutual intelligence shared. In any case, NOTHING contrary to the word of God may
be bound by anyone in any Christian household.
Betrayal of either side, as in one
clumsy dancer in a duo afflicts both, is simply ground for repentance. It
is time to take the patters of the Lord seriously! You cannot teach love. I it
is not present, it will not be understood! When it IS present, it tends to
wonder what all the talk is about! Yet it appreciates instruction from the
Lord, the ultimate source of all worthy of the name of love.
Thus for failure, law impinges - Do
this, Avoid that! It is only when the word of God rules that the heavenly and
enduring natue of love is discerned, for God is its definition (I John 4:7ff.),
and dynamic. Divorce from Him leaves 'love' without vision, subject to the
wheel of cultural change wrought on soft clay, the cycles of the untutored
psyche and the mood that passes. To miss the reality for such nuances and
nebulous profusions is like stuffing your stomach with fairy floss at some fair,
and failing to know what a strengthening repast can do for living.
Thus some may be called not to marry
or have sexual relations at all (Matthew 19:12), as was Paul; but this, so far
from denaturing love, simply removes one branch of its expression for those
called so to specialise in others of love's fields.
Fervent brotherly love, with a
pure heart (I Peter 1:22) is the basic reality, after the love of God Himself
(Psalm 73:25ff., Matthew 22:37); and these exhibit love in its source waters,
which move to whatever expressive format of co-operation for Christ, friendship,
teamwork, marriage, the marvels of motherhood, the meadows of paternity, that
they find. Love flows with peace like a river, and even in rapids, it proceeds
surely.
There is a beauty of holiness in love
which mere sentiment, self-expression or self-seeking, with or without passion,
never knows.
LOVE ON ITS WAY
Yet where is the one who
fails to turn ? It is, as with all sin, to the Saviour, who has no limits to His
power to cleanse, pardon and empower in purity.
Naturally, as
with other sin, repentance and seeking the face of the Lord is a first
pre‑requisite if
you go, are going, or have gone astray here. The Lord is merciful and knows how
to put your sins as far away as the East is from the West (Psalm 103): but
repentance pre‑supposes sincerity of purpose and requires confidence in the
saving power of the Lord; which is of course part of the natural birth‑right (I
prefer here 'birth‑grace') of a Christian.
The misuse of
sex, then, is to make a comedy of love. Since in His purity and as Scripture
defines it, God IS love, this would indeed be a mockery.
Marriage for
the Christian should be an answer to believing prayer, and comes thus as a part
of a special plan for him/her, held by God. There is no need for rush or for
anxiety one way or the other, but for a calm, deep, and abiding confidence.
There IS no such Father as God: it is however necessary to KNOW Him ! Like
everything else, the question of marriage should be spread before Him.
Think of the
children, for example, and what you seek in the Lord for their service to Him -
BEFORE you marry. There may be long enough to SEE it afterwards; wisely consider
it beforehand in prayer, and let it be sincere and sure ... Of course, you would wisely consider various physical tests to prevent needless
difficulties to
a child, through ignorance of medical conditions. Each matter should be
prayed through with
the consciousness that your heavenly Father, WHO IS LOVE, knows both you and
the situation AND has the solution available. NOTHING IS TOO HARD FOR THE LORD (
Luke 1:37, Jeremiah 32:17).
Heredity
matters, racial matters, educational matters, capacities for service and
mutuality in service: all these and many more should be pondered before the
Lord. This does not demean the reality of the love: on the contrary, if you love,
then
you wish the best for your potential wife/husband and possible children, and
LOVE GOD WITH ALL YOUR MIND AND HEART.
Within the
framework of a delicate and loving concern for each other, which Paul
stresses, he gives further advice to married people (I Corinthians 7
:1‑6).
This is general spiritual counselling from the Lord, and not an 'abrupt
command'. In ALL things, consideration such as one accords to one's own members
in one's own body, is called for. Marriage is not employment: it is deployment
jointly of resources out of love, and because of it.
Gentleness, graciousness and the deepest concern should be conferred by
each on the other as the wind confers freshness in Summer, and the rain its
refreshing.
19 A DIVORCE FROM DOOM,
CHANGING
CHURCH
Sad things have to be faced.
Divorce, for no cause but adultery, is not only possible, permissible, but
specifically declared by Christ (Matthew 19:9ff.). It must be for sexual
immorality. That of course did not constitute much of a problem in the Old
Testament day, when it was a theocratic State, for the homosexual, the animal
and the adulterous practice brought the death penalty. Such a wife or husband
would not be alive! Nowadays that life is not removed since there is no such
theocratic State: the penalty still remains, however, that such a practice
excludes from the kingdom of heaven (I Cor. 6:9).
We have also seen that ANY
sin,
if truly repented of,
if detested and cut off by
faith, and so desisted from through the grace of God,
its guilt put on Christ
crucified and life from His resurrected power used, as one is restored -
as was King David, can be
pardoned. In that King's case, II Samuel 11-12, read with Psalm 51, show the
fact and the repentance.
Pardon however is not another name for pollution: it
is part of the way to purification.
I Corinthians 5:9ff., I Timothy 1, and Leviticus remain in awesome coupling
showing the divine attitude to such impurity as a practice. The whole heart must
be cleansed (I John 1:7ff.), and this is what faith enables, has
enabled in countless cases from Paul's day on (I Corinthians 6:9-11).
What however when the pollution, the promiscuity, is
not physical but spiritual ? We have noticed the strong scriptural emphasis on
the parallel between adultery of flesh and of spirit, that indeed Hosea uses the
parallel to promote the preaching of purity of spirit, in contrast to idolatrous
preoccupations, other gods: so that Israel is LIKE an adulteress in its
'whoring' after other gods. Such was the judgment in Deuteronomy 32 moreover.
Is a lapse in flesh more significant than an
'affair' in the spirit ? Not at all! On the contrary, GOD IS A SPIRIT (John 4),
and sanctification is to be in mind, body and spirit (I Thessalonians 5:23), and
one is to avoid ALL uncleanness (Ephesians 5:3), and this in a context moving
from wrath, bitterness, anger, to covetousness and all uncleanness. Moreover in
II Corinthians 7:1, the church is exhort that we should
"cleanse ourselves from from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God." It could never be
said that it is unclear!
What however is to be done when it
is not just one's own body, mind and spirit, but that of the Church of which one
is a member ?
Ephesians 5 tells us what the whole
Old Testament had thundered for centuries, yes for millenia.
The thing has to be corrected, in
which you so abide. Judgment is the only alternative. Patience is not another
name for pollution. In I Kings 17 and II Chronicles 36 you see the cumulative
impact of disobedience, brushing aside correction, ignoring expostulation from
God, exhortation and appeal. It is simply judgment. Faith works. Fiction does
not. God is not keeping children who are fictions. His children are transformed
by His Spirit, cleansed in spirit and chosen in eternity. Imperfect to be sure,
they yet love Him and His ways, and His word (Titus 3:5ff., Romans 5:5, John
14:21ff.). Sinners indeed, they are not in conscious rebellion; and if they do
rebel, they are chastened as was Jonah in that classic case. God is a loving
Father, not the runner of a spiritual brothel.
In Ephesians 5:7 we gain the command
in the special and (for the New Testament commencement era) new situation where
the organisation is not a nation, but a church. Membership in such a body is of
course entirely voluntary: it is not a national, but a church matter. What is
the command in Ephesians 5 then ? It is this:
"DO NOT BE PARTAKERS WITH
THEM." Do not share with them.
This means that you cannot pay for their pastor,
partake of their fellowship or their communion, or their prayer meetings, for
without any doubt, this would be sharing, even on an intimate scale! If you
want, therefore, to disobey God, this is one sure-fire way to do it. Go on in
the voluntary fellowship of your Church when it duly makes the decision to
tolerate ANY kind of impurity. Sexual licence, such as having homosexual or
lesbian pastors, or elders, or indeed members, is one such decree nisi against
the commandments of God. If a church makes it, that is the end of that church
for fellowship, by express command of the Bible. You then follow it, or the word
of God. You CANNOT do both, since they are contrary, the one to the other. As
Joshua put it, CHOOSE THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE! (Joshua 24:15).
Let us be especially clear here. It is not a matter
of a lapse in some party, who like David, in the control of some foolish lust
does this or that. We are talking of those who are characterisable in this way,
as homosexuals, or adulterers, fornicators, covetous, and so on. This is the
language both in Ephesians and in I Corinthians 5 and 6. What is to be said
about sharing a communion with those who are by name expressly told they are NOT
in the kingdom of heaven, in I Corinthians 6, because their LIFE STYLE is in a
forbidden territory of this
kind ? It is rank formalism and specific disobedience. It mocks God.
What however is the case when some other impurity is
in view: such as disbelieving the Bible, or making culture king, whether in
masculinism or feminism, and reading to God the riot act, from this extreme or
that, indicating to Him what is to be done ? That too is simply a special case
of rebellion, of building your house on the sand so that, Christ predicts, when
the tempest, the trial that finds out your strength and your basis comes, you
fall in the sand (Matthew 7:15ff.). It is simply another way of showing that you
do not love Him, for as He says, "If anyone loves Me, he
will keep My word!" (John 14:23). "He who does not
love Me does not keep My word," He declared. Paul in I Corinthians 16:22
shows the significance of such a situation: "If anyone
does not love the Lord Jesus, let him be accursed!" the apostle declaims.
You cannot have it both ways. Man without God in the
world, stranger to the covenant of promise, has no hope (Ephesians 2:12), and is
a child of wrath (Ephesians 2:3). 'Flesh' as shown elsewhere is another name for
acting as if one had made a declaration of independence from God, or
simply lived that way without one! (cf. Romans 7:9ff., 18): covetousness in this
sense, which trapped Paul, is a sin of the flesh. Fulfilling the "lusts of the
flesh" can be in coveting as well as adultery, in pride as well as anger, in
self-approval as well as in other delusions that take their call and talk from
themselves, ignoring what God has to say. It can even reach the point where a
person actually considers that any good God had better accept him or her, for
such a deity would know such a good thing when He saw it! There is no evident
limit to the pride of flesh.
If therefore, flesh parades its speech before God,
instead of accepting what HE has to say, it is like a child ignoring the
specialist, and deciding that after all he does not have epilepsy and need not
follow the instructions. In this case, a doctor may err: with God, there is and
never has been error. His word is truth (John 17:17), yes, even to the last jot
and tittle of it (Matthew 5:17ff.), and this is merely exhibited in its transfer
to man, through apostle and prophet, by Paul in I Corinthians 2:9-13, as by
Peter, in I Peter 1:10ff. and II Peter 1:19ff.. As in the Old Testament,
Deuteronomy 4 and 12, you were disenabled naturally enough! from adding or
subtracting from the divine mind, from His word, so in the New (Revelation
22:18-19, Matthew 7:15ff., John 14:21ff.).
What however if your church DOES THIS! What if it
removes this scripture, or ignores it on purpose, and INSISTS on doing so after
you have duly protested and presented the matter as it should be ? Titus 3:10 is
exceptionally simple and clear here. On the second admonition, in dealing with
someone who diverges from the doctrine, REJECT! That is the instruction to
Titus. This is the spiritual situation to be implemented by whoever is in charge
in the church, and by the congregation as to its desire, as under the word of
God, in the Bible.
It is the same as we have seen in Ephesians 5:7; and
no other message is seen in I Timothy 6:1-6. If anyone does not acknowledge the
word of God, in fact TEACHES OTHERWISE, then the pathology is profound, and the
instruction in 6:5 is quite simple: FROM SUCH TURN AWAY. Romans 16:17 makes it
clear that it is the due instruction from the apostles, which is based on the
word of God, which indeed gives it the authority at all, which is to be heeded.
If anyone teaches otherwise, AVOID such a person.
What then if your CHURCH teaches otherwise. This is
merely a corporate entity, and from this you are to turn away, this you are to
avoid, with this you are not to partake. The exclusion then is for all who are
acting as breakers of the law of God, as rejecters of His word, or indeed makers
of new Christs (as in II Corinthians 11), or new Gospels. It is all one: it is
the word of God which rules, or it is the word of man. If the latter, WARN,
EXHORT and if there is no response, then leave: otherwise this is your chosen
course, milieu and church, in violation of God's command.
What if you want to stay, as we have found, perhaps
thousands do, who yet ADMIT that the church, this one or that, is in rebellion
against the word of God and HAS LONG BEEN SO ? Then if you DO stay, you simply
rebel against the word of God, as in any other situation, be it adultery,
theft, covetousness or other, as specified.
It is not really so hard. God has standards. Keep
them. If your church does not do so, warn it, exhort it, and if it persists in
error, leave it. You have no option here. It is called separation, and much is
said in long treatises to escape the simplicity of the thing; but it is to be
done. IF the body does not obey, and WILL NOT, then you having warned, exhorted,
sought, pled if need be, leave it. You are not free to wait until revival comes.
WHEN it does, you are free to rejoin; UNTIL it does, your instructions are
categorical. Untold misery can thus be avoided, and great power and wisdom
found, as you follow God in this, as in all things (cf. Acts 5:32, where we read
that God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him: naturally, He specially
endues what follows Him!). No Christian is without the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9),
but when you grieve the Lord, there is a disempowering and a disgrace, which
abides but ill with His flow of strength and wisdom! When however you wait upon
Him, not in word only but in spirit, what strength is available, and so we read
as we find, in Isaiah 40:29-31.
For further on this theme, see The Kingdom of
Heaven Ch. 7.
20.
CAREER
You have
abilities or 'talents' which the Lord has given you. Your mental calibre and
physical ability tend to come at birth, though their misuse can condition them
far from their true level, and wise and loving care and involvement from your
parents and others, as well as your own attitude and activities may stimulate
them to their better levels, within their actual potential.
From such
misuse, Christ can deliver us, when we are His. Making the best use of what has
been accorded you, both from birth and in your early stages of parental care,
this is the positive virtue. The sturdiest use of your talents
is urged by Christ (Matthew 25:14‑26 and Luke 19:11). It is no accident
that you possess something which makes the Twin Towers, recently destroyed in
New York, to seem like child's building blocks by comparison. The intelligence
in you is not merely an impress from the Maker, as in all programs using
code and command, but an expression of Himself by your spirit. Through this you
actually and actively, consciously and knowingly participate in intelligence's
use! More, you have a spirit to dispose it this way or that, and an imagination
through which you may voluntarily dwell in worlds of thought, enterprise and
even creation, yes creation in which your values and vigour, understanding and
delight in God may be shown. What a creation are you who read this!
In prayer you may tell
God that you wish your talents to be used to the extreme point for Him, in
gratitude for creating you and redeeming you: that you wish to be used in
creating good things and presenting the love of God in word and deed, testifying
of Christ and rejoicing with His saints, walking in the beauty of holiness,
surrounded by His Spirit, indwelt by His life (Psalm 27, II Peter 1, II
Corinthians 3:18ff. cf. II Timothy 4:6-8, 1:9-12, Philippians 1:20-21, I
Thessalonians 5:12-28), living now in the life eternal which shall not cease
because of the Redeemer. Faithful, says Paul in this last reference, is He who
calls you WHO ALSO WILL DO IT!
ASK HIM to bring
it to pass: give no orders, just offer and ask Romans 12:1-2. Indeed, ask
it in faith and watch in prayer, for in this is assurance: I John 5:14‑15
with Romans 8:16, 5:1-11. It is always a wonderful
privilege be able to pray at least the sort of prayer which is also a clear
command TO you FROM God: then you know it is in the line of His will,
stimulating faith, which in
such a matter, will surely
bring results.
Be willing for
ANYTHING; be supple in spirit. Remember also the spiritual gifts which God
gives: your whole load of gifts needs use, and God who gives, knows how to use
the committed, consecrated and willing seeking servant. Do not parade
gifts or seek them for psychological crutches. You need no crutch when the God
of the universe, King of Eternity and Lord of Creation, the Redeemer of your
life is with you (Matthew 28:19-20, Hebrews 13:5-6). Test everything (I
Thessalonians 5:21), do not quench the Spirit (5:19), and
"in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God
concerning you."
Whatever befalls (Psalm 1), when you are His, is
carefully crafted and by faith you need to accept, adapt to it and have it
moulded or modelled as He enables you to pray. The lot comes into your lap, but
the disposing of it is from the Lord! (Proverbs 16:33). Therefore seek Him, in
all things, like an expert batsman facing a skilled bowler, and it is He who
will glorify His own name in your deliverance, disposition and dynamising for
the task (Psalm 1:6).
Never make money
the criterion: is not God able to ADD these things to you, WHEN you seek FIRST His kingdom and its righteousness. This is what Jesus SAYS, so
trust Him and do so (Matthew 6:33). Is He not Lord, is He not God! so treat Him
as such, knowing NOTHING is too hard for the Lord (Luke 1:37). Submit everything to the Lord; maintain
spiritual aims. Consider the spiritual service which you can do, wherever you
are placed, and whatever your daily work (Romans 12:4-21). Ministers minister; but not they
only! 'Ministers' are servants of the Lord, usually full-time, and they minister
the word of God and serve in His house (I Peter 5, I Timothy 5:17, Ephesians
4:11); but all minister in some measure to each other and for Him who calls each
(Romans 8:29ff., Ephesians 4:14-17, I Corinthians 12).
It is with
ministers and missionaries
a specific form of service,but remeber service is spiritually disposed by the
Lord in His own body, and ALL serve Him and one another, while many who are
first will be last, the last first. Many are the modes of service mentioned in Romans
12:4‑8, Ephesians 4, I Corinthians 12. There is also seen here the
spirit of mutuality, but also of individuality since He who is the Head is also
resource, recourse and Creator, over all. Therefore be sure that you do His will
and never confuse this with what the majority say. Where there is health in a
particular local body, well, so be it (cf. Acts 13:1ff.), but where there is
invasion, intrusion, contusion with false philosophy and the like, you must
chart your own course, exhort and challenge if need be, ensuring that the Head
is honoured.
It is not really
too difficult: for after all, if the body does not receive all of the Bible
(Isaiah 8:20), what are you doing there! (Romans 16:17). If it does, then bring
the word of God to the meeting and insist on it, for this is your good service;
only be sure it IS what is written and not your own misconception. That too is
not very difficult if you are willing to follow it and watch in prayer and
faithfulness (Proverbs 8:8, John 7:17, I John 2:27).
Laymen have done amazing things, for
it is GOD who works in you both to will and to do (Philippians 2:12‑13, but
combine this with 3:20‑21‑ this is that you 'rejoice with trembling'). But
first you must be yielded absolutely to the strong Lord :Romans 12:1‑2. You must
be ready to seek Him and to be chastened, challenged and led, yourself: Isaiah 55:5
ff.. Stephen was not a minister, but instead a deacon: it is not recorded that
he was an elder, but rather
one
who was to attend to material needs for the people. However, what glowing and
glorious testimony, lingers and dawns with a beautiful light, to this day, his
service sealed with his death! Even there the very portals of eternal life
opened and he shared as he left, the vision of what is to come, calling on the
Lord both to forgive his oppressors and murderers and to receive his spirit,
seeing Him at the right hand of the Father as he left for his rest in His
presence (Acts 7, Philippians 1:20-21).
How keenly it would have been felt by
those seeing it, and in particular by Saul, who was to become Paul, the apostle,
who in Stephen saw before his own conversion an angelic-seeming example of
purity, passion and compassion (Acts 7:51‑60)!
How many of the gracious attributes of FAITHFULNESS IN TESTIMONY, CLEAR
EXHORTATION, SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING, COURAGE, CHARACTER, A FORGIVING SPIRIT,
SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT, PURITY OF HEART... which this deacon displayed. How beautiful
his last words (vv.59‑60)...
Training can
also help: you may go to a Bible Institute or do a course of Biblical studies,
while always studying the word for yourself, finding n prayer and meditation in
the presence of the Lord, HIS OWN opening up of spiritual things to you, helping
you to be grounded and secure in the word.
A Bible Dictionary can be a great
asset, but not all are faithful: ONE good one is that of J.D. Davis, 4th.Edition
Revised, and on more recent ones consult a biblical pastor.
Modern Bible translations may also
help, but care must be exercised. The A.V. is good indeed, but the language that
of the time of its translation, in the time around 1600, near that of
Shakespeare. Nevertheless in general, it is very reliable in touch and
discernment, not taking liberties. The N.A.S.V. has
good features, as has the N.I.V..
Unfortunately, in
the New
Testament both these versions use a corrupted text, following a theory of the
last century which is now shown to be superficial and misleading. The great
majority of the Greek texts are of the kind used in the A.V. and also in the
New King James Bible. This
with the Authorised Version (or King James) provides a good coupling, the former
for refinement, the latter for clarity. J.B.Phillips' paraphrase is useful for
preliminary survey. A Bible Atlas (also requiring care in its selection) is
another help; and learning New Testament Greek is a further advantage, as a
minimum for serious study. The Old Testament of course is mainly in Hebrew, and
for the serious expositor, a knowledge of this is needed. Not all however are
linguists, so that a judicious use of the translations is to the point.
For further detail, see
Bible Translations. What then is a useful approach if you lack Hebrew and Greek to
check translations ? It is this. Use the AV for accuracy, when this is the question,
and the New King James for clarity, when this is the question. Some translations
like the Berkeley Version, are excellent in general in the Old Testament, for
clarity, but seem now unavailable. Using the AV, or the New KJ if the language
is a problem, in harness together is in nearly all cases sufficient for normal
use, and that with some reference say to
the NASV for special stimulus can be a wise procedure.
Teaching in Sunday School is one way to learn,
forcing the conscientious teacher to do research for which he/she may later be
grateful. Various specialised studies could be discussed also, and useful
magazines; but this will suffice at this point. On the topic of Creation, both
Answers from Genesis and Creation Research provide useful material, both
in Queensland, each with its Web presence, and various publications and
provisions for obtaining specialised works.
21. DRINK and DRUGS
"Foods," says Paul,
"are for the stomach and the stomach for foods: but God
shall destroy both it and them." 1 Corinthians 6:13.So
too: "The kingdom of God is not food and drink; but
righteousness , and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."
I Corinthians 7:13, Romans 14:17).
Paul appeals to a sense of proportion: if some act
of ours makes a 'weaker' brother fall, it is wise for us to seek ways to avoid
this. What is meant by this ? Some people for various reasons are not strong in
understanding, troubled by various past experiences or deficiencies, and are
truly sensitive, especially in some areas or domains. These need to be treated
with respect and care; and perhaps the reader, looking back, will realise that
he or she was also surprisingly naive and unversed, or super-sensitive on
some point or other, early in Christian life.
What then do we do in such cases ? We do not pity or
patronise, for who knows what weakness we have not found in our own deployment:
rather we notice a difficulty, as one notices a limp, and seek to be both kindly
and helpful, discreetly.
We do not indulge our appetites with no respect for their consequences:
because of love. We should love God who made our equipment, preserve it intact
and vital for His sake, and delight in serving Him with it, out of love for Him,
being at all times faithful to His word, but watchful in our personal living and
practices, lest there be needless alienation in the unwary (Romans 14).
In that way, the fullest life (John 10:10) results, though assuredly it is not
under our own control, any more than is the movement of wind in the
stratosphere. However, it is the yoke of God which far surpasses any liberty in
the lusts of mind, body and spirit which so defile this earth! For examples, you
may choose to consult Ancient Words, Modern Deeds
Ch. 11.
What then of the special case of drinking ?
Consider the warning of Proverbs 20:1 and 23:20‑35.
All that intoxicates, we find, must be used:
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i) Warily ‑ as you would handle a snake
(personally I would avoid it if possible,
barring coming upon it unawares!). Hence I avoid alcoholic beverages like
the plague, treasuring each brain cell and wanting to lose NONE, nor for
that matter, any wisdom which at any time might mercifully be given me, by
interfering with my equipment in mind and spirit.
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ii) Sparingly‑ an alcoholic stimulus can lead
you to follies, which just like the misuse of sex,
can rust the strength of love and tend to do this to life itself: the acid
of guilt can then pit the
beauty of the life that might have been.
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iii) Without being mixed or dallied in (Proverbs
23). In handling alcoholic drinks at all, in a world of sin, you come exceedingly
near to ASKING FOR TROUBLE. Many have trouble enough without sending to
'Trouble' the replied paid envelope marked RSPV, let alone ASAP! |
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iv) You should not drink a drop if this might
add to the temptation of someone, who cannot take it
so slightly and occasionally as, prima facie, may appear allowable:
Romans 14:7,15.Further,
if you do begin to drink such beverages, then
under the stress of unforeseen temptation or catastrophe which may arise,
YOU may yield either
at once or at a future time. How many and how vast have been the ruins so
made!
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With such a practice in tow, there may also come the urge to
drink more than you intended, even at the outset of some calamity, in your
unwise initial reaction. SO you way start quickly in a time of trouble and drift towards
disaster; some do more than drift ... Even drifting is not a healthy
performance when there are currents! It is like leaving
your shoe laces undone: perhaps you may often find little trouble; ONCE you
may break your leg.
THAT would be a significant fact for your life. |
With all
these cautions in view, and with no positive permission whatever to be found in
Scripture (the 'wine.' as it is sometimes translated in the New Testament is
possibly no more than concentrated grape juice, a most common drink often used
as we might cordial), nothing that cannot be
challenged as to its interpretation, you would do very well and wisely to omit
alcoholic drink altogether from your life. Proverbs 20 and 23 make it quite
clear how much you would take if you were prudent, careful, conscientious and
determined to do your best! It is undifferentiable from ZERO!
If you make mistakes now, what may
you make with this power‑assist from a mind attacking drug called alcohol!
Common prudence would seem to command abstention; and the love which would not hurt others
who, through a lack of application
or understanding brought on by such a stimulus, might yield to some evil,
merely adds force to this. Indeed, and further, you may well in such a practice,
hurt others by hurting
yourself, through the small understanding so easily stimulated by alcohol. If
they love you or seek your good, or co-operate with you, it becomes rather like
being an unclean syringe in a medical injection!
Again, the
Reader's Digest gave a very interesting account of the extent to which
social drinkers become involved in due course, in alcoholism. It was based on
observations and a warning of peril in slack approaches to your own mind and
body, revolving around real or imaginary business gains from social drinking.
One famous tennis veteran player has recently described these things as bad
habits, and intending to 'stay around' a while, he states that he is removing them from his
agenda! Small wonder. Who wants to kill brain cells and impair clarity of
thought when the world is already a-whirring! If you love life, conserve it,
guard it for its best use, and then leave it with the Lord, as you utilise it
for His glory and service. That way, you do not hand Him a ruined relic, but a
living instrument, and an alert friend.
If the body
is for the best use, why then adorn it with these marring products ! Make the
best and the most of all you have. Poison doesn't help.
In
particular, don't think you must take it lest you seem to condemn others.
People usually respect your conscience here;
and sometimes find it refreshing to have someone who is concerned to do his/her
absolute best, and then acting accordingly. In a social setting, orange juice or
lemonade are normally readily acceptable as a social option, some indeed having
to act so, for medical reasons.
A realistic
assessment of the total damage to life, personality, property, potentially to
the nervous system, and the resultant dangers as one goes through periods of
transition emotionally, physically or financially or domestically brought about
by alcoholic drink may lead you, in humility to avoid it yourself.
For my part:
I find that my body being the only one I shall have for some time, and the
unique one for my pilgrimage, ANYTHING which is likely to be detrimental to it,
is poisonous to it, is unnecessary, is needlessly costly, and especially when it has a
tendency to mar my judgment, is unworthy of acceptance. It is too easy to make
mistakes without giving them an aid program: it is IMPORTANT to minimise
mistakes. It is crucial to act reasonably in such a situation, and conserve
goodness, excluding what competes with Christ for your most judicious, abundant
and serviceable living. When this life is over, why leave it with a wake of
mixed character. Sufficient are the slips made unintentionally or without
reflection. These, they need no company!
On the Bible
and grape juice, and the Middle Eastern concentrates of delicious juices of
studied character, yet without alcohol: see the fascinating: SIPPING SAINTS, by
David Wilkerson.
On the topic
of drugs, see SMR pp. 664ff., with
367,
578-579,
651,
660,
681,
699.
What defiles the only body and
mind you have, is clearly an abortion of the child of grace within you, and is
as desirable as a sort of partial suicide! (cf. I Corinthians 6:19-20). What is
the case with sexual abuse, is not less so with material abuse, and indeed, in
each case a considerable spiritual hinterland is likely to be very much the
same: a failure to know God, when the case is chronic, a failure to realise
something as far superior to mere excitation of this and that, as discovery is
to seeing glitter, a withering of that life abundant which needs to
recommendation, since it is authentic, and covers the case, and above all, the
part of an absentee, whether in total or in passing foolishness, at the
table of the Lord's grace, the presence of His wonderful Shepherd's skill at
one's side.
How much better to meet Him
with the crispness of devotion, the blessings of converse, the actual meeting in
His own way, which inspires the soul, directs the mind, empowers the personality
and enables His will and work to be done! (cf. Isaiah 64:5, John 15:21-23). For
this, abide in His word, and seek His face (Psalm 27, John 15:7).
Indeed, the Song of Solomon in
allegory format, presents something for which romantic love is merely an
illustration. For this, see The Song.