We have already seen how faith, hope, and love are the motivation and ingredients of every interaction. We will now see that there are ten kinds of interactions. Faith, hope, and love is Why. The Beatitudes is What.
Christ’s most famous sermon is the Sermon on the Mount. It expounds the law of the kingdom of heaven. It tells us the characteristics of those growing in spiritual perfection. It is the first sermon in the first book of the New Testament, and it opens with a section commonly called, The Beatitudes (Latin for happy or blessed). The ten Beatitudes are the template, the master pattern, which all the other spiritual patterns in the Bible copy in whole or in part.
1) And seeing the multitudes, he [Jesus] went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
2) Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
3) Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
4) Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
5) Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
6) Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
7) Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
8) Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
9) Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness‘ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
10) You are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor with what shall it be salted? it is from that time forward good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it gives light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:1-16)
In this short passage you have just read the entire Bible in miniature. They are like the table of contents for the great Book. Like a tree sprouting from a seed, there are no additional truths to be expressed, merely applications and explanations of what is already present in these beautiful sayings. These are the ABC’s from which words, sentences, and entire libraries are constructed. They are the musical scale upon which every song and concert is based. They are the full spectrum of colors from which all other colors are mixed and from which the rainbow ascends to span the heavens.
The Beatitudes are the spiral staircase leading up to the land of light and glory which may be climbed by each inhabitant of this world of evil and chaos. The people of any religion–or no religion–who love the spiritual truths in the ten blessings are the salt of the earth preserving it from self-destruction. Anyone at any level seeking the God of the Beatitudes makes Him happy and proud. All that is eternally good and lovely and perfect finds its roots in one or more of the Beatitudes, while anything outside of the beautiful blessings always leads to death.
The Beatitudes are as universal as faith, hope, and love, because they are as flower to root. Faith, hope, and love spring forth from the mysterious depths of the heart to blossom in one or more of the beautiful truths.
How do we know that the Beatitudes are the universal, spiritual ingredients of eternity? Because Jesus told us so at the end of the sermon.
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:24-27)
“These sayings” are the Beatitudes and their explanations in the Sermon on the Mount. To keep them is to spiritually grow. To ignore them is to fall. The Beatitudes are the standard of true success.
The Beatitudes are like titles for each of the mini-chapters in the sermon. As we will see in the next chapter, each section simply expands its corresponding blessing. Through a parable, Christ declares that there is no happiness, no wisdom, no security, no life outside the Beatitudes. Every verse, every story, every psalm and proverb reinforce and expound this basic truth.
The Beatitudes are a complete, progressive pattern within themselves. There is a common theme in the first four Beatitudes: poor, mourn, meek, hungry. All four types of conditions appear weak. They seem to lack something: rich spirituality, happiness, confidence, food. Every one of these people are in some way inadequate.
However, when we continue reading about the merciful, pure, peacemaker, and persecuted, we see giving, purity, teaching, and steadfastness. The weak have grown stronger.
This concept of growth is reinforced when we notice that the first five blessings do not mention God, but the last three do. From a condition of spiritual emptiness a person may grow to the point where they would rather die than commit evil against God or others. Growing from a focus on self to a focus on others and God is the theme of the Beatitudes, the theme of the everlasting universe.
Another way of looking at the Beatitudes is like a spiral staircase. God’s revelation of love comes all the way down to reach us. Jesus sat down at the bottom of the stairs and taught us the essence of life. As we respond to that love, we spiritually ascend with Him closer to heaven. Each step transforms and enlarges our capacity to experience God. Then, greater and deeper revelations of the Infinite One descend to us. Finally, in heaven itself, we will continue approaching closer and still closer to God throughout the immortal ages. The never failing key is that each upward step is started by the revelation of an attribute of God, which empowers our advance, if we choose it.
Spiritual growth in the blessings is not only general, but specific and sequential.
God’s LOVE shining to those in darkness begins the process. Then the poor in spirit feel their NEED to change from selfishness and evil. They WANT to change so desperately they mourn for God’s help. The meek eagerly CHOOSE to change their methods and goals for life. Like a newborn baby, they are hungry to RECEIVE God’s power so they can mercifully SERVE others and give to them, rather than take. Not content with just a human focus, the pure BOND with God, which makes them more like Him. This compels them to INFLUENCE others to make peace with God. Though often persecuted in response, and called upon to SACRIFICE everything, the spiritual person is kept safely in Christ. This good growth in the human heart shows that God is GOOD.
Complete, orderly, powerful, the Beatitudes lack only a version in the perfect language of heaven. To compensate for this loss in the translation, we have been given a whole Bible full of Beatitude patterns in a multitude of illustrations. As we make spiritual connections we gain heaven’s understanding.
We also gain insight into things we already know, but are not quite able to put into words or figure out the formula. That is, the Beatitudes make common sense.
Let’s say little Johnny hits his sister. We send him to his room until he learns his lesson. What lesson do we want him to learn? First, we assume that we as parents have already provided a good environment that is worth rejoining. (love) We expect that as he sits in his room he will miss that happy environment and figure out that he ruined it by hitting his sister and that he needs to change his behavior. (poor in spirit)
We don’t want Johnny to express regret merely because he might miss supper, but because he is sincerely sorry for hurting his sister. (mourn) We want him to truly want to do better and make a firm decision that he will not hit again. (meek) If he makes that decision, we give him all the help and encouragement he needs to follow through with his repentance. (hungry) We then watch for signs that he is playing happily with his sister and treating her nicely. (merciful)
As Johnny grows older we counsel, train, and mentor him to extend his educated attitude to all areas of life so that he will be a productive worker, loving husband and father, etc…. (pure) We are proud that as he grows he stands for what is good and right and tries to influence others to be better people and citizens. (peacemaker) When he stays true to noble principle even when tempted and ridiculed, we feel that he has reached the pinnacle of moral development. (persecuted)
This story can be rewritten in many ways to include all ages, and to include religious as well as non-religious people. The steps of the Beatitudes are in humanity’s spiritual DNA. Like faith, hope, and love, we know this in our heart of hearts.
If you look at the full color rainbow chart (aka the Beatitude chart) on the website or e-book you will notice that the top and bottom rows are both white, and the second from the top and bottom are both red. They form a sort of visual sandwich above and below the other Beatitudes. I like using the rainbow to show the blessings because it brings out some important points.
Just as Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Auther and Finisher of our faith, so a rainbow begins and ends with white light. Put sunlight through a prism and it refracts into the spectrum of the rainbow. Put that rainbow through another prism and it is re-assembled into white light.
This is like God the Father on the throne shining through the Son who refracts the bright light into colors we can see more easily and that gives variety to life. All the forms of God’s goodness bless us, so we return gratitude in a variety of ways. This re-assembles the light and returns it to the Father. Thus a great circle of life and love is formed.
Also, the church, the body of Christ, is to be like a prism to the world so that His glorious colors can be seen. In the end, all people return thanksgiving and praise to God and the spectrum returns to its source.
Another cycle is brought to view in the red rows. Notice that the poor in spirit and the persecuted are given the same reward–the kingdom of heaven. However, that kingdom is given in two different ways. The poor in spirit receive the kingdom of grace, while the persecuted receive the kingdom of glory. From nothing to everything! The sinner overcomes and is transformed into a saint!
In Hebrew belief, seven is the perfect number, and eight is the number of overcoming. This is why I use the illustration of a spiral staircase. The spiral is completed with seven steps, but the next floor requires taking the eighth step, which is the first step of the next floor! We often look at perfection as the end, but it is really just the beginning of the next, greater level of perfection. Eternity is a constant, uninterrupted growing in God.
Sometimes, the Beatitudes are called, The seven blessings. Count them and you will see that there are eight, but no mistake was made. Seven beatitudes are needed for completeness, and the eighth points the way to the next spiral in the staircase. Therefore, seven, eight, and ten beatitudes are all correct countings of the blessed sayings.
Using earthly language, the Savior has given us a picture of heaven. From blessing to greater blessing, from glory to higher glory, from perfection to greater perfection, we will grow and learn and become more and more like Christ throughout eternity. The people who had lived in the dark shadow of the curse now ascend through the everlasting cycles of light and holiness! Where sin abounded grace does much more abound. All this by and through the love of God who refused to abandon His selfish children!
The purpose here is not explain every detail, but to make the connections with the Beatitudes so that you can see similarities between the underlying concepts.
This section of the sermon belongs to the row of law and poor in spirit. It is the application of the law to the life that makes the soul aware of its poverty. Only by seeing the high standard of the goodness of God can a person recognize their poorness of spirit, motive, and behavior. In this section, Jesus raises the bar from a mere legal courtroom interpretation of behavior to an inner application to the heart. He is showing us that we might be found innocent by a judicial process or have a respected reputation in the church, but these are shallow measurements. He wants us to look deeper into our souls and higher into the universal principles. We may be legally right, but spiritually wrong. We may have acceptable behavior for society or church, but companionship with the angels in heaven requires a perfectly selfless heart towards God and people.
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For truly I say unto you, Until heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, until all be fulfilled. Whoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-20)
The universe is created and maintained in such a way that only those are happy who always act in harmony with its operations and love its perfection. Any tiny bit of selfishness, like a pinhole in a boat, will flood the universe with evil. The poor in spirit sense their responsibility is infinite and they will not evade it.
From the obscuring distance of time it is easy to stereotype the scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees as cartoon villains, as if they were destined to be enemies of Jesus and of righteousness. However, they were the normal church members and leaders of their day. In their committee and board meetings they were trying to hold the nation together and protect the church from fanatics and heretics. Their main problem was not with their intentions, but with their methods.
Jesus said that our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees. He made that statement immediately after telling us that the moral law of the universe would never change–the only law that can never change. The problem with the Pharisees was not the law, but how they used it to feel righteous. Their hypocrisy was a problem, but that was unrighteousness. Here, Jesus has a problem with their “righteousness.”
When you look at the examples of this subsection, note that they are taken from the ten commandments and from Moses‘ law. (No problem there!) Notice also that the Jews interpreted them in judicial, legal terms as if they were in a human court of law. With that method of interpretation they were able to “measure up” to attain righteousness, but it was a shallow, cold sort of righteousness. It was only behavioral and external. It was not the love that suffers long and is kind and endures all things and prays for enemies.
Unwittingly, by their “obedience” to the law they were actually breaking The Law. They had so many laws to make sure they did everything by “the book” they were actually breaking the teachings of The Book. They thought this was pleasing to God and would secure national blessings, but it displeased Him and ultimately led them to national failure.
By their earthly views and external policies, by their human efforts to secure uniformity in the church, they were cutting themselves off from the Spirit. They could not become poor in spirit, which comes only from comparing themselves to God’s law, because they were proud in spirit, which comes from comparing themselves to man-made interpretations of His law.
“You have heard that it was said of them of old time, You shall not kill; and whoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whoever shall say, You fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has ought against you, Leave there your gift before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be cast into prison. Truly I say unto you, You shall by no means come out from there until you have paid the uttermost farthing.” (5:21-26)
A college roommate of mine once told me that it was easy to keep the ten commandments. After all, he hadn’t murdered or stolen or other things like that. Well, things did not end well for him, because merely avoiding extreme negative behavior does not instill a pure positive attitude. He was violating the law of poor in spirit. He was looking only at superficial outward behavior. He missed the positive spiritual meaning. When the commandment says, Thou shalt not kill, then it means, Thou shalt give life. Thus, Christ points out that the slightest taking of life, physically or emotionally or spiritually, introduces death into the universe, and death itself must be eliminated.
Heaven means living for others. We can avoid murder and still be selfish, and selfishness leads to bad attitudes and behaviors, which will ultimately lead to murder, directly or indirectly. Living in heaven means heaven lives in us. We don’t seek obedience to the spiritual law merely to prevent evil behavior. If our hearts, if our way of viewing life and God, if our priorities are out of harmony with eternity, then it will kill us. We must sincerely love our brothers and sisters or heaven will crush our souls.
“You have heard that it was said by them of old time, You shall not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if your right eye offend you pluck it out, and cast it from you, for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell. And if your right hand offend you cut it off, and cast it from you for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell. It has been said, whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, That whoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery: and whoever shall marry her that is divorced commits adultery.” (5:27-32)
The Pharisees were confident that their treatment of women and divorces were by the book. However, to adulterate means “to corrupt, debase, or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance.” Anything that comes between an honest, loving, transparent relationship between marital partners, family members, or friends adulterates that relationship. The impurity may be public or private, in the behavior or in the thoughts. The foreign substance may be sexual lust or material greed or chasing fame or plans of disloyalty and betrayal. All of those lead to behaviors that degrade and destroy the relationship, directly and indirectly. Even if certain behaviors are avoided, negative, selfish thoughts are proportionately robbing the partner of positive love. The poor in spirit begin to see that true respect for a person begins in the thoughts and feelings. The spiritual hand–the brain habits–must be cut off.
“Again, you have heard that it has been said by them of old time, You shall not break your vow but shall perform unto the Lord your oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shall you swear by your head, because you can not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatever is more than these comes from evil.” (5:33-37)
To be poor in spirit is to admit one’s limitations. Humans have no power over tomorrow. We have no right to promise that which we cannot control. “Go to now, you that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Because you know not what shall be the next day. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away. For that you ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now you rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin.” (James 4:13-17)
“You have heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That you resist not evil: but whoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue you at the law, and take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. And whoever shall compel you to go a mile, go with him two. Give to him that asks you and from him that would borrow of you turn not you away.” (5:38-42)
Eye for eye is fair in a court of law, because it has the responsibility of controlling behavior and maintaining an equitable society. However, the power of retaliation and revenge is not ours personally to exercise. The kingdom of heaven is grace and grace means giving to the unworthy, ungrateful, and wicked.
“You have heard that it has been said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love them which love you, what reward have you? do not even the publicans the same? And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (5:43-48)
The legal view of life is wiped away with these final words. Those who love their enemies as our Father loves His enemies do not keep score, do not retaliate, do not put rules above people. If God treated us as we treat others, then we would all be lost without hope. The Father lives the law of heaven which says much more than be perfect in behavior. It says be perfect, be wholehearted, in your love to all people at all times. It says go beyond the measure of the legalities and do good to those that hate you, to those who are your enemies. It says to genuinely care for them. That eternal law, which is above and beyond all law and can never be destroyed, is what towers above the sinner and convinces him that he is very poor in spiritual love. The Pharisee who becomes poor in spirit now bows down and confesses the emptiness of his heart in spite of “good” behavior.
There is a new repetition in this first section of chapter 6, “They have their reward but your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly.” Jesus shifts the emphasis from King commanding law to a Father personally comforting His children. The theme is that true mourning is blessed with true comfort, while false humility and repentance receives only false earthly comfort.
“Take heed that you do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when you do your alms, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Truly I say unto you, They have their reward. But when you do alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand does. That your alms may be in secret: and your Father which sees in secret himself shall reward you openly.” (6:1-4)
The poor in spirit give offerings to further God’s cause, not their cause. They do not consider themselves worthy of praise for doing their duty. They mourn because of all the past actions they took against the Father and His children. They are now trying to redeem the time. As they do that, their Father comforts them with the consciousness that they are doing good.
“And when you pray you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Truly I say unto you, They have their reward. But you when you pray enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly. But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not you therefore like unto them: for your Father knows what things you have need of, before you ask him.” (6:5-8)
There is a vast difference between reciting prayers versus talking with, and listening to, God as a Father. When we speak with a friend we do not use a script. Instead we interact sincerely and openly. That energizes and encourages us. This is why we find comfort in our friends. Those who repeat scripts cannot find comfort in God as a Father.
“After this manner therefore pray you, Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (6:9-15)
Contrary to popular practice, Jesus did not give us this prayer for a script, but for a model. Later we will see how it contains all the principles of the Beatitudes. Praying within these principles guarantees access to God. Many people repeat this formula and take comfort that they have earned some kind of reward for themselves or for someone else, but we do not get points for scripts. Real comfort can only come from sincere two-way communication with God. Repeating words is vain.
“Moreover when you fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Truly I say unto you, They have their reward. But you when you fast anoint your head, and wash your face; That you appear not unto men to fast, but unto your Father which is in secret: and your Father, which sees in secret, shall reward you openly.” (6:16-18)
The hypocrite cannot possibly find comfort because they are in perpetual conflict and contradiction within themselves. Like the sun in the sky, God is continually sending forth blessings, but the hypocrite or the shallow Christian or the superficial repenter is continually turning away from those blessings, and the greatest blessing is the sincere commitment to righteousness because it brings everything else with it.
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust does corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust does corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore your eye be single, your whole body shall be full of light. But if your eye be evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and material gain.” (6:19-24)
It is commonly thought that the meek are wishy-washy and easily intimidated. However, true spiritual meekness is firmly and completely committed to God. Heaven’s priorities have replaced worldly priorities. There is no god nor materialistic idols between the meek and God. There is no created thing between them and the Creator. Their eye, their spiritual window to the soul, is fixed unswervingly on the Light. Therefore, they are full of light. The conscience is clean and the life is consecrated. They are fully invested in eternity, hold nothing back, and have no reservations or backup plan. The riches of the New Earth can be entrusted to the meek and evil will not rise the second time.
“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than food, and the body than clothing? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take you thought for clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Therefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With what shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for tomorrow: for tomorrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil of it.” (6:25-34)
Because of the total commitment that they made, the meek may wonder how their earthly needs will be supplied this side of heaven. Jesus answers, Your Father will provide. We are bidden to seek first the kingdom, not only each day, but each moment. We seek first in time and first in priority. The hunger and thirst for worldly security and riches is replaced by hunger and thirst for spiritual assurance and power.
We are commanded to “take no thought.” So how can I possibly provide food, clothing, and shelter for me and my family? By believing that the kingdom of God, not my paycheck, provides these things. I work at the hospital, factory, farm, or office because God led me there by faith. My work does not guarantee me a paycheck, but my obedience through faith guarantees God is keeping me in the right place so I can receive His blessing, how little or how much it may be.
We only need to seek God’s will so we know the right thing, then He fills us with righteousness, which is the ability to do the right thing. We hunger for earthly resources only so we can satisfy our constant craving to accomplish spiritual service.
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure you measure it shall be measured to you again. And why behold you the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but consider not the beam that is in your own eye? Or how will you say to your brother, Let me pull out the speck out of your eye; and, behold, a beam is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of your own eye; and then shall you see clearly to cast out the speck out of your brother’s eye. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast you your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” (7:1-6)
Like the Beatitude, this section teaches reciprocation–the cycle of give and take. For better and for worse, what goes around comes around. Those who judge with sympathy and redemption in mind often receive mercy in return. Those who jump to negative conclusions, or play favorites, or backstab will lose friends and won’t trust those who remain. The narrow judgment we use to trap others imprisons our own souls.
We are to judge righteous judgment, or else all criminals would go free. Yet, we are not to judge what we cannot see or do not know, such as the motives of the heart or the background that caused the transgressor to sin. We are not to approve or enable evil, but we can help the evildoer overcome. We are not to force people to do good or even to understand good. We are to show them the mercy that our Father has showed us.
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asks receives and he that seeks finds and to him that knocks it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Therefore all things whatever you would that men should do to you, do you even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” (7:7-12)
Those who delight in giving mercy to others are able to receive mercy from God with delight. When we close the heart to giving, whether it be gifts, compassion, or forgiveness, we automatically close the heart to receiving the same. There is only one door to the heart and mercy must both enter and exit through it. The love we give others is the same love we give ourselves. Only when we share God’s mercy can we receive God’s mercy, not because He is arbitrary, but because we are incapable.
Saint and sinner, Christian and heathen, all have been shown God’s mercy and have been given good gifts by Providence. We have all received undeserved favors, been surprised by little blessings, and spared from disasters known and unknown. In this world of good and evil, we have all felt both. The merciful are grateful for, and generous with, what they have received. They may not know Jesus by name, but they recognize Him by His attitude and have an expectant confidence to ask for more and still more. The merciful receive to give without judgment, just as our Father loves to give to all those who ask.
“Enter you in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be which go in there: Because narrow is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life, and few there be that find it.” (7:13-14)
The natural world offers many ways with many distractions and temptations to encourage our selfishness and to cause us to forget God. There is only one gate to the sanctuary and one door to the holy place by which we can enter to see God. As we approach closer to the Holy One we are purified more and more. Purity enables us to approach, and drawing near Him purifies us further. The pure in heart are purified from their selfish baggage and so the narrow way is wide enough, strong enough, and joyful enough for them. When selfishness is left behind, there is plenty of room at the narrow gate for the saints to press together.
Heaven’s way is stark, barren, and unappealing only to the carnally minded. The pure in heart see truth in abundance, beauty overwhelming, and spirituality rich in variety and significance all along the narrow way. They do not feel confined. They are focused. They do not want the other ways and gates. They do not want to go down to the broad plains of sloth and temporary pleasure. They seek their own personal mountaintop experience with Christ. As they climb, the mountain narrows and guides them. They worry less and less about getting lost because they see their Goal more clearly.
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you shall know them. Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.” (7:15-23)
Most times the false prophets do not know how false they are. They are enslaved by the deceitfulness of sin and draw others into their slavery. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) They are so accustomed to the double life that they cannot discern between truth and error anymore. They misinterpret their ravenous appetites as hunger for righteousness. Nonetheless, evil fruit doesn’t purify from sin. It leads to destruction.
Peacemakers know that there is no true peace without putting God’s will above self’s will. Unity without moving forward in Christ’s mission is mere coexistence. True peacemakers are children of God seeking to save children of God. Therefore, they teach not only the ultimate and complete destruction of evil in the future, but overcoming evil by the indwelling goodness of God in the present. This is the basis of judgment, because it is this life that is reviewed to see if “the will of My Father” was done. Celebrating and praising, teaching any compromise with sin, is false fruit. The Father loves all of His children, but approves only those with good fruit.
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” (7:24-27)
In one sense, everyone is persecuted, because all suffer from the cause and effects of evil, and from the wiles of the devil. It is only the trusting and obedient Christian, though, that stands steadfast against the onslaughts of evil. Those who are founded on Christ and hidden in Christ, keep their wits together when all the external forces are trying to blow them apart. The circumstances of life in this world are trying to kill us, but we are offered all the promises and powers of heaven that we may remain true to the end.
“And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” (7:28-29)
The sermon on the mount presented the same principles as the thunder on Mount Sinai. Although the people did not clearly understand all the connections at that time, they felt them. Instinctively, under the moving of the Holy Spirit, they felt they were in the presence of the same Person who spoke on that mount long ago. They trembled at that Authority as if they were at Sinai, but they also felt drawn to the Savior of the sermon. Old and new, powerful yet gentle, commanding yet wooing, they had never experienced such a blend before. They were astonished in a good way, and this glorified God.
As we look back and compare the Beatitudes with the sermon, and later look at the ten commandments, we also are astonished in a good way. That which appeared random and arbitrary is now seen to be wisely organized by a Father who knows us. His teachings are not an artificial list, but an outgrowth of His love and wisdom. And that love and wisdom astonishes and amazes us, because He could have chosen any one of many other less perfect alternatives. We bow in awe at His goodness and His decided purposes to help us. We give God glory even though we do not understand all that He teaches.
The Concept column is a one word summary of the row it is in.
The LOVE row emphasizes God’s love towards humanity. He takes the first step towards connecting with us, or creating us, or teaching us. The stories tell us that He offers His love as a free gift or He just does some loving thing for the betterment of humanity.
The LAW row states a requirement, raises a standard, points out what is wrong, or somehow causes the reader to make a distinction between right and wrong, good and evil, holy and unholy. It is not uncommon for seemingly harsh language or crude illustrations to be used, as if talking to immature children.
The GRACE row is the complement to the law row. Where the law causes guilt and loss of hope, grace revives, comforts, and offers help. The law is cold and bad news to the sinner. Grace is warm and good news.
The COMMIT row is about decision and dedication. This is the step where conversion takes place and the life direction is reversed. Things or people are joined together in unity and individuals are consecrated to special positions.
The FAITH row is usually the easiest to spot. It often involves food, eating, or plants. They illustrate nourishing and energizing a person or relationship.
The WORKS row is the natural outgrowth of the faith row. Energy in leads to work out. This row emphasizes human work and service, and because everyone works, circles of sharing are often seen, such as giving and receiving, forgiving and forgiven.
The COMMUNE row steps things up from the human to the divine, from the creation to the Creator. Growth, improvement, and increasing intimacy are the themes. Commune is complementary to commit, because commitment is strengthened and refined.
The JUSTICE row is the enacting and enforcing of proportional consequences for good or evil actions. It is also the effort to influence or persuade someone to do right because there are consequences.
The MERCY row is the complement to justice. It protects and delivers the good from the evil. Mercy is used here in the sense of clemency or amnesty, rather than human sharing as in the earlier Beatitude.
The GLORY row complements the LOVE row as beginning and end, start and finish. The theme is that ultimate good results to both God and people. This divine/human duality is often seen.
The truths of the Beatitudes are everywhere in the Scriptures. This chapter uses some of the texts that state the principle more explicitly.
Love often starts in the smallest, most seemingly insignificant ways. What if Jesus never spoke truth? What if He ignored us and abandoned this planet to evil? The fact that there is even a redemption process available to us selfish beings is a demonstration of God’s unselfish, forgiving love that reaches out to us before we even have a thought of reaching out to Him. “God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the atonement for our sins.” (1 John 4:10) “We love him, because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) The plan of redemption, which is outlined in the Beatitudes, was conceived in the heart of the Father before we were born. Before we made our first selfish choice, God had a way prepared to save us.
The poor in spirit do not feel their poverty on their own. Without the gentle, honest influence of God’s Spirit upon our heart we cannot even recognize our spiritual poverty. Christ said, “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you except you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5) Without God dwelling in us, we are all poor in spirit. “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Isaiah 64:6) “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not." (Romans 7:18-19)
The Chief Physician lets the terrible significance of our condition sink in, not to cause needless pain, but to let us realize the pain we are already suffering and inflicting on others. “The goodness of God leads you to repentance.” (Romans 2:4) And repentance leads to eternal life. Paul wrote, “Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that you sorrowed to repentance: for you were made sorry after a godly manner... For godly sorrow works repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world works death. For behold this selfsame thing, that you sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it worked in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things you have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” (2 Corinthians 7:9-11) There is no comfort quite so comforting as a conscience made clean by repentance.
Repenting from the negative must be followed by commitment to the positive, otherwise the problem repeats and eternity is endangered. “The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.” “The meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” (Psalms 25:9; 37:11) “Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)
Faith–not merely a general conviction of truth, but a personal trust in Christ–is the channel through which the Spirit of God fills the meek to enable them to fulfill their commitment. Without power there is no performance, no life. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1-4)
Jesus said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” “It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:27-29, 51, 63)
We all have a tendency to be impatient and cranky when hungry, but then more agreeable after a nice meal. In a similar manner this happens to us when we have been filled by one of God’s spiritual banquets. Imagine how kind and safe a world this would be if everyone was spiritually full every day!
“As you would that men should do to you, do you also to them likewise. For if you love them which love you, what thank have you for sinners also love those that love them. And if you do good to them which do good to you, what thank have you for sinners also do even the same. And if you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what thank have you for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love you your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and you shall be the children of the Highest for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be you therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.” (Luke 6:27-36)
“Be still, and know that I am God.” “But know that the LORD has set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him. Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD. There be many that say, Who will show us any good? LORD, lift you up the light of your countenance upon us.” (Psalms 46:10; 4:3-6)
“Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that has clean hands, and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.” (Psalms 24:3-5)
The pure become peacemakers because they want to invite the world to join the loving family of God. “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beg you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be you reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20) “The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." (James 3:17-18)
It is not only the privilege of the Beatitude believer to be ambassadors for Christ, but it is also their duty to be watchmen against the dangers and temptations that threaten souls. There can be peace between the repentant sinner and God, but never between sin and God. “If the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.” (Ezekiel 33:6-20)
“All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:12) Persecution is often the unavoidable side effect of speaking truth. Jesus says to the loyal peacemakers, “If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you… The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.” (John 15:18-21)
“Seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by revealing of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus‘ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” (2 Corinthians 4:1-7)
Once upon a time, I looked and I saw people stumbling and wandering in circles. They were looking for something, but could not find it. They were not even sure what they were looking for, but all felt that they were missing something valuable.
On top of a nearby mountain I saw a great High Priest observing these sheep without a shepherd. He seemed filled with compassion, and was visibly moved. Then with a look of great determination, He put on His pure, white robe and then a shorter blue robe that had pomegranates and golden bells on its lower edge. Then around His chest He tied a breastplate filled with gems inscribed with the names of each of these people. Finally, putting on a white linen turban that said, “Holiness to the Lord,” He set off down the mountain towards the people.
“And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain… and he opened his mouth, and taught them.”
Cradling a child in His left arm and with His right hand around the shoulders of an elderly one, the High Priest gathered the people together and led them back up the mountain. Stopping in front of a huge wall which no one could break through or climb over, He turned to the group and seated them. Then He Himself sat upon a rock suitable for the occasion. Holding another child upon His knee, He began to explain the meaning of the invincible wall.
This wall was made long ago to separate the destructive power of evil from the kingdom of heaven. Wickedness could not be allowed to have unlimited control over the minds and hearts of human beings. A sacred sanctuary, a dwelling place for God to be near His children, is kept secure, like a mighty fortress in the middle of enemy territory.
Then I heard someone from the back shout, But what about helpless sinners stranded on the outside of the wall?
Without a word, the Teacher rose from His seat and led the group, as a shepherd leads His flock, around to the east side. Pointing to the inscription above the only opening in the wall, He encouraged His audience to read.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Happy are those, He said, who feel trapped on the outside. Their insecurity and discontent with the things of this world will lead them to this door. Here they will find the gateway to a new world and life everlasting. Here every seeker will find their heart’s desire.
Whosoever will, He declared, Let Him follow me. Upon those words He went inside.
Though it looked small and not especially attractive from the outside, the inside was spacious and appealing. The entire multitude occupied only a very small portion. Thousands, even millions, more could be easily accommodated.
Just then a cry went up from some in the crowd, Where is He? Where did our High Priest go?
Again they set about searching, but this time they knew for Whom they were looking. However, they did not find Him. Some began to wonder if they should leave, others felt that they did not deserve to be there. Others felt sorry that they had ever taken their eyes off of Him. Sad thoughts, depression, and weeping overcame the people.
Unnoticed at first, but growing stronger, a strange noise gradually riveted the attention of the crowd. Crying ceased as they all gazed in the direction of the loneliest song they had every heard. Upon a huge, bronze altar lay a dying Lamb, slain for and by the sins of a miserable world. In hushed astonishment they stood in awe of the Singer.
Above all earthly price and power;
For you I’ve lived–and for this hour.
O drink, My dear one, long and deep;
Escape your death–eternal sleep.
I love you. I love you. Reject me not.
With friendship fill My empty spot.
For you I die, and gladly so,
Receive my life, do not say, No.
Will you pass on, forsake Me here?
I want you. I want you. Please draw near.
My body, My blood, My soul I give,
Together, forever, may we live?
The song ended. The people were stunned. Some knelt, some stood, all were wrapped up in their own thoughts. All felt it was he or she who had caused the death of this innocent Lamb. Wanting to move, but not knowing where; wanting to do something, but not sure what; the repentant people waited in silence.
An abandoned mother was the first to hear Him. With His dying gasps, Jesus whispered to each heart, “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”
Here and there, people began to ask, Why did we cause the death of One so innocent? How could we be so selfish? What could we ever do to show our appreciation?
Then it was that a common man–a truck driver, I think–noticed the Savior standing near the entrance to the Holy Place. He stood with His arms opened wide in invitation. The man spoke to his neighbors who in turn spoke to their neighbors, and many in the crowd began to surge forward to where Jesus stood.
As the crowd approached, they noticed that Christ was standing in a large basin of water. One by one the people heeded the invitation and embraced their Savior. He then gently placed each one under the water. Many I saw did not stay under, rather they came back out of the water and retreated backwards. However, some did not come back up from the water at all. This puzzled me greatly because I could not figure out where they went.
I came to Jesus and asked Him about this. He simply said, Will you take up your cross and follow Me wherever I go?
I replied, Yes, Lord. You have rescued me from death and despair. I want to be with You always and to be like You. Besides, who can I trust but You?
With an understanding smile, Jesus wrapped me in His arms and said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” The next thing I knew we were plunging downward into the water.
Deeper and still deeper we went. The pressure built up to excruciating levels and the darkness became utterly black. I became alarmed as I felt ready to burst for lack of air. We continued downward to the point of death. In confusion I turned my face to see why Jesus was doing this to me, and noticed that He was smiling at me with great satisfaction. Peace filled my heart. I clung more tightly to Him, and died.
After this I found myself in a room filled with light and covered with gold. Others were also there, but they were few compared to the numbers in the original crowd. Then the Son of God spoke, Welcome to the Holy Place. This is where I live and work, and where you may be with Me forever. You may leave at anytime by any way you wish, but entrance is gained or regained only by the watery way you just took.
Then from a table abounding with plenty, Jesus offered us loaves of bread, saying, You need nourishment before you work. Take and eat. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.”
On the surface of each loaf we noticed the imprint of a cross. Then, when we broke the loaf open, we saw further imprints. Breaking the pieces again and yet again, the stamp of the cross appeared each time. We believed that down to the finest details of each living bread we would be strengthened and encouraged by the sight of our Savior’s cross. The very nutrients we would need at the very times we would need them were all contained in our loaves of Bread.
Shouts of praise and exclamations of joy went up from the entire church. Leaders and laity alike united in organizing for service. The life so freely received would now be given in effective service. The energy could not be contained, or it would spoil.
With Jesus leading the way, we grouped together in separate lines behind Him. The work went forward into the dark world like a seven-branched candlestick. The sick were healed, the ignorant were educated, and many were helped. The chorus was echoed and re-echoed throughout the ranks, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” Indeed, we received much help from many who saw the good we were doing and wanted to encourage us to wider service.
While the work went forward and outward, we took turns going back to the table to renew our strength and heal our wounds. Also, continually at various times we were called to come before the altar of incense. There we received special instructions and personal counsel.
All who went to that altar found that their prayers would be lifted upward on the currents created by the sweet-smelling incense. The words stuttered and groaned would gradually change into the most beautiful melodies to be heard by God’s ear. Waiting at that altar, the Spirit would reassure and correct us, and sometimes Jesus would personally touch us and show us the way in which we should go.
On that altar was inscribed, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” And truly, if we waited for the incense to entirely fill our lungs and our whole being, we could then go forth to the new day’s work and see the footprints of Jesus ahead of us. Often we could see the glow of angels’ wings and feel the impressions of God’s Spirit.
As the work of sharing the gospel in the dark world progressed, a decisive point was reached. A meeting was called at the altar of incense, and Jesus there began to share His wonderful testimony.
I am coming soon, He said, not as a Lamb to be sacrificed, but as a Lion to rule and to make right and to dry every tear. The darkness has not only overrun the world, but has entered into the church. Justice is trampled, and love is grown cold. My truth must shine brighter still and all must see that all may choose. The harvest must ripen that it may be reaped.
As He finished speaking, the veil that separated the holy from the most holy place was opened. The overwhelming glory of the Father was seen and we fell on our faces as dead people. How could we live in His glory? How could we meet the standard? How could we finish the task?
With unsurpassed tenderness, our Elder Brother bid us come closer and closer still. In His righteousness we were righteous and so we went forward.
Under the throne of mercy we beheld its foundation–the ark of the covenant, containing the ten eternal principles. Each word, each law, glowed with a living light, and the fourth doubly so. As we stared into its precepts we clung more earnestly to Jesus, becoming one with Him.
Speak the truth in love, He commanded. If a man or woman will truly be at peace with Me, here are the conditions. Here is the way of life. Here is the secret of eternal happiness. Sheath not the sword of the Word. Let My Spirit cut its way to the heart. Love your neighbor enough to warn them of the ways of death and the destructive power of sin. I am coming soon and I want My people with Me. “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.”
Not now with the light of a candle, but with the radiant glory of God, the message of life and death burst forth upon the whole world. Quickly the lines were drawn and decisions were made. Eternity touched all things earthly and the way was prepared for His coming.
Most however rejected the message. They rejected it entirely or settled for a deceitful compromise. Either way, most refused to surrender entirely and give loving obedience to God. Many served with the talking lips, but few served with the whole life.
The message of preparation, and holiness, and judgment to come made them angry, especially some in the church, and they turned upon us with fury. But He who is above the world is greater than they who are in the world. From the mercy seat on high we heard these words, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Soon–sooner than we expected–after these words were spoken, Jesus appeared in the clouds of heaven. Glorious light and shining angels flooded the sky. Our trials were over. Our lessons were learned. We were going home!
Jesus stood before us again, but with a glory and reality we had never seen before. He bid us welcome into the gates of the city of God and said that we deserved it. We were surprised to hear such words! How could we deserve it after our inadequate service? Our lives had often felt like obstacles in the river of life. Then He answered, My light was in you and you allowed it to shine forth. Come now, live in the Light and with the sons and daughters of Light, forever.
O friend, even now from that place of glory, we mortals hear drifting down to us these soft echoes: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Created beings are not disembodied spirits oozing out of control all over the place. Only the Holy Spirit is described as a featureless infinite being. We are given definition so that we can differentiate between me, you, us, and them. Without it we have no sense of privacy and individuality. Our bodies and psyches need space to be defined and specially purposed.
Thus, God does not merely demarcate a volume of space with glass floors and glowing walls. We could easily confuse it with a warehouse. No, God carefully designs a structure to convey purpose, safety, connection, redemption. God (re)designed His palace into a salvation house. The loyal angels immediately knew the Father was serious about rescuing His children, and they immediately knew that they had much to learn, much that they desired to look into.
God “dwells in the light which no man can approach unto.” (1 Timothy 6:16) Our mortal natures cannot withstand the bright beams of Infinity. Yet, God wants to be close to us and bring us back into connection with Himself. Therefore, ancient Israel was instructed to build a sanctuary. God Himself could have made a simple box, but humans were given the blueprints for an elaborate temple. Obviously, this was for educational purposes. Among other lessons, the sanctuary illustrated the Beatitudes. Also known as the tabernacle, there were actually four of them, and they all had the same purpose: “that I may dwell among them,” God said. (Exodus 25:8)
The first sanctuary was the portable building built by Moses. It was later built on a larger, permanent scale with multiplied items in it by Solomon. That stone, cedar, and gold piece of art was known as Solomon’s temple. Destroyed by Babylon, it was later rebuilt on a smaller scale and enriched by Herod. That was the temple destroyed by the Romans in 70a.d. All that remains in Jerusalem today are some stones from the foundation known as the Wailing Wall.
All three of these buildings were built according to a pattern shown to Moses. (see Exodus 25:9) That pattern was based on the heavenly sanctuary that serves as God’s throne room and universal headquarters. (see Hebrews 8:1-5) All four of these buildings were laid out in such a way that they were architectural examples of the beautiful rebuilding that can take place in the selfish soul.
A fence or a wall surrounded a courtyard in which was the “tabernacle of the congregation”–the temple itself which consisted of a holy place and a most holy place. Roughly, one can envision the most holy place as a cube, while the holy place was like two cubes end to end. The outer court was about two squares with the temple in the western half. The eastern half concerned itself with the sacrifices.
The temple always faced its sole entrance to the east. That was the start of the sinner’s journey.
“You shall make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of a hundred cubits long for one side… And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits… The hangings of one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits… And on the other side shall be hangings fifteen cubits… And for the gate of the court shall be a hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, worked with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four.” (Exodus 27:9-16)
The temple–the holy and most holy places–was not placed in the middle of empty space. It was set in a courtyard bounded by hangings, and later by a stone wall. This marked a sort of transition zone for sinners.
Revelation 11:2 says, “The court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles.” It would seem that the outer court for the heavenly sanctuary is Earth itself, where Jesus lived and died for fallen humanity. It is here that sinners submit to the transformation process in preparation for translation to heaven. A person does not randomly or carelessly wander into the temple, but instead consciously decides to be converted. They choose to cross the boundary line from enemy territory into a process of preparing to enter God’s dwelling place.
The wall served the same purpose physically as the law does spiritually. It clarifies right and wrong. And it is that clarity that begins to wake up the morally careless. It is the opposing differences between good and evil that prick the conscience of the spiritually indifferent. Those whose hearts are atrophied become poor in spirit as they realize on which side of the sacred line they live.
The wall around the courtyard shows what Jesus said in His sermon, “Until heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, until all be fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:18) The boundary line between good and evil cannot be moved. If it could have been moved then it would have been moved a long time ago, before the Son of God needed to die for sinners.
In God’s eyes there is a clear distinction between those on the inside and those on the outside. The carnal wanderer in sinful pleasures and greedy pursuits is different from the sincere seeker for truth and the humble follower of the Lamb. Their attitudes, words, and behaviors are changed and being changed. Those inside the courtyard are learning to live for God, while those outside are determined to live for self. If it was not for the open gate, then there would be no conversions.
From the common and unsacred area outside, the sinner brought a lamb through the opening into the holy and sacred courtyard. Rather than remove the wall, a single opening was made through which only the poor in spirit may enter. When the entrance is revealed to them, they realize the kingdom of heaven is being offered to them.
The fact that there was an opening in the otherwise impenetrable wall was a gift from heaven. This exception in the boundary pointed to the apparent loophole in the eternal, immutable law. Life is inside the sanctuary, while death is outside. The actuality that any sinner is in existence in the face of an unbreakable law is an apparent contradiction, but all is resolved by the plan of redemption. He who gave His life for us is able to maintain His holy law while at the same time saving unholy transgressors. That opening came at a price and in the face of opposition and questions. Satan claimed the whole world, and all who are in it, as his. The open gate, he claims, is a contradiction and a show of cheap favoritism to humanity. The loyal angels questioned if any sinners should or could be saved. However, Jesus, “that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.” (Hebrews 13:12) By this sacrifice He blasted a hole in the wall that whosoever is willing might enter.
When a person sins their immediate consequence should be death–the withdrawal of the approval and life of God. However, redemption by the Substitute of God opens one exception and provides one life of probation. The fence is not moved. Good and evil are not redefined. Love and loyalty do not become optional, and selfishness does not become permissible.
The open gate in the wall of the courtyard is the beginning of a process of transformation that brings the sinner into harmony with the perfections of heaven. Those who live in the dark defilement of this world’s ways are led gently and wisely into the light. Those who are a danger to themselves and all the universe are re-created into the lovely and dependable image of Jesus. This transition process is painful and humbling, but it is guaranteed. Christ, not us, is the Author and Finisher of our faith. All the credit goes to Him, and the poor in spirit gladly give it, because they are eternally blessed.
“And you shall make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height of it shall be three cubits. And you shall make the horns of it upon the four corners of it his horns shall be of the same: and you shall overlay it with brass. And you shall make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basins, and his fleshhooks, and his firepans: all the vessels of it you shall make of brass. And you shall make for it a grate of network of brass; and upon the net shall you make four brass rings in the four corners of it. And you shall put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar.” (Exodus 27:1-5)
The poor in spirit know they have problems. Those who mourn want to fix them.
The poor in spirit are not allowed entrance empty handed. They must bring a sacrifice. They must bring a lamb upon which they will lay their hands, confess their sins, then slit its throat. Those who mourn must kill an innocent lamb in substitution for their own death. This all prefigured the sacrifice of Christ. The mournful have not only hurt themselves and others, but they have caused the death of the Son of God.
“The life… is in the blood.” (Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 17:11) The blood circulates throughout the body providing the cells with oxygen and nutrients. It also removes the toxins and waste. Stop the flow of blood and the body dies. Spilling the blood of an animal meant taking responsibility for its death. Thus, the ultimate consequence of every sin was dramatically, painfully, realistically enacted in the slaying of the sacrifice. “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)
In everyday life, when a sinner sins, a victim suffers and to some degree dies. This fact needed to be taught in a way to impress the heart. Furthermore, any pain or suffering in the universe is ultimately an attack against God’s perfection and He chooses to pay whatever cost necessary to repair the damage. The death of an innocent lamb in the sinner’s place was not an indulgence nor a get-out-of-jail-free-card. It was a theological lesson of life and death.
If God had intended His people to consider the sacrifices as legal payments or arbitrary appeasements, then He would not have allowed the poor to bring only two small birds or the destitute to bring only a few cups of flour. He would not have instituted a continual morning and evening sacrifice that covered the entire nation of Israel. Through the slain lamb, God provided both an object lesson of Himself and a painful parable of the ultimate results of sin.
The fact that most of the ancient Jews viewed the sacrifices as an end in themselves does not change the truth of why God instituted them. It is often thought that the Israelite ceremonies were created from the heathen rituals, but the opposite happened. The heathen blood rituals and human sacrifices were perversions of the more ancient offerings given to Adam. God wanted Israel to preserve and promote the true meaning of the Sacrifice to come.
“Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against you, I am God, even your God. I will not reprove you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, to have been continually before me. I will take no bullock out of your house, nor he goats out of your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you for the world is mine, and the fullness of it. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay your vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you and you shall glorify me.” (Psalms 50:7-15)
The sanctuary sacrifices were worthless without faith in the Savior who appointed them. If God simply demanded animal blood in place of human blood, then there would soon be no mourning and no comfort. The temple would simply become a slaughter house extracting a pound of flesh for every transgression. Sin and sacrifice would become a legal compliance and not something of the heart. The spiritual meaning would be destroyed in the business transaction. People would become cold-hearted conformists worried only about themselves and making sure to pay the minimum price to escape the penalty. Victims would be untreated, unheard, uncomforted. People would have hearts incapable of compassion and feeling. There would cease to be repentant mourning, and so real comfort would be replaced by a mere mechanical obedience covering up a miserable, begrudging heart.
This is the same point that Christ made in the sermon on the mount when He advised us to do our charity, praying, and fasting in secret. True repentance must come from the heart if the heart is to be comforted and healed. If mere blood or external acts is what God was after, then the hypocrite rich enough to afford them could buy his way to heaven.
“You shall also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash with it: and you shall put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and you shall put water in it. For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet at it: When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD.” (Exodus 30:18-20)
The sinner did not physically go beyond the altar of sacrifice. Moving forward, he/she was represented by the priest. Before entering the holy place, the priests had to wash their feet in a large brass bathtub-like basin. This foreshadowed Christian baptism and foot washing.
This scene was repeated on the night of Passover before the crucifixion. “He [Jesus] rose from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples‘ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. Then came he to Simon Peter: and Peter said unto him, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do you know not now; but you shall know hereafter. Peter said unto him, You shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash you not, you have no part with me. Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said to him, He that is washed need not save to wash his feet, but is clean every bit and you are clean.” (John 13:4-10)
After a person has committed themselves to Christ in baptism there will be mistakes. The meek are not sinless, but they are committed to learning. Full rebaptism is not necessary. Like the dust that collects on the feet of the traveler that is then washed away, so the follower of Jesus renews their vow of loyalty and continues on the journey. At the altar the sinner comes to Christ. At the laver the sinner starts walking with and in Christ.
It is a mistake to think that we commit ourselves to do all that God has told us and expects of us. We cannot possibly do it. Through baptism we commit ourselves, and through foot washing we recommit ourselves, to be in Christ and He in us. Then, and only then, is the righteousness of the law fulfilled in us. (Romans 8:4) We see this illustrated at Christ’s baptism.
“Then comes Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of you and come you to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him.” (Matthew 3:13-15)
Jesus fulfilled all righteousness–all expectations of perfect harmony with God’s eternal will–at His baptism. There is no other righteousness outside of it. Therefore, the Christian’s baptism is not a stand alone commitment or an act of righteousness, but an entering into the baptism of Jesus where all righteousness exists.
“Know you not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that from now on we should not serve sin.” (Romans 6:3-6)
So just as the priest’s washing was a figure of Christ’s baptism, our baptism is a figure of our spiritual entry into Christ’s baptism. Self disappears. Self is left behind. Only the life of Christ is seen. Thus, as the sinner is in Christ, so the sinner was in the priest washing in the laver before going into the holy place.
When self has died, only meekness remains, only a perfect contentment to love God and others remains. This is why the meek inherit the earth. They have been spiritually washed from all conscious selfishness. They have committed themselves to the Master. Self no longer strives for the mastery. God’s motives have become their motives. God’s priorities are their priorities. They lay up treasures in heaven because they treasure God.
The meek make no claims to their inheritance. They exercise no power, lordship, or control over anyone or anything. All things are theirs, but only through Christ and in Christ. He inherits a clean, perfect universe, then the meek inherit it as stewards and followers through Him. Christ will “teach sinners in the way. The meek will He guide in judgment: and the meek will He teach his way.” (Psalms 25:8-9)
The meek enter into the laver, and into the new spiritual life, through the priest. They give up all claims to self-achievement, self-worth, self-identity. The sacrifice of the Lamb of God does not make them worthy–it makes them dead. Then, by the new life of Christ now in them, they live. Everything they have and are is now of Christ and through Christ. Thus, the sinner stops at the altar and then enters vicariously and virtuously into the holy place through the priest.
“And you shall take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes of it, two tenth deals [about a liter] shall be in one cake. And you shall set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD. And you shall put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD. Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons‘ [the priestly order]; and they shall eat it in the holy place.” (Leviticus 24:5-9)
We now enter through the first veil into the holy place. By this point, the sinner has been converted and is in the priest who represents Christ. We will now continue the Christian journey inside the sanctuary where, right on cue, the hungry are blessed with bread from the table of showbread.
“And you shall set upon the table showbread before me always.” (Exodus 25:30) The showbread, also called “bread of the Presence,” consisted of 12 large loaves in two stacks of six each, something like layer cakes. There was one for each of the 12 tribes of Israel. Thus it was shown that all the physical and spiritual needs of the nation would be supplied by the God of heaven.
Every Sabbath a fresh batch replaced what was on the table. The week-old bread was eaten by the priests. The lesson here is slightly different from the food and material needs we saw supplied on a daily basis in the sermon on the mount. The priests, as leaders of the nation, ate the loaves representing nourishment. The weekly Sabbath was when the nation came together to hear the teaching of the Word and to worship God.
The table of showbread was the first item in the holy place, and like the candlestick and altar of incense, it was made from and/or covered in gold. The walls also were covered in gold. This was a fitting symbol of the resurrected life the sinner was now living. All the items in the outer court were made of brass, but now by faith the convert has entered into “the riches of the glory of his inheritance.” (Ephesians 1:18)
Let’s focus more deeply on the bread of the Presence, for by eating it Christ comes into us and we into Christ. “Then Jesus said unto them, Truly truly I say unto you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, has eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, dwells in me, and I in him. As the living Father has sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eats me, even he shall live by me.” (John 6:53-57)
We saw that the meek do not commit to obeying all that God has said. They commit to Christ. Through the bread of the Presence–His body and blood–Christ lives in the Christian to obey all that God has said. In this way, the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in the believer. In due time, Jesus brings out His perfection.
The bread of the Presence is Christ’s presence. By eating His words, His presence enters into us, motivates us, and fills us. We always hunger for more and yet are always satisfied. We are alive, but it His life.
Those in the holy place entered meekly by the laver. They traded self for Christ. They traded their life for death and His life. They consecrated themselves to learning and living in Christ alone. Now, at the table of showbread, they begin eating Christ and therefore they begin living Christ. The eaters are not living their own lives. Christ’s life is animating them by surging through their veins and nourishing their cells. The old man is dead. Only the Priest appears.
Without the Light, even the holy place is dark. In the same way, we are not our own. We have been bought with a price and we are but temples of the Holy Ghost which is Christ in us. “As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk you in him.” (Colossians 2:6)
The meek died in Christ, but now they are resurrected to life eternal because they hunger and thirst to the point of eating and drinking the life of Christ. They have mortified the flesh and so they live unto God by God. The Christian is not merely a meek corpse, but filled with life and joy and the power of heaven. Like a newborn baby, one of the first signs of life is a hunger and thirst for life. Therefore the hungry are always full and always hunger for more.
When the meek surrendered self, they also committed themselves to grow in Christ. Now, they are hid in the Priest as He stands before the bread of the Presence and feeds Himself which feeds His people. They cannot even take credit for feeding themselves, because “no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glories let him glory in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:29-31)
“And you shall make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knobs, and his flowers, shall be of the same. And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side…. Their knobs and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold. And you shall make the seven lamps of it and they shall light the lamps of it that they may give light over against it.” (Exodus 25:31-38)
“Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually. Without the vail of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning before the LORD continually.” (Leviticus 24:2-3)
Technically, the candlestick was not a candlestick because it had lamps burning oil, not candles burning wax. The closest we have today is a lantern with a wick dipped in kerosene. Now imagine seven of those mounted on a big branched stand.
Just as the beatitudes are complementary, the table and the candlestick are complementary. The bread was a source of energy. The lamps burned energy. The eater received nourishment from the bread. The candlestick gave light to the holy place.
The branched candlestick represented God’s church in action. Seven was the Hebrew number for completeness and perfection. Seven branches merging into one main trunk showed perfect diversity in perfect unity. Among God’s people are not just a random variety of talents, but a complete spectrum to meet all contingencies, because the fuel is the Holy Spirit.
“Behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps on it, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top of it. And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side of it… Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the LORD of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:1-6)
The candlestick does not fight with itself. The lamps cannot fight among themselves. All is powered by the Spirit and the Spirit does not fight with itself. Therefore, the children of God’s family will not fight, envy, gossip, or tear down in any way. They will instead have mercy and understanding for each other.
The job of each lamp is not to judge, but to shine. They each shine in different places in different directions and for different purposes. It is not for one lamp to tell another lamp what to do and when. That is the Spirit’s job.
Realize that the candlestick is in the golden holy place inside the courtyard surrounded by the wall that divides good from evil. To be a lamp on the stand, to be a member of God’s family, means that a person has not only separated themselves from the dark world, but they have committed to living the golden life in the Priest of priests. Each lamp has accepted their place and calling from Divine Wisdom. They are not so different from each other that some are good and some are evil. They are all good, but they are exercising different gifts towards the same great goal of conquering evil.
Rather than criticizing the new babe in the faith making mistakes or the old veteran buckling under the heavy load, it is better for us to ask for more oil, for more of the Spirit, that we may burn brighter and help our struggling brothers and sisters. “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asks receives and he that seeks finds and to him that knocks it shall be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8)
Our Father in heaven will not give us a club or a judge’s gavel, but He will gladly give “good things to them that ask him.” He will give us mercy so that we may show mercy and receive mercy.
Working together, the lamps can light every corner of the holy place. Every dark corner of the house in which God’s family lives may be filled with a golden brightness, encouraging lost souls to come inside from the darkness.
This cycle of sharing, of receiving and giving, was the key to Israel’s success and is the key to the church’s success today. The oil was God’s natural resource, but it needed to be put into the lamps by human hands. A natural light was then produced. Energy in, energy out, and it was all stewarded by people. When the merciful show mercy they are not giving of themselves so much as passing along the oil given to them. They have different roles, different talents, but all participate and contribute in the great cycle of sharing. Like the rays of light reflecting off the golden walls onto the candlestick that originally made that light, giving always means receiving. Showing mercy results in receiving mercy, and that is the golden circle of blessing.
“And you shall make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shall you make it. A cubit shall be the length of it and a cubit the breadth of it foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height of it the horns of it shall be of the same. And you shall overlay it with pure gold, the top of it and the sides of it round about, and the horns of it and you shall make unto it a crown of gold round about…. And you shall put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you. And Aaron shall burn on it sweet incense every morning: when he dresses the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lights the lamps at evening, he shall burn incense upon it.” (Exodus 30:1-8)
The heart of the sanctuary was the holy and most holy places. They were filled with light and sweet smelling incense. The outer court had no special lighting and it was overwhelmed with the smell of burning flesh. This was an accurate portrayal of the putrid consequences of, and messy remedy for, sin. However, inside the golden compartments were two elements that purified: light and incense.
Both elements worked by positively pushing outward. The air inside the tabernacle was not vacuumed out and then the incense was lit. The incense was burned continually and the sweet smelling smoke pushed out the foul air. The light illuminated the darkness by shining. These were object lessons of the spiritual life.
Our mortal bodies are temples of the Lord (see 1 Corinthians 6:19-20) in which the infinite God of the universe desires to dwell. While our bodies on the outside grow old and malfunction, our inner heart may be filled with the sweet smelling presence of God which purifies our souls. As that incense continually wafts outward it pushes back against evil temptations.
How does the incense get into the heart? By the person coming into the presence of God. In Christ we are brought to the altar of incense which stood just before the vail into the most holy place. In heaven, where there is no vail, the altar is in the holy of holies (see Hebrews 9:3-4).
The pure in heart see God by faith in this life and will see Him face to face in the next life. In a touch of irony, the smoke from the incense actually clouded the divine glory and protected the priests from being overwhelmed or even killed from the powerful revelation of God’s presence. Yet, that same incense symbolizes the purification of the heart which enables the mortal to sense and see Infinity.
“Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that has clean hands, and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.” “Let my prayer be set forth before you as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” (Psalms 24:3-4; 141:2)
The sweet smelling smoke lifts and purifies our prayers and hearts. Christ is our incense, broken and burned and consumed into wisps of virtue that enter and purify the soul and refine our prayers so that there is less and less of self. Often our prayers are putrid clouds seeking entrance to the perfect glories of heaven. Along the way, the incense reshapes and rewords those prayers so that the requests become truly beneficial.
The sermon on the mount spoke of a narrow way and a narrow gate. That way is in the sanctuary (Psalm 77:13) and that gate is the opening in the outer court and the vails leading to the most holy place. Few there be that persevere all the way to the presence of God Himself. Many there are who want to be healed just enough to do their own thing again. It is only the pure in heart who become purer in heart by the refining influence of continual prayer that rises as incense to God.
Our prayers not only have an uplifting influence on us, but they lead us to pray and intercede for others.
“And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire in it from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun. And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.” (Numbers 16:46-48)
Aaron did not run into the congregation empty handed. His censer was full of incense, representing the fullness of experience that all God’s people, especially the leaders, should and could have. Sweet smelling incense is not to remain closed in a safe box, but burned on the altar for the saving influence of all around. Purity of heart inspires a person to work earnestly for the salvation of others. They become a peacemaker as they teach how to make peace with God.
“And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length of it and a cubit and a half the breadth of it and a cubit and a half the height of it. And you shall overlay it with pure gold, within and without shall you overlay it, and shall make upon it a crown of gold round about. And you shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners of it and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it. And you shall make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. And you shall put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it. And you shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you.” (Exodus 25:10-16)
The whole purpose of the sanctuary was to illustrate the plan of redemption which brings God back into the souls of fallen humanity. Redemption also brings humanity back into harmony with God and His perfect universe. Perfection is defined by, and the basic operating principles of the universe are expressed in, “the testimony”–the ten commandments.
The ten commandments engraved on stone and placed inside the sacred box are an adaptation of the law in heaven that is written in the language of heaven. The Beatitudes are another adaptation. Both express the will of God in succinct form. Both mirror the principles of “righteousness and judgment” that “are the foundation of” His "throne." (Psalm 89:13)
The ark of the covenant was beneath the mercy seat. On top of it was the Shekinah Glory–God’s presence. The ark with the law truly was the foundation.
Notice the direction of the items in the most holy place. It is vertical. We moved forward through the outer court, then added left and right in the holy place. Now the third dimension is introduced. The ark can be thought of as a base or foundation for the spiritual ladder to heaven upon which the divine glory ascends and descends (see Genesis 28). In this way the earthly temple was always in connection with the heavenly sanctuary. Thus, earth was linked to heaven.
The law in its foundational position illustrates another important principle–judgment. While the fence around the outer court separated sacred from profane and warned the sinner of his lost condition, the ark now represented the execution of that law. Eternal life would finally be given, or not, based on how the person measured up. This sounds legalistic and scary to many, but remember that to get to this point in the most holy place, the sinner has been converted and submitted to be represented by the priest. No person standing before the law can be pronounced perfect, innocent, or sufficient. However, in the High Priest, in Christ, all can measure up. In a way, the true Christian is not judged, because Christ stands in the judgment for him and the believer is in Christ, and His life always passes the strictest judgment. Our only question is, Am I in Him?
This is why true evangelists are peacemakers, not fear makers. What all the threatenings of eternal torment and pains of death cannot achieve, God is able to do through the plan of redemption. Faith, hope, and love can do what fear and guilt cannot. By entering into Christ we grow in harmony with Him and therefore we grow into harmony with His universal law of goodness. We become reconnected to heaven and on a personal level the problem of evil is solved. What remains is communicating this to others so that they also may find solution in Christ.
False prophets, wolves in sheep’s clothing, and evil trees all produce evil fruit. Miracles and wonderful works are irrelevant. They cannot change evil into good. They cannot change the law of goodness to get approval for even one evil act. Genuine, permanent peace comes only through being judged worthy of acceptance into a perfect universe. All imperfection causes loss of peace.
Therefore, peacemakers are declared children of God by the law of God. They are deemed safe to enter eternity because they have first entered Christ and now nothing can harm them nor they harm anyone else.
“The LORD shall endure for ever: he has prepared his throne for judgment. And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.” (Psalms 9:7-8)
The child of God does not fear the judgment of God. Far from it, they who are in Christ are eager for judgment, for vindication, for the final bestowal of salvation that takes them up to heaven. They want to ascend the spiritual wormhole that finds its base on the ark of the covenant.
“Stir up yourself and awake to my judgment, even unto my cause, my God and my Lord. Judge me, O LORD my God, according to your righteousness.” “Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in my integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide. Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my affections and my heart.” (Psalms 35:23-24; 26:1-2)
“And you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length of it and a cubit and a half the breadth of it.” “And you shall put the mercy seat above upon the ark.” (Exodus 25:17, 21)
The foundation of God’s throne is the ark with the law, but the throne upon which God sits is the mercy seat atop the ark. “Who is a God like unto you that pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retains not his anger for ever, because he delights in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:18-19)
The mercy seat covering the ark shows us the same lesson we see in nature. Just as the strong wood in the tree is wrapped in bark and leaves, so the legal framework of the universe was covered by personal mercy. Again, the skeleton of the body is covered in soft beautiful skin. The bones give strength and form by serving as a sort of foundation, while muscles and flesh give shape and movement. Form and function, justice and mercy, it takes both. Flesh without bones is a useless blob. Mercy without law is meaningless chaos.
The mercy seat was central to the cleansing of the sanctuary on the Day of Atonement. The high priest “shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins.” (Leviticus 16:13-16)
The children of Israel transgressed the law in the ark, but they were cleansed by the blood on the mercy seat. Israelites and Christians are represented by the High Priest, but our sins are transferred by the blood. Sprinkling them seven times on the mercy seat completely obliterates them and blots them out. The blood was never sprinkled on the ark with its broken law. Only the mercy seat received the blood because it was the blood of Christ that enabled God to extend mercy to the transgressors of the universe.
“It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.” (Lament. 3:22)
The condition to receive this unfailing compassion so that we fail not of receiving eternal life is to confess our sins on the head of the Lamb, spill His blood, then enter into the Priest’s life. We must enter into Christ (justification), then stay in Christ (sanctification). Our eternal life depends on it.
If our hearts are right with God today, then we are ready if Christ should come today. Fearing for the future distracts from our present connection. Everything depends on who we are in Christ right now.
Therefore, “examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know you not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates?” (2 Corinthians 13:5)
The world will examine the Christian and accuse him falsely, and find her guilty of all manner of “heresies.” Yet He who sits on the mercy seat knows who are His. All people, including Christians, are worthy of the second death, but the believers living in Christ and by the blood of Christ are worthy of resurrection, though God bear long with them.
The mercy seat of the King of the universe means everything to those persecuted for righteousness’ sake. Under pressure from every side, racking their brains to figure out where they went wrong, endeavoring to stay true to their Savior in the midst of betrayal, hoping they will not deny their Lord under torture, harassed by Satan for their past failures, loyal Christians have only one clear spot in the swirling tempest of persecution. They must look up through the dark angry clouds to the glorious mercy seat and to the One who sits thereon. There they will see the sprinkled blood by which they live. That blood, that soul sacrifice of the Son of God, enables God to carry the universe with Him when He pronounces, “Pardoned,” upon the persecuted sinner, upon those who appear guilty before man, but are washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.
“And you shall make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shall you make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall you make the cherubims on the two ends of it. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. And you shall put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. And there I will meet with you and I will commune with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give you in commandment unto the children of Israel.” (Exodus 25:18-22)
The Old Testament sanctuary, far from being a primitive collection of rituals, was a teaching tool designed by an infinite good person to foreshadow the soul sacrifice of the coming Savior. It illustrated the fundamental principles of the universe and the spiritual steps of redemption. It prophesied the turning points in the long conflict between good and evil. This demonstrates a God worth worshipping.
It is God’s glory, not to seek His own glory, but to seek our salvation, to physically and spiritually restore fallen humanity to heaven. He does not wait up there with His arms folded seeing how high we can climb the ladder on our own. The sanctuary teaches us that He reaches out and down to bring us back step by step to our full eternal potential. This character trait of earnest love is why the cherubim attend Him continually.
Cherubim are angels, who are “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.” (Hebrews 1:14) The use of the word “spirit” here does not mean ghost. Angels are intelligent beings with choice, feelings, and the ability to worship and appreciate God. They are not Gods. They are another order of created beings like us. Usually behind the scenes, they work with Him to help alleviate suffering, provide instruction and inspiration, and generally carry out missions for the benefit of the universe.
In the duality of angel and Divinity above the mercy seat we see the same duality of salt and light in the Beatitudes. Salt was to be mixed with every sacrifice for its taste and preservative qualities. Angels, like unselfish people on earth, help preserve what good remains in the universe and prevent decay. The light we are to let shine is the glory of God through us which reflects back on His goodness and leads others to praise Him. The follower of Christ is a temple with Glory shining out.
There are important distinctions to draw between the glories of the holy of holies and the light in the holy place. The light of the candlestick was a diffusion of the energy of the oil. Make no mistake, it was God’s energy, but the light was the passive side effect of a natural process that took place within the the candlestick. This represents the Christian performing their duties in the church and their kindness in the world. The angels, however, actively shed the light of heaven to the world. They come directly from God’s throne to communicate truth to those who should be heirs of salvation.
This distinction between the light of the candlestick and the light of the Shekinah Glory is even more pronounced. The church is the visible body of Christ in the world. To make that light, resources are consumed, heat is generated, and a small amount of pollution is released. The church does God’s work in the world, but not without loss, sacrifice, internal friction, and inefficiency. Some of this is unavoidable as mortals who exist in a decaying, limited world. Some of it is due to personal sin. The goal is to maximize the light and minimize the waste. Of course, there are no such evil side effects with God’s glory. He is always pure, efficient, and creative.
The Beatitudes are principles of human life and interaction. Science is a human activity to explore, measure, and organize our understanding of the universe. We then apply it to solve problems and improve our lives. Therefore, we find similarities between the two.
The scientific process starts with God’s facts and resources. God has already supplied material to use and given us the ability to build. It is His Spirit flashing ideas and causing us to notice some things and not others. All of it is for our good, and tuned to our abilities. Life continues normally, until a mystery is observed.
The scientist finds something he cannot explain. The inventor sees a need she wonders how to fill. The business person discovers a new market. The average person runs into a problem that needs solving. The common theme is that there is a gap worth crossing and how to cross it is not readily apparent. Rather than giving up, each person acknowledges poorness of spirit and their inability to cross the gap. They believe the gap exists, that it is worth crossing, and that they do not currently have the resources to accomplish it.
Of course, acknowledging a chasm does not automatically put a bridge across it. This is where hope comes in to spark a desire to figure out a way. A person could easily sit on the edge of the gap and mourn, but hope brings comfort with the thought that there is help and resources and God-inspired ingenuity to bring about a solution. Rather than negatively mourn over impossibilities, hope inspires a positive mourning, a strong desire to search, to ask, to try, to experiment.
Because not all possibilities can be tried at once, an educated guess (hypothesis) must be taken. A commitment must be made that excludes other commitments from being made. Meekly, in the spirit of a learner who does not know how things will turn out, a decision is made. That decision is valued because the determination has been made that it is the best one to start with. The scientist is now ready to put resources to work because they know in what direction they will work.
Not only the meek, but everyone is destined to inherit the earth. God does not pick winners or losers or favorites. Every person born on this earth is fully intended to inherit the next. Similarly, every person encountering a problem has already inherited resources to solve that problem. Choice unlocks them because choice unlocks us. A hammer won’t pound by itself. We must pick it up, use it, experiment with it. It is the only way we can learn. God’s resources are always ready and available to those committed to finding answers.
When the meek commit to a plan, then they are ready to get started. They are hungry and thirsty to receive resources, to use tools, to research sources of data, or whatever they need to do. They are filled because they reach out and grab hold of needed assets, supplies, and help. God’s universal hardware store and science lab is at their disposal, along with the people to form teams and committees.
All of this energy is directed towards solving a problem, not creating one. Resources are invested in creative acts, not destructive acts. This is why this stage is described as merciful and why mercy is received as a reward. People, things, and ideas come together and hard work is instantly rewarded with harmonious teamwork as well as individual blessings. All along the way, rewards are reaped and learning is gained.
Rarely does the first attempt produce the sought after result. Ideas need refinement. Procedures need improvement. Learners need wisdom based on experience. These are all part of the purifying stage. Whether it be in the realm of science, business, or daily living, the purer in heart see God a little bit more from their unique perspective. Even if the experiment is an ultimate failure, the participants learn more about God and His way of operating the universe. In reality, nothing is an ultimate failure because we learn to be better people through the process of learning.
The refining process may cause us to loop back to earlier steps to choose different resources, processes, or team members, but we ultimately learn and share what we learn. We might publish in a peer reviewed journal, be interviewed for the evening news, or just share stories with co-workers or friends. Every channel contributes to the dissemination of knowledge that makes life better for everyone. This is the peacemaker role. It is children sharing with children and growing together in our Father’s world. We grow and the peace between us and God grows.
Whether it is knowledge or devices that are spread, the learning is tested under a wide variety of conditions for an extended period of time. Collective confidence grows in the correctness and suitability of the learning. “Persecution” in the form of time or intensity tests our work and proves its worth. Mistakes are corrected by looping back through the learning process. New ideas and inventions are born. The kingdom of heaven comes to life even in this life of good mixed with evil!
Maybe God took seven days to do what He could have done in a moment to teach us something. God never does anything unnecessarily because His word never returns to Him void, but always accomplishes that which He pleases. (Isaiah 55:11) This section combines the creation and interactions columns.
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)
Imagine for a moment that we are angels back at the beginning of the universe. One day we wake up. We never went to sleep, because we never before existed. We just popped into existence and woke up to experience ourselves, our surroundings, and our God for the first time. We have just been created.
The Son of God is smiling at us. He loves us. He has hopes, and dreams, and plans for us. We feel really good and alive, and God feels good that we are content and invigorated. Although we have no previous experience or memories in those first few hours, everything feels natural as we discover ability after ability. Fresh with the feeling of something wonderful out of nothing, we know God loved us first.
As hours turn to days turn to years turn to eons, we continue to do what comes naturally and so we grow in happiness and wisdom. Yet, as we learn, we realize more and more surely that we are not keeping ourselves alive. We are harmoniously moving through the cycles of life, but it is God making the cycles work. At any given moment it is Infinite Power continuing our existence and consciousness into the next moment. He loved us first in the first moment of creation, and He loves us first in the creation of each moment.
We are so accustomed to the world around us just always being here that we think it can exist by itself. In this scientific age we assume that things exist and operate by themselves, but then God makes them behave differently, if He desires. This is false science. God consciously thinks every atom into existence every moment and makes it behave the way He wants it to. He is consciously choosing to exert His power to keep you alive. God does not “set and forget” or wind up the clock and let it go. He keeps it, and us, ticking. In the beginning God created, and every moment God re-creates, otherwise we would come to an instant utter end. Our Father loves us and loves us and loves us and loves us….
“And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” (1:2)
Physically, as well as spiritually, without Him we are nothing. Unless the Spirit moves upon us, we are less than dead. We are void and non-existent.
We usually think of the word “poor” in the negative sense, as “impoverished”, “lacking”, or “inadequate.” But in a perfect universe there is no negative sense. The poor in spirit are poor relative to God. In other words, finiteness is tiny compared to Infinity. That is not negative, it is a positive reality. We are not Creators. We are finite created beings. Therefore, we are dependent on Infinity, which is not a problem because Infinity has anticipated all our needs and provided for them before we even know of them. Everything is ours if we trust our Father. (Luke 12:32)
Therefore, when the King commands something to be done it is not because it is something we need to do to keep ourselves alive or to make Him love us. That is all beyond our control. God assigns tasks, goals, behaviors, and activities as things appropriate to our skill level for our happiness and growth. A new commandment points out new areas for growth, new ways of experiencing existence. Every command is really an invitation to discover something new.
Because finiteness cannot see even two seconds into the future, it is not humiliating to bow. It is quite reasonable to acquiesce and cooperate. Obedience to the God of love is not slavery, it is the gateway to higher callings. Finite people are inspired and drawn to Infinity. When we stop bowing, when we stop acknowledging His greater goodness, then we gradually lose sight of our source of life and drift into the darkness of death.
Lots of trust is needed to make this interaction work. After all, an infinite God can blink to stop our existance, but God does not create us each moment just to destroy us. In a perfect universe, God gives plenty of uncountered, uncontradicted evidence. It is as natural to trust as it is to breathe. It is ennobling and fulfilling for finite beings to kneel in submission and walk in submission and work in submission to the eternal will of a caring Father. We can see that His will is life filled with beauty, spirit, and reward, and without His life we are without form and void. Blessed are those who know how tiny they are and always will be, for that is the gift of the Infinite One.
“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.” (1:3-5)
In God’s newly created perfect universe there are no dark spots like we know them. Dark and light is relative and even the remote dark places are light compared to our lightest places, because God’s presence is everywhere. There is no quarantined sin-zone yet. So there is no mourning yet. Therefore, we do not need comfort from mourning. Rather, we are comforted with greater personal experiences with our Savior. We always hope for more and our hopes are always granted.
God is not only our King, but also our Savior. With the command comes the power to achieve. When we bow in agreement, He extends His hand of help and always says, Let’s do this together! Infinite Wisdom and Compassion knows that we are not Creators. We can do nothing without His power. Therefore, none of His commands are ever, You do this. They are always, Join Me!
In that light, every assignment becomes something more than a mere task, a mere obligation to obey and duty to fulfill. Every command becomes a personal project with the Savior, a special experience just between the two of us. What might be a cause for mourning is actually a source of desire, hope, and eagerness! Small things, big things, anything accomplished with God uplifts us, encourages us, and forever puts us on a higher level. This is why perfect people in a perfect universe are never reluctant to be commanded. They are always eager to obey, perform, achieve, and experience the next great thing.
From glory to glory, from light to greater light, this is the design of the Father’s universal home. Even when light-years from the throne, we are never far from God, for in Him we live and move and have our being. All things are by Him and of Him. Like a baby cradled in its mother’s arms, we are always comfortably nestled in the Savior’s presence. We climb higher and higher because there is never the risk of falling or failing. Blessed are those who desire the Light, for they shall bask in ever warmer and brighter Glory.
“And God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse: and it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.” (1:6-8)
God commanded some water up and some water down. Like people, the water drops were all basically the same, but each one had its unique, mysterious place and purpose.
When a command goes forth, we may not understand it, but we recognize it is a good thing and will be an uplifting experience for us. Yet, we still need to actually agree to it. Nothing happens without our choice. God draws, woos, requests, and suggests, but He never forces. His commands are not threatening lightning bolts, but musical whispers of the most exquisite kind. Through the Holy Spirit that is able to communicate directly with the throne room in our minds, God encourages us to cooperate.
In a perfect universe, surrender never means defeat or loss. It only means the beginning of greater victory. Thus, the meek inherit an earth they want to keep and improve. They want to learn to harmonize with the ways that work for eternity. They are not ashamed to admit their finite limitations. They are eager to find them, test them, and expand them. The meek know that surrender to God’s will is the secret to endless growth.
Notice again that some of the waters went above the atmosphere and some went below. Both places were good. It was not a matter of choosing between good and evil, but between good and good. God had a particular reason and purpose for each particular drop. It is the same with us. We each were created for a particular place in the great eternal plan that brings the most fulfillment and joy to us, to others, and to God. The meek do not complain, “I want to be up there,” or, “I want to be down there.” Consecration to God includes consecration to His plan for our lives and to the place in which He has put us.
I can resist. I can fight. Or, I can surrender. It is my choice how I want to perceive God and His commands and purposes. If I surrender, it simply means I withdraw all resistance and objections. I embrace His glorious future for me. Blessed are those who eagerly take their place in God’s great plan, for they will enjoy it forever.
“And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. The evening and the morning were the third day.” (1:9-13)
The command is given and agreed upon. Now the journey begins, which means the need for nourishment begins. From start to finish, the Creator supplies our needs. We have no fear of lack of resources. We are hungry and thirsty, not from starving, not from lack of anything, but from eagerness to learn. In a perfect universe that is always progressing forward, we are continually empty and continually full.
Each plant is made “after his kind.” Each fruit has its own taste, its own look, its own combination of nutrients. Every tool and every resource in the Creator’s universe has its purpose and makes its contribution. As the project progresses, the Master Teacher shows us how to use each aid. Our knowledge and appreciation of the universe grows as well as our admiration for its Creator. Every command, every journey, every enterprise challenges us and teaches us. We become wiser, stronger, better, more experienced. We become more like the infinite good person.
Heaven is often pictured as sitting around on clouds playing harps while lost in rapture, almost like being forever trapped in a drug induced stupor. However, there is far too much living, growing variety for that to happen. In the original perfect world and in the world made new there will always be new wonders to explore, new truths to discover, and new improvements to be shaped. Like a flower, our experience with the universe will continuously unfold and blossom. We will always have questions, and Christ will always have amazing answers, and more questions for us. Learning and loving never ceases. Blessed are the explorers, the entrepreneurs, the students of all good things because they have an eternity of amazing educational experiences waiting for them.
“And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the expanse of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the expanse of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.” (1:14-19)
God is the sunlight of the sun and the starlight of the star, but the sun and the stars enjoy the privilege of channeling His light. God could have been the only star of the universe with everything revolving directly around Him. Instead, planets orbit stars which circle within galaxies which all spin around the great throne. The Caregiver of the universe places us all in relation to each other so that we also give care and guidance.
While we all have our private moments and missions with Christ, the bulk of our time is spent on team projects. We are social beings by design. Eternity is not isolated people working in isolation. We work together, learn from each other, and encourage each other. Sometimes I am a guiding star to you and sometimes you are a guiding star to me. God teaches us through each other. We use our collective positions to build community and to navigate community. We are created to give and receive mercy.
Because we are our brother’s and sister’s keeper, we are all caregivers to some degree. We may not be experts in technology or medicine, yet we can encourage, assist, and be insightful companions to computer programmers and doctors and nurses. At the end of the day, at the end of the job, we are all human and we can all shine and reflect love and appreciation to each other.
Some people and positions are like the sun, which has many planets orbiting around it. Others are like a moon which spends its time circling only one planet. There are advantages and disadvantages, differing privileges and responsibilities, for the moon compared to the sun, but each one helps various groups of people at various times with various tasks. God distributes His blessings through many channels, which becomes our privilege to share. Blessed are those who give to receive and those who receive to give.
“And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open expanse of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moves which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.” (1:20-23)
This took me the longest time to figure out. I could not see a connection until I saw the similarity in the sanctuary. The animals of the sixth day are land-bound, but the animals of the fifth day are fish and fowl. They are the animals that move in all three dimensions. Like the smoke from the altar of incense filling the height and width and length of the temple, so the birds fill the skies and the fish fill the waters.
The pure in heart do not merely survive. They live abundantly. They live on the earth and they are connected to heaven in continual communion. Their hearts are full of good things like the sanctuary with incense and the sky with birds and the sea with fish. There is praise and music in their heart and God’s word on their lips. They do not so much purify themselves as they are purified by the infilling and overflowing Spirit.
The pure in heart are not passively refined. They ask God for challenges to make them grow. They seek out Infinity to discover new ways, new paths, new areas for exploration. They are quite comfortable in confiding to Christ their limitations and where they would like to expand. And God works with them to make custom plans. Like a priest or pastor we can go to for counsel, our Father is easy to approach and eager to work with our individual personalities. Their walk and talk and work and rest with the High Priest refines them.
In a perfect universe we see God everywhere. There is not the wide gulf between the physical and the spiritual like there is now. There is no contradictory information or confusing discoveries. Our every thought, feeling, and impulse of the heart is part of God’s perfect machinery rolling onward through eternity. There is no fear of making a misstep or of asking a dumb question. Our overall objective is to learn and grow and we are very comfortable with that. Blessed are they that comprehend the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of Christ’s love, for they will know the fullness of God.
“And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creeps upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (1:24-27)
The concept of judging is terrifying only because of evil, but in its basic sense, judging is discerning. It is the process of separating this thing from that thing to appreciate the qualities of both. If there was no judging then everything would be one big blob. Only evil requires judgments of condemnation, but good inspires judgments of commendation. Praise and thanksgiving to someone is a positive judgment of them!
On the sixth day God judged mankind capable of ruling over, and taking care of, all the animals. Humanity was a level above mammals, birds, and fish, for only men and women were made in the image of God. This was a judgment call by God and only people have the judgment to wisely exercise dominion over the earth.
The animals were implanted with a naturally peaceful submission to mankind. Their gods are us. However, evil changed much of that and now animals are afraid of humans and attack humans. The same conflict took place between humans and God. The evil heart fears and hates the Divine Presence. There is no peace between the rebel and his Creator. It is the task of peacemakers to inform and inspire so that the heart can be transformed and unity can be restored.
In the beginning there was no evil, no conflict, no separation, no distrust. Rather than peace making, people were involved in peace keeping and peace building. Peace was not the absence of war (which was unknown) it was the creating of songs and games and productive activities involving people and pets. Just as God created a beautiful world for us, so we were to shape this world for the enjoyment and use of man and animal. That mission required the judgment which was gifted only to humanity. Blessed are the kings and queens, for they shall discern and do wise things.
“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creeps upon the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” (1:28-31)
We are continually judged by God because He is always planning the next move for us. In the perfect universe we are constantly judged, constantly blessed. With the King’s approval ringing in our ears we burst into fruitfulness and reign over the earth as He would. There is no persecution, only challenges conquered. The command given us at the beginning is now returned to the Father fulfilled with accomplishment. We are ready for the next project. The fruit we have produced is now seed for the next cycle of growth.
Every day ended with “it was good,” but this day ends with “it was very good.” Perfection has been accomplished and now it is the foundation for the next level of construction. Perfect becomes very perfect, just like in the spiral staircase. We climbed a complete spiral to get from one floor to the next, now we are in position to climb the next spiral to the next floor. As we advance from floor to floor, from glory to glory, the spirals get bigger, more challenging, more rewarding, more fruitful. The small projects measured in days at the beginning of eternity grow until we can carry out huge enterprises requiring millions of people and millions of years.
The blood of martyrs is seed to bring others to Christ. The success of saints is also seed to spur growth and inspire others. Not only the King, but all of His children rejoice over our achievements. They also approve, because everything we have done together with the Son is worthy of praise and admiration. As a human race together with Christ and the angels, we not only enjoy and live in eternity, we build it. We grow it and guide it like a precious plant. Blessed are those who are challenged for righteousness’ sake, for they will expand the universe and fill it with every good thing.
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” (2:1-3)
“And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found a help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead of it. And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cling unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” (2:20-24)
After the seventh day the narrative flashes back to the sixth day to provide us with important details. To have included them in the first part would have ruined the list of brief day descriptions. Likewise, I am breaking with the day order to continue with story order.
In the Beatitudes we have salt and light. In Genesis we have God resting and humans marrying. In the sanctuary we see the Shekinah Glory flanked by angels. The pattern is clear. The Creator shares His glory with created beings. It is actually necessary for the preservation of the universe.
Salt is of the earth and preserves the food of the earth. However, if it has lost its saltiness, if the salt has lost the glory of salt, then it fails to preserve. Human beings–beings of faith, hope, and love–are given dominion over the earth, but if they lose what makes them truly human, then they become pillagers and destroyers.
Humanness is passed on through birth which is the product of marriage between a man and a woman. If marriage loses its glory, then the family loses it glory. Humanity degenerates as it descends through the generations. History shows that in all cultures the happy family is the foundation and cornerstone of a happy society. It is impossible to maintain healthy community at large when community in the home is broken.
Light is from heaven and comes down to lighten the world. It comes direct from God and indirectly through His people. The purpose in both cases is the same. It is to keep people looking up to their heavenly Father so that they don’t lose sight of Him. This is the purpose of the Sabbath.
God came down to rest on the seventh day. He put His glorious presence in that day and so it was forever blessed. The blessing was not in people or behavior or even law. The blessing was in the day and all who enter the glorious day, like leaving a dark place to come out into the light, will experience that blessing. One does not take the light and work it or mold it or rub it on the skin or any such thing. To receive the blessing of light and glory on the seventh day, one must rest in it. One must bask in it and allow the glory to bathe and infuse the being so that God’s masterpiece can be highlighted and put on display. It is a day for God’s glory, not ours.
When a person is created at the beginning of eternity, they are perfect. That honors God because it shows He is a perfect Creator. Then growth commences. Throughout eternity, the perfect person grows more perfect. Faith, hope, and love encounter new situations and new challenges and continue to grow. Perfection grows. Perfection is uninterrupted growth as well as the unflawed current state.
We tend to think of perfection as only the destination. Therefore we discount the perfection of the steps taken in its direction. In a perfect universe we have perfect bodies and no internal or external temptation. That is perfect, but so is the growth we experience. To merely be perfect without growing would not honor God because growth is the cornerstone of His plan for us. Perfection without growth is like light without shining.
Therefore, while we now wait for perfect immortal bodies, we can grow spiritually in our choices, in our wisdom, in our exercise of faith, hope, and love. That spiritual growth, at any and all levels, from the poor in spirit to the persecuted, honors God because it shows we are ready to appreciate eternity in perfect immortal bodies, just like He originally intended.
Finally, notice the emphasis on state of being, not effort of doing. The salt is salty. The light is bright. God rests. The man and woman are one. Everything is perfect, glorious, harmonious, filled with infinite potential that will burst forth in limitless ways. The light that diffused itself in the prism of creation is light again and ready to splay itself again into the spectrum of the rainbow. Over and over through the endless cycles of eternity, from one seventh day to the next, God and man and woman, in glorious harmony of oneness, will live in honor and interact with love.
“It’s not hard to be perfect!”
That was the discovery my excited theology major roommate told me. “After all,” he continued, “how hard is it not to kill and not to commit adultery and not to steal? And when is the last time you bowed down to idols?” Obviously, my friend’s view of the law was extremely shallow and behavioral. He forgot to read the Sermon on the Mount, “You have heard that it was said by them of old time…But I say unto you.” He failed to look a little deeper at their spiritual application to the heart. The Beatitudes and the ten commandments teach the same truths and uphold the same requirements.
For example, for spiritually mature beings, like angels, God does not need to phrase His commands in the negative. Especially in heaven or Eden, where everything is good and holy, positive expressions make more sense and is all that is needed. “The law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers.” (1 Timothy 1:9) The negatively phrased law, given in fire and thunder and shouting from Mt. Sinai, was needed by idolatrous, immature Israelites. It was not needed by angels and Adam.
The angels, who could not marry, were not told, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” They were told something based on the same principle about protecting friendships, but the command was not worded this way. God chose this wording of the commandment as the most effective way to get the point across to erring, carnal, idolatrous mortals.
Also, the arrangement or order was probably changed. Maybe in heaven the ten commandments are arranged in a circle instead of two columns. Perhaps the order within the columns is reversed. We don’t know exactly until we get there, but something is different about the ten commandments without changing their immutable meaning.
The ten commandments engraved on stone or thundered from Sinai is not God’s ideal of communicating law. Mount Sinai was an emergency measure. It was a shout to the kids to keep them plunging over the edge or playing in the street. It was an attempt to arrest the attention of people on the verge of criminal behavior before they actually committed a crime and locked themselves into the consequences. God sings softly in beautiful language to angels, but must shout to hardened sinners because are spiritual ears are plugged.
To the angels, the law was not a guardrail to be crashed into or to bounce off of. It was something they always did naturally without anyone telling them they must. God’s eternal, unbreakable pattern was as sensible and pleasant as the banks of a river that keep the water between them.
With that brief background let’s now look at the ten commandments in a different order and see how they convey the same truth as the Beatitudes.
First, picture a mountain in your mind. It has a broad base and rises to a peak. The bottom is easy to get to by a large number of people, while only a small number of climbers make it to the summit. This is like popular, private coveting compared to rare, visible murder. As we figuratively climb the sides of Mount Sinai, we start with common secret sins and ascend to more public sins. So we will look at the human commandments in reverse order. Then we will look at the table with God’s commandments in normal order.
In the experience of the believer-to-be, the conversion process starts with an internal shift of priority. For the first time, it occurs to the sinner that the materialistic, egotistical, fatalistic way of viewing things is wrong. There is a heaven to win and a hell to shun. Permanent, eternal destruction is the result of selfishness. Love has a greater power than force. Living for the here and now is really just a steady death. Instead of “needing” this thing or that thing or this carnal experience or that lustful pleasure, the poor in spirit finally are convinced that the soul is more important and the key to a better, eternal life. Of course, angels were convinced of this priority from their beginning.
Sin has thrown a vail over the world making us see things darkly and only in shadows. Those who mourn want to see the truth about life, themselves, and others. They want to stop living in a fantasy world. They no longer want to inflate others’ egos nor tear them down with false rumors. They no longer feel there is any comfort in lies. Whatever is the Hope of this life and the life to come, they want to know it, live it, and share it. The tears of the mournful wash away the deceitfulness of sin and though the raw truth is painful, they see it is the only way to comfort for them and everyone else.
Stealing is forced redistribution of ownership of material, intellectual, or spiritual goods. When one decides that he/she is the more rightful owner of an object or advantage, then theft has occurred. The meek renounce ownership all together, not just of other’s stuff, but of their own, also. They view themselves as mere stewards and caretakers of the body, soul, and opportunities God has put in their trust. Like the angels, they have no border line of ownership or rulership between “me” and God. What is His is mine, and what is mine is His.
Having renounced ownership, a person is now freed from the need to protect their stuff. This allows them to focus on others and to learn how to build a personal, unique relationship with each one. Instead of being defensive of their position, they are hungry, thirsty, eager to exercise this new freedom that enables them to enjoy the peaceful trust of true friendship. What was an impossible paradox to them before, is now a living experience as their selfless attitude brings them closer to God and people. Instead of protecting themselves and walling themselves off, they now protect their friends and so they are filled with friendship. Betrayal, adultery, disloyalty are impossible because they are growing personal relationships, not tearing them down.
True friends and family give and take, adjust and adapt, encourage and support. The blessings received from God are freely and immediately shared. Score does not need to be kept, because one feels they cannot outgive their circle of friends. More is always flowing in than is flowing out, which prompts greater sharing, which strengthens life’s great circle of love. In every little and big way, life is nourished and increased. Death is impossible. God does not so much make a command or a promise to the merciful as He merely describes the abundant experience.
With this commandment we move to God’s side of Mount Sinai and again begin with small common sins and end with more open and less common sins.
Purity cannot be achieved in and of itself. That would be sterility. That would be making a god out of a goal or condition. Those who have no other god before them always seek God first. Therefore, purity is not their primary goal, but their path and experience. Every view of God, no matter how brief or ignorant, purifies the soul to a corresponding extent. It cannot be avoided. The pure in heart are purified because they see God in, through, and above everything else. They have no obstacles, no gods, in between them and God.
Humans were shaped and created by God. Man cannot shape nor create God. Idols, physical or intellectual, are attempts to shape God and thereby shape humanity, because we are shaped by our worship. Peacemakers are neither mediators nor myth makers. They point directly to God and encourage direct worship of the Creator. Idols are physical myths and myths are intellectual idols. All idols and myths limit, distort, and twist our understanding and worship of God. Therefore, they destroy the image and peace of God.
“The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runs into it, and is safe.” (Proverbs 18:10) The third commandment is a promise of protection to the persecuted. No soul can take hold of God’s name in vain. Blessing is guaranteed even in the midst of trouble.
With these two commandments we reach the top of Sinai. Both are phrased positively and both point us reverently upward to authority and wisdom. We honor and remember the one and only Creator, and we respect our procreators. Ordinary earthly salt represents our human parents, while bright ethereal light reminds us of God’s glory. These two commandments encapsulate the core of law–love to God and people.
It is hard to get lost climbing a mountain because it narrows as you climb. Going down it is possible to end up on the other side of the mountain from where you started, but to reach the peak all you need to do is take one step upward at a time. Even if your eyes are closed, you cannot fail of finding the top. Similarly, if humanity had always held these two positive commandments as inviolable, they would naturally have kept all the rest. It is hard to worship God on Sabbath, then bow down to a dumb idol. It is hard to honor your parents, then plan a murder. The mindsets do not run in the same direction. Obedience to these two commandments is the salt and light of the world, capable of uplifting society and reforming the world.
The Beatitudes are not limited to abstract illustrations. The Bible also shows them in personal interactions. Jesus had exchanges with a Jewish ruler and a Samaritan woman. In both stories we see the early Beatitudes demonstrated.
“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night.” (John 3:1-2)
The first step of salvation is taken by God, not us. Nicodemus met with Jesus because the Spirit first placed a desire in his heart.
The ruler saw the miracles. He heard the praises of the healed. He saw the temple cleansed of merchandising. All this goodness appealed to him.
Christ then condescended to meet with the religious leader in the place and manner of his choosing. The Savior deals with fallen humans very tenderly and very gradually. Yet, He does not leave us to stagnate. After some time, He prompts us to the next step.
Nicodemus “said unto him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that you do except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Truly truly I say unto you, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Truly truly I say unto you, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto you, You must be born again. The wind blows where it wants and you hear the sound of it, but can not tell from where it comes and where it goes, so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Are you a master of Israel, and know not these things? Truly truly I say unto you, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and you receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and you believe not, how shall you believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man has ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” (John 3:2-13)
Nicodemus opened the conversation with a compliment. Or, at least he thought he was paying a compliment. Jesus got right to the point and showed him that He knew where the ruler was holding back.
The Pharisee knew the time prophecies of Daniel. He had listened to John the Baptist. He saw the evidences of divinity in the miracles. Nicodemus was wrestling with the conviction that Jesus was no mere human teacher. He was the divine Messiah.
If Nicodemus was merely going to discuss doctrine or methods with a human teacher, then what was the point? New wine must be put in a new wineskin. The ruler needed a new heart, the heart of a child, to joyfully acknowledge the truth. He needed the heavenly perspective on earthly things. He needed to perceive the spiritual mystery of God in the flesh.
If Jesus allowed the Pharisee to walk away from that conversation thinking he had heard truth from a holy man, then Nicodemus could throw away the teachings at will. He could adapt and twist them to suit his carnal nature. In his thinking, the message and messenger were only human. Instead, Jesus deepened the conviction that was already weighing on Nicodemus’s mind.
Like the wind moving the trees, the ruler needed to submit to the moving of the Spirit. Like a newborn baby entirely dependent on love and life from its parents, Nicodemus needed to give up control of his life to his heavenly Father. Only from the perspective of sitting on his Father’s shoulders, could Nicodemus understand anything correctly. Only He who had come down from heaven could teach him about heaven.
The Pharisee expected to have an exchange between two enlightened religious teachers. He expected to trade spiritual riches. Instead, Nicodemus was brought face to face with his spiritual poverty.
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:14-17)
Jesus made the point, then He stopped making it. The truth of our spiritual bankruptcy always takes time to settle into our psyche. Jesus knew the Pharisee would think more about it later. Therefore, Jesus advanced to the next step so that Nicodemus would have hope when the cutting truth finally penetrated his soul.
The story to which Jesus is referring when He said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent,” is found in Numbers 21. After deliverance from Egypt and the plagues, after Mount Sinai, after 40 years of miraculous sustenance in the wilderness, right after Moses‘ patience wore thin and he hit the Rock instead of speaking to it to get water thereby forfeiting his entrance to the Promised Land, after all that, the people still complained that Moses had brought them out of Egypt to die. They would not recognize that God delivered them to live.
Therefore, what blessing had failed to do, a curse would attempt. God unleashed scorpions in the camp that began biting the complainers. At first, that would not appear to be an action of a loving God, but remember that we are in a quarantine, not a holiday resort. The Master Physician will try all levels of medical procedure possible to resuscitate His patients.
“And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against you. Pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make you a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looks upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.” (Numbers 21:6-9)
Look and live! It really is that simple. As John the Baptist said, “Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world!"
Jesus is the Lamb on the cross and He is the Serpent on the pole. “For He has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Dear reader, are you bitten by evil? Are you bitten by your own sins? Do you feel your spiritual poverty and shame? Do you mourn because of your pain and the pain you have caused others? Have you tossed the hammer from your hand as in horror you realize that you are the one who nailed the Son of man to the cross?
Be comforted, for God so loved you that He gave His only begotten Son that you might believe in Him and not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn you; but that you through Him might be saved.
“He that believes on Him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be revealed, that they are worked in God.” (John 3:18-21)
To believe in the name of the Son of God is to truly believe in His goodness, His character, His unselfish love. “Even the devils believe and tremble” when they hear the name, “Jesus.” But true belief and true condemnation is explained in the last half of the passage. It is moving into the light and out of darkness.
Love prompts conviction. Conviction grows into desire. Desire matures into decision. Decision chooses light over darkness and is revealed in action. This is the only meekness that inherits eternal life.
Even those not yet informed about the written record of Christ’s life, those who have not yet heard the name, “Jesus,” respond to the Spirit of Christ as they make choices every day out of faith, hope, and love. The light may be foggy in their mind, but they know they need it. They want it. They move towards it. It will one day be revealed that they followed the invisible Jesus.
We often fear to come to God because of our dark misdeeds. We fear the light that will humiliate us and make us feel bad. It is urgent that we go to the Serpent on the pole before our habit of avoiding The Light turns into hatred of The Light. The selfish heart has a thousand ways of justifying itself and after a while it will even think The Light is bad.
The meek crawl out of the darkness to be born again in the light. They let the Wind blow them where It wishes. They may fall, but they do not fight the Spirit. They look to Jesus for permission, power, and approval for everything. And they live!
The next story that applies the Beatitudes at the personal level is the story of the woman at the well in the fourth chapter of John. In His interaction with this unnamed Samaritan, Jesus followed His own laws of spiritual growth.
“Then comes he [Jesus] to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.” (4:5-6)
I usually envision this scene taking place in the midst of rolling, rocky hills. Perhaps there was dry summertime grass around a dirt area surrounding a deep, hand dug well. There were probably big rocks ringing the hole to protect it from animals. On one of these rocks Jesus sat down under the hot noontime sun and waited for someone to arrive with a rope and bucket.
This was no random spot at which the Son of God waited. While His human nature was tired and thirsty, His divine nature was calculating and orchestrating an encounter. Nothing God does is impulsive or wasteful. He is always planning and moving to make things work out for our best good. Jesus was guided to this spot so He could have a redemptive encounter with the woman who would then introduce Him to the rest of the people in the town.
“There comes a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus said unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy food.) Then said the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that you being a Jew, ask drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” (John 4:7-9)
Christ’s request first struck me as a demand, but after analyzing it and other background material, I have realized it was indeed a very gracious request for these reasons: First, we have no voice recording. It would have intonated the missing “please.” Second, if Christ’s humanity was going to demand service (totally uncharacteristic) He simply could have used His divinity to magically make water spurt upward like a geyser. Third, the woman did not get offended, but rather was surprised that a Jew would “ask drink of me.” She interpreted this as a positive interaction. Jesus reached across prejudicial lines to converse with a foreigner.
“Jesus answered and said unto her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that said to you, Give me to drink; you would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:10)
The Savior’s goal was not to get water, but to give Water. Before He could do that, He needed the woman to perceive what He was offering. She was at a physical well to satisfy physiological needs. Jesus wanted her to see the spiritual Fountain of Life sitting in front of her.
“The woman said unto him, Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from where then have you that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank of it himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again: But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman said unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come here to draw.” (John 4:11-15)
Jesus did not approach the woman in a blaze of light as the infinite Son of God. Instead, He sat in His weary humanity as the Son of man dependent on another human for water. God was gradually working around the barriers of fear, shock, and bigotry to reach this woman.
Jesus had repeated His cryptic offer and a second time the woman was skeptical and wary, but she was also beginning to think on a different level, as shown by her query, “Are you greater than our father Jacob?"
Christ’s reply this time began to bridge the gap between physical and spiritual. He spoke of never thirsting again and ended with “everlasting life.” His wording could be interpreted both ways by the woman who merely came to the well to get water for the rest of the day. Love is wise and patient.
Even if she was materialistic in her background and thinking, the woman was by this time probably sensing something more was being offered. A double meaning must be implied. Cautiously, with a narrowing of the eyes and a tilt of the head, she took the bait on the physical level. She wanted this supposed bottomless bucket so she would not need to make the long walk to the well. She wanted this Willy Wonka magical everlasting gobstopper source of immortal water. Jesus worked with her timid shortsightedness.
“Jesus said unto her, Go, call your husband, and come here. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, You have well said, I have no husband: For you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband: in that said you truly.” (John 4:16-18)
It appears that Jesus is just about to make the sale when He abruptly changes the topic by introducing embarrassing details of the woman’s life. Some readers conclude that Christ insulted the woman with her own shameful past, but again this is based on a superficial reading.
The woman did not storm off in anger. She did not respond with an attack. She merely met the gaze of this mystery Man who broke down barriers and spoke with love. She felt comfortable enough to tell the truth, that she had no husband. Then, Jesus felt comfortable enough to press home the issue, unlike few other recorded encounters with other people.
Also unlike so many others, the woman was ready to confront her past misdeeds. Unless she did this, she would not be able to progress past it. Only the poor in spirit, only the humble confessor is prepared to take the next advance step in spiritual growth. Only those who feel the weight of conviction from their personal sins can appreciate the Savior’s help in lifting it.
Only the sick go to the doctor. Only the weak ask for help. Only the dead realize their need for eternal life.
“The woman said unto him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.” (John 4:19)
Not only did the woman need to realize her problem, but Jesus also wanted her to see Him as her solution. The Savior was transitioning her to the next step.
“Our fathers worshiped in this mountain; and you say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” (John 4:20)
It was now the woman’s turn to abruptly turn the direction of conversation. Although she did not want to examine her past, she did not leave. She must have seen something in the Savior’s eyes and heard something in His voice that drew her closer. He stated the facts of her past without anger or condemnation. While this stirred feelings of guilt, it also kindled hope.
Perhaps, the woman thought, this prophet can settle the religious controversy of the day. Perhaps He can do even more.
“Jesus said unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour comes when you shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship you know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour comes and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:21-24)
Jesus now raised the woman’s vision from her dark past, beyond argument, and up to the heights of true worship of God. He would not have done this unless He thought she was ready. The Savior believed in the woman and this came through in both word and tone.
Christ acknowledged that “salvation is of the Jews.” When all other nations rejected God, the descendants of Abraham continued the sacrifices and copied the Scriptures. However, it was not theirs exclusively. It was theirs to protect from others, and also to give to others. Israel’s mission was to evangelize the world, not condemn it. In that sense salvation was of the Jews.
Universal redemption was not limited to one nation. “Neither in this mountain [in Samaria] nor yet at Jerusalem” would people worship God. Communion with the heavenly Father cannot be limited to one or even two places. Everyone, where ever they are, may “worship Him in spirit and truth.” Indeed, that is the only way to truly worship an infinite good person.
God is a person and thus must be worshiped as a person by people. The Father wants to interact with children. He does not want to rule over fearful pets or have His ego stroked by pomp and ceremony. This Samaritan women, and all people all over the world, are invited to rejoin God’s spiritual family. No one is worthy, so no one is too unworthy to take courage and make steps toward Infinite Love. All who mourn and all who desire may find comfort in Him who is comfort.
“The woman said unto him, I know that Messiah comes which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.” (John 4:25)
The woman now took a tentative step forward. She could not yet be sure, but there was something about this Man that encouraged her. From a lonely drink at the well, her vision had been raised to the spiritual plane and expanded to behold universal truth. Was it possible that this prophet who knew her so well and desired her so much was the Messiah?
“Jesus said unto her, I that speak unto you am he.” (John 4:26)
Christ revealed His identity to the woman with a rare directness. In most places with most people, He told them not to advertise His identity and power so as not to stir up jealousy and misunderstanding. With this Samaritan, however, He saw an opportunity to reach her and her neighbors. He committed Himself to her which gave her the opening to commit herself to Him.
“The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and said to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.” (John 4:28-30)
The woman’s original purpose was to fill a physical waterpot with physical water. In minutes, her world was turned upside down. Her spiritual heart was now filled with spiritual water, and she just had to share it. The very first impulse of the renewed heart is the sharing spirit because it is the Spirit of sharing that renews the heart.
Notice that the woman believes that Jesus is the Christ [the Messiah] because He told her all that she had done. That is a huge step up from when she perceived that He was a prophet and responded by redirecting the conversation. Jesus told the woman all that she had ever done in a way that kindled hope and lifted her to a higher plane. Jesus revealed God to her in word and spirit and encouraged a spiritual response from her. Here was a Person who knew how the universe could and should work and invited everyone to participate.
“And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they sought him that he would stay with them: and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of his own word; And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of your saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”(39-42)
The human heart is based on faith, hope, and love. When it meets Him who is faith, hope, and love the conviction settles deep that “this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.” Except for selfish ambitions, hope springs forth and the future brightens. Decisions are made and the world finds its Savior.
“In the meanwhile his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. But he said unto them, I have food to eat that you know not of. Therefore said the disciples one to another, Has any man brought him anything to eat? Jesus said unto them, My food is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not you, There are yet four months, and then comes harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit unto life eternal: that both he that sows and he that reaps may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap that on which you bestowed no labor, other men labored and you are entered into their labors.” (John 4:31-38)
While this part of the story does not directly involve the woman, it gives us insight into God and the next Beatitude: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.
If righteousness was mere behavior, then Jesus would have told the woman exactly what to do. Instead, He sought connection with her personally and then let the Holy Spirit direct the woman. In other words, to God, righteousness involves personal relationship and spiritual intimacy. Friendship in the heart leads to friendly behavior.
Jesus was satisfied by the accomplishment of His Father’s will, which was to bring erring children back into the family. More than the pleasure to be felt by eating a luxurious meal, the Son of God felt full with love and success by the woman’s response, and then by the town’s. Even though He was left thirsty and hungry and alone at the well, participating in the woman’s excitement was reward enough.
During the two days that Christ spent teaching the people, they felt to a small degree what He felt. As cultural and religious barriers were broken down and as God was revealed to be an infinite good person, the people felt a spiritual fullness, a deep contentment and growing confidence. They were amply rewarded for inviting Jesus into their midst.
Because this is a prayer, I thought a poetic approach would be more appropriate. Remember the chart if you are unsure of the connection being made.
Your love reaches all the way down
To Earth
To find me.
You, the King of the Universe,
The Creator of worlds,
The Power and Life of all people,
You love me.
I did not know real love
Until I felt Your presence.
I did not know Light
Until you reached into the darkness
And shined upon me.
I did not know life
Until I saw you in everything.
The bird does not fly on its own power.
Your life is in it and lifts it up.
Your life give melody to its song
And color to its body.
The flowers bloom in brightness,
Because your life shines out through them.
The sun climbs the sky in glory
Because you lift it up in brilliance.
You heat up its furnace
And send its fiery rays through space
To us,
To me,
That we might live in its glory
And work and play in its light.
You, O my Father,
Have designed a life–
Not a mere existence–
For me. Me!
And this life is a gift,
An eternal gift.
You want me forever
To live with you
To receive your love
To share your love with all
And to always be your child.
Thank you, O Father,
For being my Father,
And not some cold cruel dictator.
Thank you for your love
That speaks to my heart
In this place
In this day
In this moment.
Hallowed, revered, and glorious be Your name,
O my Father.
Let no one speak of me,
For all that I have
And all that I am
Is from You and of You.
I am but a poor shell
Filled with your life and your love.
Why should I get credit?
Why should I seek glory?
I am content to play at your feet,
And do my duty beneath your loving gaze.
I am, because You are.
I am, because your Son lives in me.
I am, because your Spirit moves me.
My nothingness
You filled with your everything,
So now I have meaning
And purpose and significance,
And You have glory.
This is all just as it should be.
For why should the puppet
Take credit to itself
And claim it lives a life of its own
When it is just moved by its master?
In that moving
Is life and joy and love.
So move me today, O Father,
That your name might be glorified
And that others might be blessed.
Give of yourself through me
And may others understand
That I am not the source,
Just a channel.
Most of all,
May I remember that I am not the source.
As I look to You,
As I reach out to You,
As I give you thanks and praise,
Then I am filled to overflowing.
Please, O Living Water,
Flow through the river banks of my life
And give drink to the thirsty
And refreshment to the weary.
O Father, you are my glory.
You are the glory of us all.
How long, O Lord?
How long?
How long until you split the sky
With the song of ages
And the light of angels
And the music of trumpets?
How long shall this earth
Remain in darkness
Choking on its own selfishness,
Killing itself in misery?
How long, O Father, how long?
Our eyes long for the glory.
Our hearts yearn for the peace
Of those peaceful shores
Where the golden buildings
Reflect on the silver waters
And the breeze moves ever so gentle
And the sound of music
Echoes without end through the trees.
We desire that day without night.
We long for the everlasting sunshine
In the place without clouds
Where the shadows of evil are no more.
O Father,
You have a family that yearns for home.
Bring us home!
Heal our pain.
Dry our tears.
Restore our loss.
Let us ever walk in the light of your presence.
Let us ever enter through your gates.
O Father,
Your kingdom come now into our hearts
That your kingdom may come to this world.
Pour out your grace
That your glory may shine.
Heal our hearts.
Revive our lives.
Change our habits.
Use us as You see fit,
Then we will know You have come
That You may come again.
Be in us
That you may come to us.
We mourn for your comfort.
You have made your angels
Servants of fire
And ministers of your love.
Make us the same.
The hosts of heaven kneel before You,
O Father,
Awaiting your orders
Eager to obey
Ready to serve.
All your commands are love.
Your instructions are life.
The fulfillment of your word
Is the multiplying of power.
Your will is creativity
Like galaxies spun from nothing,
Beauty appearing from nowhere,
Joy blossoming in the moment,
Eternity springing up to greet us.
My Father,
Do your will in my life
That I may have life,
Abundant forever,
From glory to glory,
Growing, rising,
Ever moving beyond new horizons.
Your will, Father,
Not mine.
I cannot see past my nose,
But You lift me to infinity.
I know nothing moments from now,
But You know eternity.
I am meek,
Content to let You lead me.
I am humble,
Satisfied to let You correct me.
You promise me the whole earth,
But if I may only sit on your footstool
And learn at your feet
Then I will be happy forever.
O Bread of Life, I hunger for You.
O Water of Life, I thirst for You.
According to your will,
Which your word assures me is best,
Provide for my needs today.
You know how much my stomach needs.
You know the clothes I need to wear
Today and tomorrow.
You know all things I need
To accomplish your mission.
Thank You now,
Before I even know my need
That You will provide all.
Thank You for the faith
To tell You, Thank You.
Bring my faith higher.
Let me grip your promises tighter.
I hunger for your assurance.
I thirst for your forgiveness.
More than my bread and water,
I crave your righteousness
That your will, not mine, be done.
My soul eats your words
As my mouth tastes your blessings.
What You say,
Not what I feel.
What You say,
Not what I think.
What You say,
Not what I am of my self.
I will eat your words
Like the hidden manna.
I will hide them in my heart
That I may not sin against you
That I may not doubt your love
That I may not speak falsely.
Morsel by morsel,
Verse by verse,
Renew and rebuild my life
Until I look and act and feel like You.
Transform every fiber of my being
Into your image and yours alone.
Let me be all of You
And none of me.
Fill me so that I am empty of self.
Father, how you must weep
As you watch us tear ourselves apart.
Like spiritual cannibals,
We devour each other.
Not enough to win,
Not enough to bruise and batter,
No, we must destroy and annihilate.
We falsely accuse and violently abuse.
We smear, defame, and politically assassinate.
We show no mercy
Because we feel no mercy.
Thank you, Father, for forgiving us,
For giving us yourself through Christ.
Thank you, Father,
For the cool waters of your mercy
That stand heaped up in floods
And ready to pour down
On the forest fires of our anger.
Thank you for already forgiving us
For failing to understand how forgiveness works.
Our hearts–
Battered and bruised,
Vulnerable and exposed,
Trampled on by stomping feet
Time and again
Year after year
Seemingly without end–
Our hearts are channels of love.
Like pipes letting water flow freely,
Or blocked with obstructions,
So our hearts are open or closed.
Mercy flows in and out,
Or it is obstructed and stopped.
Forgiveness is received for giving.
It is the water of love that flows.
Pour it in and through our hearts.
You taught us this on the cross
Where Jesus opened His arms
To extend global forgiveness
And to have His heart pierced with the sword.
Father,
Help us not to forgive others
As they forgive us.
No, help us forgive others
As You forgive us.
Your example
Is the blessing of mercy.
O my Savior
Guide this erring heart,
Enlighten this feeble mind,
Lead me straight to You.
Like the sunrise in the morning
Fill my eyes with your light
That I may not behold the darkness
And that I may not follow after it.
Purify me, refine me,
Remove all dirt and dust from my life
That I may not throw up my own clouds
And make shadows of my own devising.
Focus my imagination
So that it lays hold of eternal realities.
Give me ears to hear
And eyes to see
The King in His beauty
And the Father sitting upon His throne.
I ask that You do all these things,
But I know You already do them,
Because You are the great magnet
Attracting, drawing, wooing
All hearts to You.
With You is peace and purity and holiness.
So today, when evil assaults me,
And when sin slips in quietly and unnoticed
To distract me and pull me from You
Uphold me by the right hand of your righteousness.
Whisper a word in my ear.
Tug gently on my heart
And turn me in the right direction.
Squeeze my hand and let me feel your presence.
Without You
I have no incentive
No reason to resist.
With You
I have all that I need
All that I want.
Sin loses its power
Because it is swallowed up
By the power of your love.
O Savior, Shepherd of my soul,
Walk with me and guide my steps.
Train my heart to seek You early
To seek You always
And I shall never stray from You.
My Father,
I vaguely know You.
Your will is so mysterious to me.
I seek help.
I ask questions.
I get confusion in return.
Why are there so many false teachers?
I know they can’t all be right,
But how do I tell them apart?
There are so many
Who only want my money
And my praise.
Teach me your truth, Lord,
Only your truth.
Lead me in a plain path,
Down a marked highway
With signs and stripes.
Too often I wander in the wilderness
Where there are no trails
Or too many paths
In too many directions
With no signs or markings.
O Word of God,
Unless you teach me,
Unless you deliver me,
I am lost.
Speak, Lord, for your servant listens.
Teach, Lord, for your child learns.
Open your Word to my mind
And my mind to your Word.
Let my feet walk in a plain path.
Let my eyes see the Light
So I can walk straight forward.
If ever there was a time in my life
Or in this world’s history
When truth was needed
When a prophet should speak
It is now.
Let the prophets and apostles speak!
Let God’s people listen!
Let my heart say,
Your Word,
Your Word alone.
O my Father, my Father!
Deliver me
from unreasonable and wicked men.
How long shall I suffer at their hand?
They accuse me
And persecute me
And seek to destroy my soul.
I try to please and get along.
I return that which I had not taken.
What more can I do?
O innocent Lamb of God,
Let me not strike back in anger.
Control my spirit
And keep me from evil
Though I am surrounded by evil.
I have sinned.
I am not perfect,
But I have repented
And followed your ways
All these years and forever.
I am falsely accused
And my mistakes exaggerated.
Forgive them, O Savior,
And deliver me.
Lead us together in the paths of peace.
Bond our hearts into one
That we may serve together.
How good and how pleasant that would be!
Ah, the bliss and glory
Of bowing before your throne
And beholding your smile!
To be in your heaven
And beyond this pain, this death.
Bring us, O Lord, Bring us!
But now they seek after my life
As if I am some monster.
They throw dirt on my name
As if I am a plague.
Keep me, my Father,
That I may not depart from your truth
Nor transgress against your law
Nor turn my face against your holiness.
Keep me! Keep me!
Deliver me for your righteousness’ sake
And make me a jewel in your crown.
Heavenly Father,
I am so glad the kingdom is yours,
Not mine, not ours, all yours.
We destroy, hurt, and damage,
Kill, degrade, and pollute.
You, O Father,
Create, repair, transform, and restore.
Your infinite power
Keeps the atoms together
And the planets in place
And the trees growing
And the flowers blooming
And my heart beating.
I am yours, all yours.
You have eternity in your hand.
I am in the apple of your eye
And content to stay there.
I will praise You, and You alone,
Forever and ever.
May my gratitude never end.
May my awe never stop.
May I continually get nearer to You.
O that the whole realm of nature was mine
Still it would be a tribute far too small!
You are simply incredible!
Awesomely wonderful!
Surpassingly beautiful!
Infinitely indescribable!
May all worship You, only You.
Let the entire universe,
Things animate and inanimate,
Join in the chorus
And sing of your wonders
And tell of your goodness!
Let there be no silence.
Let the domes of heaven ring!
Let there be no darkness.
Let God’s glory shine everywhere!
It is right and good
To give God thanks and praise
For He is the source of every good thing.
Let our eyes look only to Him.
Let our hearts respond only to Him.
Let our light shine only for Him
For He alone is our Light!
Luke records a brief glimpse into a person’s soul that helps us realize the core of conversion and salvation. Even the Beatitudes, as simple and positive as they are, can be twisted into a theory and a burden by the selfish heart. The thief on the cross helps us see how we can be changed in a moment.
“One of the criminals which were hanged railed on him, saying, If you be Christ, save yourself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Do not you fear God, seeing you are in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man has done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Truly I say unto you today, You shall be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:39-43)
That is the whole story and all the principles of conversion are in it, just as with Nicodemus and the woman at the well. Let’s look.
Love
As counter intuitive as it may sound, God’s love led the thief to be crucified at that time and place. The other gospels record this thief railing on Christ, but later something happened inside his brain and heart. During the few hours in the judgment hall and on the road to Calvary, pieces began to fuse together, and the criminal saw his golden opportunity.
How ironic! The thief discovers that he is crucified with the Crucified One! The Lamb of God is mere feet away from him. What divine love has arranged this?!
Need
Now conviction of sin and remorse seize him. Instead of rebuking Jesus, the robber turns to rebuke his partner. He confesses the sinfulness of their ways and the justice of their punishment. In one sentence, we see sincere poorness of spirit. There are no excuses or requests to avoid what he deserves. The criminal feels his guilt before man and God. He acknowledges from the depth of his being his unworthiness to live.
Desire
Yet, he also sees the innocence of the suffering Lamb. The Holy Spirit gives him the sense that Christ’s death is not for Himself. The thief is drawn to cast his guilty burdens on the Messiah. In one desperate act of hope, with no visible guarantee of reward, the criminal cries out to the Man next to him, “Lord, remember me!”
The Father planted that urgent desire in the bosom of the condemned man. God caused the thief to see things as they really were, to feel the weight of his sins, the deep need of his soul, and the tremendous damage he had caused. Unless the Son of God remember him, he would die alone and soon be forgotten. The man truly mourned, and he also acted on his grief. He made a request of Him who can wipe away every tear.
Choice
The thief’s plea began with “Lord” and ended with “kingdom.” He was acknowledging Christ’s divinity and His rulership over the earth. This meant the convict was also confessing his place as servant to obey. He was giving up all rights and claims. He was surrendering self to God’s will.
The thief was now meek, humble, teachable, compliant. He could be moved by the Spirit without resistance. He was converted and in harmony with the spirit of heaven. As little as he knew and as little time as he had to practice holiness before his death, the man was now a positive influence in the universe. He was safe to save simply and only because his attitude changed.
“Truly I say unto you, Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3-4)
And there you have it! The conversion process in mere moments or hours!
The meek shall inherit the earth. The transformed of all ages hear the Crucified One speaking to them, “Truly I say unto you today, you shall be with me in paradise.” If you are right with God today, you are ready if Christ should come today. The heart turned to heaven is now in an attitude to receive forgiveness, wisdom, and eternal life. The goal of the Christian, therefore, is not to earn what has already been bestowed, but to live it as fully as possible. The thief had new words to speak to those who watched over his death. The converted Christian has a new experience to share with believers and non-believers alike. Like the thief, we hold in our hands the title to Paradise. Meekness keeps it there, forever.
Our final chapter focuses on what I call the anti-Beatitudes. These are eight curses pronounced upon the Pharisees at the end of Christ’s ministry. They rejected Him and He is giving them final warnings and appeals. We can learn from them before returning to the details of prophecy about the antichrist.
Antichrist not to be imitated
“Then spoke Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses‘ seat: All therefore whatever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not you after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. But be not you called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all you are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be you called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” (Matthew 23:1-12)
Jesus uses interesting and unique language in this passage. He said the scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses‘ seat, but Moses did not have a seat. He was not a king nor a priest. He was a prophet who conveyed God’s messages from the mercy seat in the sanctuary. Jesus is using a symbol to warn us about antichrist.
Antichrist loves to be called Rabbi and Father and Master. Antichrist is not content with pointing the people to Moses‘ writings and the Old and New Testaments. Antichrist wants people to depend on him as the source of truth. Antichrist wants the king’s seat of power and the priest’s seat of judgment.
Antichrist first showed himself in the very beginning. Lucifer said, “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north.” (Isaiah 14:13) Now there are many.
Many antichrists
“Little children, it is the last time: and as you have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” (1 John 2:18) Satan’s desire to usurp God’s position is imitated by the “man of sin… the son of perdition; who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4)
In heaven, Lucifer sought to be called Rabbi and Master and Father. In the church, popes and priests and presidents and pastors have sought that same status of authority and power. Not content to point people to the writings of Moses and the prophets and apostles, frail humans have endeavored to become the sage source of truth for the masses. But there can be only One between the soul and the heavenly Father, “for there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:5)
“Anti” comes from the Greek and not only means opposite or against, but also “instead of” or “in the room of.” Antichrist opposes Christ by removing Him from the room and taking His place. Antichrist appears as the substitute for the Substitute, the mediator for the Mediator. Antichrist seeks to be the oracle, the sole channel of communication, between God and humans. Once dependency upon this false christ is established, then the words of God are replaced by the words of man. What at first appeared helpful is now tyrannical, for heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne are placed on people already weakened and defiled with guilt.
There are many antichrists “out there” in the world that deny God and Jesus, but that is well known. The real danger to souls is the antichrist in the church “that denies Jesus is the Christ” by elevating themselves to Rabbi or Master or Father. (1 John 2:22) Where ever there is a lack of faith in the power and Spirit of God there is a tendency for the human to replace the divine, under the guise of helping. Like Uzzah “steadying” the ark or Korah “sharing power” with Moses, feeble humans think God needs help. In both the Old and New Testaments, many have arisen in the church to master God’s church. Because God’s people look “out there” for the antichrist, they have unwittingly followed wolves in sheep’s clothing–antichrists clothed in Christian language but living unbiblical lives.
If we want to make sense of all the confusing, contradictory developments in church history, then we need to stop looking for monsters outside the church and instead look for substitute messiahs and replacement christs and human authorities inside God’s church. How do we identify these antichrists, of which there are many? By their fruit. By their principles. By their behavior. Antichrist has his anti-beatitudes, and these normal-sounding, but anti-Christian teachings are more pervasive than one might think. We find them throughout history. You might even find them in your own church.
Cursed are the good enough: for they resist the kingdom of heaven.
“But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you them that are entering to go in.” (23:13)
We look back with pity on the poor church members in the Dark Ages who paid their last coins and pilgrimaged long distances and flogged themselves with whips in order to feel forgiven and find atonement for their sins. They performed all these painful penances to find righteousness and worthiness to one day enter eternal life. And present day Christianity is not fundamentally different.
We think we have come a long way by taking the pain out of the process, but our reliance on a human process is still there. We have merely replaced works with words, replaced rituals with emotional experiences. Instead of magical ceremonies, we have magical words and songs and charismatic/mystical encounters. The formality and the pain has been reduced, but the superficial measures remain. Most Christians are no more converted, no more transformed in Christ, than their counterparts in the Dark Ages.
Rather than surrender the life to be led by the Spirit like the early apostles, millions join mega churches or engage in social activism or follow self-help, “heal thyself” authors and preachers. In our high-tech, commercialized religions we have found a way to feel comfortable professing Christianity without ever truly entering through the gate called, Poor in Spirit.
“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for” most church members “is that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes.” (Romans 10:1-4)
For centuries the pulpits have preached that obeying God’s law will not bestow righteousness. Therefore, the common Christian culture is to repeatedly sin and “repent”–like the abusive, alcoholic husband continually apologizing and continually returning to his habit.
Therefore, like the Dark Age Christian, we do something measurably good in one area of our life to “make up” for the evil areas. After all, the thinking goes, no one can actually be righteous so we will try not to be extremely wicked. This is where the philosophy comes from that we are merely to be good citizens in the church and society.
But, Jesus said, “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20) The scribes and Pharisees thought they were good enough. They thought they were reasonably doing what God reasonably expected of them. Should they love their enemies and give their shirts off their backs? No. God did not mean that literally. He just meant, Try. Should they do good to those who hate you and love everyone everywhere every time? No. Human nature is incapable of that and so God does not actually expect that. Jesus condemned this religion, because it was based on “good enough."
And that which feels good enough, sufficient enough, does not feel a need of supernatural power from Christ. The total, open ended commitment of the early church to give the gospel to the world at any and all cost to themselves, now degenerates into a human-based try-your-best behavior. Words like God and grace and Savior and faith have not disappeared, but the real-life expectation and understanding is that they are goals we are “striving for,” rather than experiences we presently possess or goals we can actually achieve.
The popular philosophy is this: Have you had a week of failures? Go to church and have a mystical, emotional experience to reassure yourself that you are spiritual. Have you sinned? Say you are sorry, but understand that you are only human and the cycle will repeat itself. Do you feel guilty? Listen to the Laodicean sermon (and give an offering!) and wrap yourself in the warm blanket of grace, but realize you will remain cold. Do you lack eternal assurance? Just believe!
Christianity is no longer a movement turning the world upside down by living the better way of the cross that starts with poverty of spirit. Rather, it has turned into the largest business ever of selling psychological platitudes, self-help tricks, and ready-made-rules-to-follow wrapped in Christian words.
The kingdom of heaven remains a mystery, because to enter it all the crutches and get-by methods must be left outside the gate. And since we are surviving as normal as can be expected, then we are good enough and God is pleased enough. Why ruin a good thing? Why rock a boat that does not feel like it is sinking? Grace, like duct tape, is holding us all together just fine! (Just don’t talk to our victims.)
Cursed are the unfeeling: for they shall one day howl in pain.
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you devour widows‘ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore you shall receive the greater damnation.” (23:14)
The cathedrals of Europe, with their lofty spires, ornate decorations, and painted ceilings, were built on the backs of peasant labor and paid for by the guilt money of the masses. They bought indulgences for their sins and were exhorted to give sacrificially. The church was enriched by impoverishing the worshipers.
“A great agitation prevailed at [the time before the Reformation] among the German people. The Church had opened a vast market upon earth. From the crowds of purchasers, and the shouts and jokes of the sellers, it might have been called a fair, but a fair conducted by monks. The merchandise that they were extolling, and which they offered at a reduced price, was, said they, the salvation of souls!
“These dealers traversed the country in a handsome carriage, accompanied by three horsemen, living in great state, and spending freely… One person in particular attracted the attention of the spectators at these sales… This man, the son of a Leipsic goldsmith name Diez, was known as John Diezel, or Tetzel… Numerous honors had been heaped upon his head. Bachelor of divinity, prior of the Dominicans, apostolic commissary, inquisitor (haereticae pravitatis inquisitor), he had from the year 1502 uninterruptedly filled the office of dealer in indulgences. The skill that he had acquired as subordinate had soon procured him the nomination as chief commissary.
“He received eighty florins a month; all his expenses were paid; a carriage and three horses were at his disposal; but his subsidiary profits, as may be easily imagined, far exceeded his stipend. In 1507 he gained at Friburg two thousand florins in two days. If he had the office of a [flamboyant deceiver], he possessed the manners also. Convicted at Inspruck of adultery and infamous conduct, his vices had nearly caused his death. The Emperor Maximilian had ordered him to be put into a sack and thrown into the river. The Elector Frederick of Saxony interfered and obtained his pardon…
“Shouted Tetzel, ‘Come and I will give you letters, all properly sealed, by which even the sins that you intend to commit may be pardoned… I would not change my privileges for those of St. Peter in heaven; for I have saved more souls by my indulgences than the apostle by his sermons.’
“Then seeking to make use of other arms besides, he added: ‘Do you know why our most Holy Lord distributes so rich a grace? It is to restore the ruined Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, so that it may not have its equal in the world. This Church contains the bodies of the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and those of a multitude of martyrs. These saintly bodies, through the present state of the building, are now, alas! beaten upon, inundated, polluted, dishonored, reduced to rottenness, by the rain and the hail Alas! shall these sacred ashes remain longer in the mire and in degradation?’
“When his speech was ended, he left the pulpit, ran towards the money-box, and in sight of all the people flung into it a piece of money, taking care that it should rattle loudly.” (D’Aubigne. History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century. Book 3, Ch. 1)
If only the Dark Ages had TV, Youtube, and Twitter, then we would see they were not so different than modern prosperity preachers who live in million dollar homes as evidence that God has blessed them, and if their middle to lower class congregations will only give a little more in faith then they too will receive financial blessings! One preacher with a net worth approaching ten million dollars begged his church for $50,000 for new rotors on his helicopter. It was for the kingdom!
One can argue how rich is too rich, but the problem remains that the rich and powerful, in the church and in the world, shape public opinion, theology, and priorities. They mourn, not for spiritual comfort, but for wealth, power, and prestige.
They cannot live the gospel preached by Him who said, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has not where to lay his head.” They cannot avoid the ultimate end of “the hypocrites: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.” (Matthew 8:20, 6:5)
We may not drive our luxury cars to our mega churches and ascend the pulpit to plead for more money, but do we value the decorations of the church more than feeding the homeless? Do we add all sorts of extra niceties to the local church budget rather than giving to third world missions? Are we supportive–to the point of giving all we have–of the ministries that preach the gospel to the poor and liberty to the captives? Long prayers and daily devotionals cannot atone for neglected duties and comfortable inequities. It is more blessed to give than to receive. It is more comforting to suffer the loss of worldly wealth than to lose Christ.
Cursed are those zealous to do evil: for they will inherit hell.
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you search sea and land to make one convert, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.” (23:15)
Both sides in the war of good versus evil have their evangelists, but it is the side against God and His word that trains converts to use force and violence in their work. Saul of Tarsus, who later became Paul the Apostle is a clear example. He was the opposite of meek.
“I truly thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them often in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities… I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests.” (Acts 26:9-12)
Centuries later, in the time of Luther, another conversion took place, but Ignatius Loyola’s was one of the common theology of the day that worshiped at the altar of visions and miracles.
“One day he [Ignatius] awakened as from a dream. Now I know, said he to himself, that all these torments are from the assaults of Satan. I am tossed between the promptings of the good Spirit, who would have me be at peace, and the dark suggestions of the evil one, who seeks continually to terrify me. I will have done with this warfare. I will forget my past life; I will open these wounds not again. Luther in the midst of tempests as terrible had come to a similar resolution. Awaking as from a frightful dream, he lifted up his eyes and saw One who had borne his sins upon His cross: and like the mariner who clings amid the surging billows to the rock, Luther was at peace because he had anchored his soul on an Almighty foundation. But says Ranke, speaking of Loyola and the course he had now resolved to pursue, ‘this was not so much the restoration of his peace as a resolution, it was an engagement entered into by the will rather than a conviction to which the submission of the will is inevitable. It required no aid from Scripture, it was based on the belief he entertained of an immediate connection between himself and the world of spirits. This would never have satisfied Luther. No inspirations, no visions would Luther admit; all were in his opinion alike injurious. He would have the simple, written, indubitable Word of God alone.’” (Wylie. History of Protestantism. Vol. 2, Book 15, Ch. 1)
Loyola dedicated his new life to the pope and founded the Jesuit order to combat the Reformation. Many have heard their dictum that the ends justify the means, but no less demoralizing was their doctrine of probabilism that let them excuse almost any decision.
“We are neither indulging in satire nor incurring the charge of false-witness-bearing in this picture of Jesuit theology. ‘A person may do what he considers allowable,’ says Emmanuel Sa, of the Society of Jesus, ‘according to a probable opinion, although the contrary may be the more probable one. The opinion of a single grave doctor is all that is requisite.’ A yet greater doctor, Filiutius, of Rome, confirms him in this. ‘It is allowable,’ says he, ‘to follow the less probable opinion, even though it be the less safe one. That is the common judgment of modern authors.’ ‘Of two contrary opinions,’ says Paul Laymann, ‘touching the legality or illegality of any human action, every one may follow in practice or in action that which he should prefer, although it may appear to the agent himself less probable in theory.’ he adds: ‘A learned person may give contrary advice to different persons according to contrary probable opinions, whilst he still preserves discretion and prudence.’ We may say with Pascal, ‘These Jesuit casuists give us elbow-room at all events!’” (Ibid. Chap. 4)
When society takes the Jesuit principles to their logical conclusion, any vice can be justified, and any measure to make the public conform can be supported, including the restoration of an inquisition.
What happened in the Middle Ages is happening in our day. Popular theologies declare, and personal principles imply, that God’s law is no longer binding and human nature is unable to obey. We are taught that the best we can do is try, but even that is cast aside after a while as a useless burden. Therefore, church and society sink lower and lower because they are separated from heaven, from the powerful grace of the Savior.
No Christian pulpit advocates extreme vice, but when we tear down God’s law, or change His law, or teach it is impossible to keep it, the effect is always the same: sin. Then when sin is indulged, it becomes addictive. Its influence spreads. Trends and fads descend lower than previous ones. Step by step, sometimes in leaps, popular belief and practice degenerates until good is called evil and evil is called good. The children of hell can longer tolerate those who live righteously.
Cursed are those who decorate the plate but don’t eat the meal: for they shall always be empty.
“Woe unto you, you blind guides, which say, whoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! You fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, whoevershall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. You fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Whoever therefore shall swear by the altar, swears by it, and by all things on it. And whoever shall swear by the temple, swears by it, and by him that dwells in it. And he that shall swear by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him that sits on it.” (23:16-22)
What good is the gold or the temple if God is not in it? What good is the gift or the altar if God has not prompted it? To hunger and thirst for righteousness is to hunger and thirst for right doing and right being, not for a mere symbol of those things. Too often we mistake the symbol for possessing the meaning behind it.
Many clutch rosaries and wear crucifix jewelry. Some genuflect before statues, while others display the Ten Commandments in the courthouse lobby. Yet, we still wait for a church to live the Word with power. The church of today is technologically more sophisticated, but spiritually not much different than the Dark Age church that gilded Bibles in gold while banning them.
The Index of Prohibited Books, which for centuries listed “non-approved Bibles,” existed as recently as 1966. One hundred years earlier, Pope Pius IX, in his encyclical Quanta Cura, issued a syllabus of eighty errors under ten different headings. Under Heading IV was: “communism, clandestine societies, bible societies… Pests of this sort must be destroyed by all possible means."
“As it has been clearly shown by experience that, if the Holy Bible in the vernacular is generally permitted without any distinction, more harm than utility is thereby caused… all versions in the vernacular, even by Catholics, are altogether prohibited, unless approved by the Holy See, or published, under the vigilant care of the bishops, with annotations taken from the Fathers of the Church and learned Catholic writers.
“All versions of the Holy Bible, in any vernacular language, made by non-Catholics are prohibited; and especially those published by the Bible societies, which have been more than once condemned by the Roman Pontiffs, because in them the wise laws of the Church concerning the publication of the sacred books are entirely disregarded.” (The Great Encyclical Letters Of Pope Leo XIII.)
This gives us a hint of why there was a ban on plain Bibles. Its words, but not meaning, could be published.
Yet we are supposed to be assured by this: “In our course of Humanities we listened every day to the reading of the Bible. When we were advanced to the higher branches of Philosophy and Theology the study of the Sacred Scriptures formed an important part of our education. We read, besides, every day a chapter of the New Testament, not standing or sitting, but on our knees, and then reverently kissed the inspired page. We listened at our meals each day to selections from the Bible, and we always carried about with us a copy of the New Testament.” (Gibbons. The Faith of Our Fathers. p. 94)
However, symbolic kneeling cannot erase centuries of censoring. During the Reformation, “The Archbishop of Paris had compiled a list of works which the faithful could not read but at the risk of deadly injury. With this list in his hand the officer entered every suspected house, and whenever he found a forbidden book he instantly destroyed it. These visits were repeated so often that many books of rare value, known to have then existed, are now extinct, not one copy having escaped. The records of Synods, and the private papers and books of pastors, were the first to be destroyed. Wherever a Bible was found it was straightway given to the flames.” (Wylie. History of Protestantism. Vol. 3, Book 22, Ch. 6)
“We prohibit laymen possessing copies of the old and new testament… We forbid them most severely to have the above books in the popular vernacular.” (Council of Toulouse. 1229ad)
If the church was so supportive of the Bible, then why did it not invest in education and copies for the masses, rather than gold plated cathedrals? Why were parts of the Bible found in dozens, even hundreds of languages in the early centuries, but as the Dark Ages progressed, the only language allowed was Latin?
The answer is found in today’s catechism: “The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him.” (Catechism Of The Catholic Church. para. 100)
As with Catholic pope and priest, so with Protestant pastor and scholar–“Let the common person have a Bible (the symbol looks good), but they must believe and obey our meaning.”
Cursed are those who strain at gnats: for they will be forced to swallow camels.
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought you to have done, and not to leave the other undone. You blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.” (23:23-24)
It is not only the right, but the sacred duty of a church to maintain its doctrinal purity. The Christian church is about Christ. When a member disrupts that purpose and culture Scripture calls for discipline.
“If your brother shall trespass against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone: if he shall hear you you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear you then take with you one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto you as a heathen man and a publican.” (Matthew 18:15-17)
How is the church to treat the heathen and publicans? “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” (Matt. 5:44)
“And it came to pass, when the time was come that [Jesus] should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, will you that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elijah did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, You know not what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” (Luke 9:51-56)
When the apostle Paul dealt with unruly influences, he put them out of the church. “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.” (1 Timothy 1:19-20)
Having established these facts, we now turn our attention to the crusades. I am not referring to those horrors of warfare against the Muslims in Jerusalem, Constantinople, and other places in the middle ages. How are you as a missionary supposed to win the confidence of one whose people are under attack by your church? No, I am referring to those crusades launched against innocent, well-reputed citizens in Europe itself. One of those people were the Waldenses. They were the gnat in the political-religious empire that was mistreated with a sledge hammer.
“The Waldenses stand apart and alone in the Christian world. Their place on the surface of Europe is unique; their position in history is not less unique; and the end appointed them to fulfill is one which has been assigned to them alone, no other people being permitted to share it with them. The Waldenses bear a twofold testimony. Like the snow-clad peaks amid which their dwelling is placed, which look down upon the plains of Italy on the one side, and the provinces of France on the other, this people stand equally related to primitive ages and modern times, and give by no means equivocal testimony respecting both Rome and the Reformation. If they are old, then Rome is new; if they are pure, then Rome is corrupt; and if they have retained the faith of the apostles, it follows incontestably that Rome has departed from it. That the Waldensian faith and worship existed many centuries before Protestantism arose is undeniable; the proofs and monuments of this fact lie scattered over all the histories and all the lands of mediaeval Europe; but the antiquity of the Waldenses is the antiquity of Protestantism. The Church of the Reformation was in the loins of the Waldensian Church ages before the birth of Luther; her first cradle was placed amid those terrors and sublimities, those ice-clad peaks and great bulwarks of rock. In their dispersions over so many lands–-over France, the Low Countries, Germany, Poland, Bohemia, Moravia, England, Calabria, Naples-–the Waldenses sowed the seeds of that great spiritual revival which, beginning in the days of Wycliffe, and advancing in the times of Luther and Calvin, awaits its full consummation in the ages to come...
“The Persecutions of this remarkable people form one of the most heroic pages of the Church’s history. These persecutions, protracted through many centuries, were endured with a patience, a constancy, a bravery honorable to the Gospel, as well as to those simple people, whom the Gospel converted into heroes and martyrs. Their resplendent virtues illumined the darkness of their age; and we turn with no little relief from a Christendom sunk in barbarism and superstition to this remnant of an ancient people, who here in their mountain-engirdled territory practiced the simplicity, the piety, and the heroism of a better age...
“It was the year 1487. A great blow was meditated. The process of purging the Valleys languished. Pope Innocent VIII, who then filled the Papal chair, remembered how his renowned namesake, Innocent III, by an act of summary vengeance, had swept the Albigensian heresy from the south of France. Imitating the rigor of his predecessor, he would purge the Valleys as effectually and as speedily as Innocent III had done the plains of Dauphine and Provence.
“The first step of the Pope was to issue a bull, denouncing as heretical those whom he delivered over to slaughter. This bull, after the manner of all such documents, was expressed in terms as sanctimonious as its spirit was inexorably cruel. It brings no charge against these men, as lawless, idle, dishonest, or disorderly; their fault was that they did not worship as Innocent worshipped, and that they practiced a “simulated sanctity,” which had the effect of seducing the sheep of the true fold, therefore he orders “that malicious and abominable sect of malignants,” if they “refuse to abjure, to be crushed like venomous snakes.”...
“The joint army numbered about 18,000 regular soldiers. This force was swelled by the thousands of ruffians, already mentioned, drawn together by the spiritual and temporal rewards to be earned in this work of combined piety and pillage...
“This portion of the crusaders was led by a daring and cruel man, skilled in such adventures, the Lord of La Palu. He ascended the mountains with his fanatics, and entered the Vale of Loyse, a deep gorge overhung by towering mountains. The inhabitants, seeing an armed force, twenty times their own number, enter their valley, despaired of being able to resist them, and prepared for flight. They placed their old people and children in rustic carts, together with their domestic utensils, and such store of victuals as the urgency of the occasion permitted them to collect, and driving their herds before them, they began to climb the rugged slopes of Mount Pelvoux, which rises some six thousand feet over the level of the valley. They sang canticles as they climbed the steeps, which served at once to smooth their rugged path, and to dispel their terrors. Not a few were overtaken and slaughtered, and theirs was, perhaps, the happier lot.
About halfway up there is an immense cavern, called Aigue-Froid, from the cold springs that gush out from its rocky walls. In front of the cavern is a platform of rock, where the spectator sees beneath him only fearful precipices, which must be clambered over before one can reach the entrance of the grotto. The roof of the cave forms a magnificent arch, which gradually subsides and contracts into a narrow passage, or throat, and then widens once more, and forms a roomy hall of irregular form. Into this grotto, as into an impregnable castle, did the Vaudois enter. Their women, infants, and old men they placed in the inner hall; their cattle and sheep they distributed along the lateral cavities of the grotto. The able-bodied men posted themselves at the entrance. Having barricaded with huge stones both the doorway of the cave and the path that led to it, they deemed themselves secure. They had provisions to last, Cataneo says in his “Memoirs”, “two years;” and it would cost them little effort to hurl headlong down the precipices, any one who should attempt to scale them in order to reach the entrance of the cavern.
But a device of their pursuer rendered all these precautions and defenses vain. La Palu ascended the mountain on the other side, and approaching the cave from above, let down his soldiers by ropes from the precipice that overhangs the entrance of the grotto. The platform in front was thus secured by his soldiers. The Vaudois might have cut the ropes, and dispatched their foes as they were being lowered one by one, but the boldness of the maneuver would seem to have paralyzed them. They retreated into the cavern to find in it their grave. La Palu saw the danger of permitting his men to follow them into the depths of their hiding-place. He adopted the easier and safer method of piling up at its entrance all the wood he could collect and setting fire to it. A huge volume of black smoke began to roll into the cave, leaving to the unhappy inmates the miserable alternative of rushing out and falling by the sword that waited for them, or of remaining in the interior to be stifled by the murky vapor. Some rushed out, and were massacred; but the greater part remained till death slowly approached them by suffocation. “When the cavern was afterwards examined,” says Muston, “there were found in it 400 infants, suffocated in their cradles, or in the arms of their dead mothers. Altogether there perished in this cavern more than 3,000 Vaudois, including the entire population of Val Loyse. Cataneo distributed the property of these unfortunates among the vagabonds who accompanied him, and never again did the Vaudois Church raise its head in these bloodstained valleys.”” (Wylie, The History of the Waldenses, ch. 1, 2)
This was no isolated incident, no accidental mistake of the times. These crusades continued for hundreds of years, not only against the Waldenses, but against any other sect deemed heretical to the establishment. Blind guides indeed!
Cursed are the impure in heart: for they pollute everything they touch.
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. You blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.” (23:25-26)
Woe after woe, the audience probably felt that Jesus was harshly tearing into the church leadership. As He increased the pointed condemnations the people may have thought He was tearing down the whole Jewish nation, but the Savior knew that Nicodemus was among the Pharisees. He knew that soon a “great company of the priests” would be “obedient to the faith.” Yet, Jesus wanted the people to not rely on leadership for truth. They must understand that any religious leader can look good on the outside while denying God on the inside. As we have seen, this can happen in the Dark Ages, but it can also take place in this age of light.
“In 1986, evangelist Jimmy Swaggart began on-screen attacks against fellow televangelists Marvin Gorman and Jim Bakker. He uncovered Gorman’s affair with a member of Gorman’s congregation, and also helped expose Bakker’s infidelity (which was arranged by a colleague while on an out-of-state trip). These exposures received widespread media coverage. Gorman retaliated in kind by hiring a private investigator to uncover Swaggart’s own adulterous indiscretions with a prostitute. Swaggart was subsequently forced to step down from his pulpit for a year and made a tearful televised apology in February 1988 to his congregation, saying, ‘I have sinned against you, my Lord, and I would ask that your precious blood would wash and cleanse every stain until it is in the seas of God's forgiveness.’
“Swaggart was caught again by California police three years later in 1991 with another prostitute, Rosemary Garcia, who was riding with him in his car when he was stopped for driving on the wrong side of the road. When asked why she was with Swaggart, she replied, ‘He asked me for sex. I mean, that’s why he stopped me. That’s what I do. I’m a prostitute.’…
“Robert Tilton is an American televangelist who achieved notoriety in the 1980s and early 1990s through his paid television program Success-N-Life. At its peak it aired in all 235 American TV markets. In 1991, Diane Sawyer and ABC News conducted an investigation of Tilton. The investigation, broadcast on ABC’s Primetime Live on November 21, 1991, found that Tilton’s ministry threw away prayer requests without reading them, keeping only the money or valuables sent to them by viewers, garnering his ministry an estimated $80 million USD a year. In the original investigation, one of Tilton’s former prayer hotline operators claimed that the ministry cared little for desperate followers who called for prayer, saying that Tilton had a computer installed in July 1989 to make sure that the phone operators were off the line in seven minutes. Tilton sued ABC for libel in 1992, but the case was dismissed in 1993, and Tilton’s show was off the air by October 30, 1993…
“A self-proclaimed prophet and faith healer in the 1980s, Peter Popoff’s ministry went bankrupt in 1987 after magician and skeptic James Randi and Steve Shaw debunked his methods by showing that instead of receiving information about audience members from supernatural sources, he received it through an in-ear receiver.” (Thefullwiki.org/List_of_Christian_ evangelist_scandals)
The scandals of these religious leaders was made public suddenly, but their falls did not occur over night. They gradually acquired new habits and new perspectives. The heart was turned away more and more from God to the pleasures of the world. A front was maintained for their audiences, but God saw through that. During that time they had strong influence socially and doctrinally. Regularly, there are leaders now molesting children, committing adultery with other men’s wives, and embezzling money. God promises that there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed. While wolves in sheep’s clothing rob from the coffers and degrade the sensibilities of the church, we are to be vigilant and compare actions and teachings to the Word.
Cursed are the religious hypocrites: for they are the most dangerous people.
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” (23:27-28)
Space does not permit to tell all the sordid details of scandals of popular televangelists and popes, and of ordinary pastors and priests. It would be nice to write these off as small exceptions, but, sadly, there is a pattern throughout history of hypocrites affecting the good people and theology of the church. I will share just one example here.
You may have read the story of Jon Huss in The Great Controversy. Some people accuse Ellen White of bigotry and harshness (I thought the same thing when I first read her history), but research shows that she presents a very sanitized version of church history. Here is her description of Pope John XXIII.
“To cure the evils that were distracting Europe, a general council was summoned to meet at Constance. The council was called at the desire of the emperor Sigismund, by one of the three rival popes, John XXIII. The demand for a council had been far from welcome to Pope John, whose character and policy could ill bear investigation, even by prelates as lax in morals as were the churchmen of those times.” (GC 104)
“He had been proved before the council to be guilty of the basest crimes, besides murder, simony, and adultery, ‘sins not fit to be named.’ So the council itself declared, and he was finally deprived of the tiara and thrown into prison…
“Though the pope himself had been guilty of greater crimes than Huss had ever charged upon the priests, and for which he had demanded a reformation, yet the same council which degraded the pontiff proceeded to crush the Reformer.” (GC 107)
After reading those paragraphs one might think that a council of holy men were combating a heretic on one hand and a singular depraved leader on the other, but the council itself was depraved.
“The Constantine council was characterized by Baptiza, one of its own members. His portrait is frightful. The clergy, he declared, ‘were nearly all under the power of the devil, and mocked all religion by external devotion and Pharisean hypocrisy. The [clergy], actuated only by malice, iniquity, pride, vanity, ignorance, lasciviousness, avarice, pomp, simony, and dissimulation, had exterminated Catholicism and extinguished piety.'
“The character of the holy bishops, indeed, appear from their company. More than seven hundred PUBLIC WOMEN, according to Dachery’s account, attended the sacred synod. The Vienna manuscript reckons the number of these female attendants, whom it calls vagrant prostitutes, at 1500. This was a fair supply for the thousand holy fathers who constituted the Constantian assembly. These courtesans, says Brays, were, in appearance, intended to exercise the chastity of the clergy. Their company, no doubt, contributed to the entertainment of the learned divines and introduced great variety into their amusements.
“The council of Basil taught the theory of filthiness, as that of Constance had exhibited the practice. Carlerius, the champion of Catholicism in the Basilian assembly against Nicholas the Bohemian heretic, advocated the propriety of tolerating [brothels] in a city. This hopeful and holy thesis the hero of the faith supported by the authority of the sainted Augustine and Aquinas. Remove prostitutes, says Augustine as cited by Carlerius, ‘and you will disturb all things with licentiousness.’ Human government, says Aquinas, quoted by the same orator, ‘should imitate the divine. But God, according to the saint, permits some evils in the universe, and therefore, so should man.’ His saintship’s logic is nearly as good as his morality. Simple fornication, therefore, concludes Carlerius, is to be permitted to avoid a greater evil. This severe moralist, however, would exclude these courtesans from the interior of the city, and confine them to the suburbs, to serve as sewers to carry away the filth.” (The Variations of Popery. Samuel Edgar. 1855. Vol. 1, p. 199)
In short, the theory of Basil applied at Constance was that priests should use prostitutes so that wives and children and other innocents would not be harmed. Centuries of hypocrisy developed a philosophy of hypocrisy which developed a degenerate culture. The 30 foot statue of Imperia the prostitute remains to this day in Constance as a memorial to that council.
“John was deposed by the council, and upon his return he was tried for heresy, simony, schism and immorality, and found guilty on all counts.” [over 200!] (Wikipedia, Antipope John XXIII) The pope took hypocrisy “too far” and was imprisoned. Huss called for its elimination and was burned. Thus, the harlot-infused council approved of hypocrisy in moderation.
Cursed are they who persecute: for they refuse the kingdom of heaven.
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore you be witnesses unto yourselves, that you are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill you up then the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them you shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall you scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom you slew between the temple and the altar. Truly I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.” (23:29-36)
In 2004, Pope John Paul II apologized.
“The institution of the Inquisition has been abolished...the children of the Church cannot but return with a spirit of repentance to ‘the acquiescence given, especially in certain centuries, to intolerance and even the use of violence in the service of the truth.’
“This spirit of repentance, it is clear, entails a firm determination to seek in the future ways to bear witness to the truth that are in keeping with the Gospel.“ (JOHN PAUL II, From the Vatican, 15 June 2004)
After quoting the above, a modern Catholic apologist said, “The Inquisition tortures and deaths were wrong, dead wrong!” Thus, they admit today’s church is the descendant “of them which killed the prophets.”
Yet the lesson does not seem to be fully learned. The writer goes on to equate teaching heresy with shooting people.
“If someone went out into your street and started shooting people, including your kids, you wouldn’t say, “let him go ahead and do it, people can protect themselves...it’s their own fault if they are shot to death.” The Church was very worried that people who were influenced by these heresies were going to spend eternity in hell. Common people of the middle ages had no intellectual defense with which they could make a reasonable judgment about the Truth. They were almost as vulnerable to the heresies that were sweeping through communities as a person standing in front of a gun is today. Except a lot more than their lives was at stake, their eternal lives were in jeopardy.
“During the Inquisition, no one was punished for simply believing a heresy. The crime was teaching it, and leading others astray. The Church felt it was their job to protect the souls of the innocent. In hindsight, the Church understands that it would have done better by not using force, which is why Pope John Paul II made his apology.” (Catholicbridge.com/catholic/ inquisition.php)
Wrong. People were tortured and killed for just believing, for just listening, for just having books. New ideas were dangerous because “people thought differently in those days. Human rights, freedom of conscience, religious freedom and pluralism were concepts that grew out of experience and maturity of society and through doctrinal maturity… Christianity of the time was a political religious system.” That is why applying the basic Biblical principle of do unto others as you would have them do unto you was so difficult.
And now I will let the Catholics accurately summarize the Protestants. It will show just how low and how far from Scripture the general thinking was.
“Luther and Calvin both endorsed the right of the state to protect society by purging false religion. In fact, Calvin not only banished from Geneva those who did not share his views, he permitted and in some cases ordered others to be executed for “heresy” (e.g. Jacques Gouet, tortured and beheaded in 1547; and Michael Servetus, burned at the stake in 1553). In England and Ireland, Reformers engaged in their own ruthless inquisitions and executions. Conservative estimates indicate that thousands of English and Irish Catholics were put to death–many by being hanged, drawn, and quartered–for practicing the Catholic faith and refusing to become Protestant. An even greater number were forced to flee to the Continent for their safety. We point this out to show that the situation was a two-way street; and both sides easily understood the Bible to require the use of penal sanctions to root out false religion from Christian society.” (catholic.com/tract/the-inquisition)
This was the spirit of the Catholic and Protestant church fathers–the fathers who made the theology that shapes the churches today. This does not mean everything they taught was wrong, but it proves they are unworthy of being considered authorities. Which means no human has authority to persecute another human for what they believe, teach, or practice.
When the salt loses its flavor and the people of light prefer darkness, then they must be abandoned: for they glorify their father, the devil.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets, and stone them which are sent unto you; how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, You shall not see me from now on until you shall say, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.” (23:37-39)
God has repeatedly shown His reluctant willingness to bring to pass “His act, His strange act,” even against His own people. Sometimes things get so bad, that a reset is needed. Adam and Eve were exiled from Eden. The whole antediluvian world was wiped out. The tower of Babel was destroyed and its people scattered. Israel was enslaved in Egypt, banished to the wilderness for 40 years, and sent into Babylonian captivity. The Hebrew nation was replaced by the Christian church. Catholicism was reformed by Protestantism. The Protestant churches are warned and encouraged by the remnant of 144,000 who preach the three angels’ messages.
God has indebted Himself to an onlooking universe and world to take all necessary steps to complete His mission of redemption. At infinite cost to Himself, the Father raises up a people, and then, if need be, He raises up another generation to advance the work one step further. Until He comes, why should we expect this pattern to stop? Who dares to consider themselves irreplaceable? Only the deceitfulness of sin props us up in a false sense of self-importance.
One of the most piercing passages I have ever read applies the destruction of Jerusalem in 70a.d. to the church and the world at the end of time. Unsalty salt must be trashed. Light turned dark must be ended.
“Looking down the ages, He saw the covenant people scattered in every land, “like wrecks on a desert shore.” In the temporal retribution about to fall upon her children, He saw but the first draft from that cup of wrath which at the final judgment she must drain to its dregs. Divine pity, yearning love, found utterance in the mournful words: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” O that thou, a nation favored above every other, hadst known the time of thy visitation, and the things that belong unto thy peace! I have stayed the angel of justice, I have called thee to repentance, but in vain. It is not merely servants, delegates, and prophets, whom thou hast refused and rejected, but the Holy One of Israel, thy Redeemer. If thou art destroyed, thou alone art responsible. “Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life." Matthew 23:37; John 5:40.
“Christ saw in Jerusalem a symbol of the world hardened in unbelief and rebellion, and hastening on to meet the retributive judgments of God. The woes of a fallen race, pressing upon His soul, forced from His lips that exceeding bitter cry. He saw the record of sin traced in human misery, tears, and blood; His heart was moved with infinite pity for the afflicted and suffering ones of earth; He yearned to relieve them all. But even His hand might not turn back the tide of human woe; few would seek their only Source of help. He was willing to pour out His soul unto death, to bring salvation within their reach; but few would come to Him that they might have life.
“The Majesty of heaven in tears! the Son of the infinite God troubled in spirit, bowed down with anguish! The scene filled all heaven with wonder. That scene reveals to us the exceeding sinfulness of sin; it shows how hard a task it is, even for Infinite Power, to save the guilty from the consequences of transgressing the law of God. Jesus, looking down to the last generation, saw the world involved in a deception similar to that which caused the destruction of Jerusalem. The great sin of the Jews was their rejection of Christ; the great sin of the Christian world would be their rejection of the law of God, the foundation of His government in heaven and earth. The precepts of Jehovah would be despised and set at nought. Millions in bondage to sin, slaves of Satan, doomed to suffer the second death, would refuse to listen to the words of truth in their day of visitation. Terrible blindness! strange infatuation!“ (White, Great Controversy, p.22)
In Jeremiah’s day, the stubborn people of God trusted “in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD are these.” They trusted in the temple of the Lord, but they did not trust and obey the Lord of the temple. False religion is the most dangerous spiritual influence because it has the outer cloak of what is true. Just as antichrist has the word “christ” in it, so the sheep’s clothing has a wolf in it. Just as antichrist has no meaning outside the Christian church, so we must look for antichrist in the church. The patterns in prophecy and the Beatitudes both point us there.
But let us not end on a negative note. The prophetic and Beatitude patterns also point us to Christ, the Son of God, the Infinite One, the Savior who started, maintains, and will end this quarantine at great cost to Himself. When we reads the Bible through the lense of these patterns, a whole new consistently good life opens before our eyes. Light shines in the darkness. Hope springs forth bright and beautiful. Truth paints a picture of eternal glory and goodness.
Faith, hope, and love have led us on a fantastic journey to an Infinite Good Person who speaks to us through Scripture and shows us what is behind the scenes. Antichrist will be revealed in due time. What is absolutely essential now is to become one with the Father, Son, and Spirit that we may live as peaceful children in their presence. May you find that eternal joy is the prayer of this author.
I was born and raised in Chicago during the turbulent 60’s to religious and political activists. My earliest memories include both racial harmony and violence. Among the tightly packed townhouses I learned to walk and ride a bike.
Chicago and its suburbs is a big place. I spent years there. The only time I ever left it was to drive to another city. I could not imagine–I did not want to imagine–living anywhere else. Nature repulsed me and made me nervous. It was nothing but the empty space that had to be endured while driving to another city. I literally could not stand it. I think it was something like the opposite of claustrophobia where I could not handle lots of open, quiet space.
The city has lights, action, lots to do, lots to distract, lots of man-made stuff to keep a person from ever experiencing real peace. My parents sometimes talked about moving to the country, but I had a plan to run away on the day the moving truck arrived. They would have to stick to the schedule and would have no time to come looking for me!
This artificial, city lifestyle views the world through manmade processes and objects. We must surround ourselves with concrete, metal, glass, and lights to feel safe. We must exert lots of time, effort, and money to maintain stability. The side effect of this worldview is that we don’t need to feel God. Some continue to worship Him, but often in an idolistic, impersonal way.
By the time I was in 6th grade, I had come to the conclusion that God was dead. 2000 years ago, according to my little New Testament, He lived, but not now. Now He was dead. It was my logical conclusion based on my city observations. I was not an agnostic with doubts. I was a firmly convinced atheist because I could not see God nor feel the need for God.
But at that very time, the “dead” God started a chain of events that would bring me life. My dad enrolled my brothers and I in Cub Scouts, then graduated to Boy Scouts. This meant we could go on the weekend camporees in the small nature areas at the edge of the suburbs. They were lots of fun with challenging activities, lots to eat, and late nights talking in the tent. After a year of that, we were given the opportunity to spend a week during the summer at the big scout camp in the middle of the Wisconsin pine forest.
I enjoyed the time there so much that I saved up all my paper route money to buy a second week the next year. I was getting hooked on this amazing, vast thing called, Nature.
After years of threatening, near the end of my 8th grade year, my parents finally moved us to ten acres in southern Illinois sandwiched between the edge of a small town and a state park. We had to move in stages, and I volunteered to be first. Returning to Chicago every other weekend now felt claustrophobic!
180 degrees. Complete reversal. What a transformation! The types of places in nature that had caused me pain just a few years before, now gave me comfort and assurance. I was unwittingly prepared to enter my turbulent, torturous years of high school and spiritual discovery. For a period of about three and a half years, my only escape was the forests and bluffs stretching out from our property. From cutting firewood to quiet meditations to tearful sessions of stress relief, nature sustained my sanity. Green ash and sugar maples, birds and squirrels were a part of my comfort.
I am a firm believer in the power of God through nature because it changed me. And that change on a physical and emotional level would give me the strength and comfort to make the spiritual changes I needed to make. Nature did not convert me, but it put me in a mind-space where I could be transformed.
Looking back on my life, and on many stories from others, I never cease to be amazed by the intricate steps that God plans for us. He does not merely have a goal or wish for us, but He orchestrates the details so carefully, so craftily, that we are gradually led to embrace that which we previously avoided. My story starts in my freshman year, when I was about 14.
My English teacher assigned a research paper, so I chose Edgar Cayce, a 1940’s psychic, as my topic. Long after the paper was turned in, a strange thing he said at the end of one of his books stuck with me, “Go to church and read the Bible.” That puzzled me, but awakened an old curiosity to understand Revelation, with all of its symbols and cryptic wording. I still had no thoughts of God, but I wanted to solve the puzzle.
I asked my dad if he had anything on his many shelves from his days of book reviewing. He said, “No. Revelation is a sealed book. Not even the church can understand it."
I interpreted that to mean, I’m on my own. However, I did find Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey on one of his shelves and that led me to more books at the library where I learned about the secret rapture and the seven years of tribulation that would follow. (I would later learn these were mistaken.) My war gaming brother and I drew many maps of how Russia might invade Israel. I seemed to understand.
However, I had a major problem. When I was reading the books, everything seemed to make sense. When I closed the books (literally) and opened the Bible, I just could not see it anymore. The hop, skip, and jump method of Bible interpretation was not working. So back to the library I went.
This time the card catalog led me to a book by Uriah Smith, a Victorian age author who detailed the history of Daniel and Revelation verse by verse. He obviously had some now outdated views, but there was one very odd thing that mystified me. I could tell the author was a Christian, but he wrote about a seventh day Sabbath. I kind of knew that the Jews had one, but I could not figure out why a Christian was talking about it.
Yet another trip to the library led me to a book from which I quoted earlier:
“Christ saw in Jerusalem a symbol of the world hardened in unbelief and rebellion, and hastening on to meet the retributive judgments of God. The woes of a fallen race, pressing upon His soul, forced from His lips that exceeding bitter cry. He saw the record of sin traced in human misery, tears, and blood; His heart was moved with infinite pity for the afflicted and suffering ones of earth; He yearned to relieve them all. But even His hand might not turn back the tide of human woe; few would seek their only Source of help. He was willing to pour out His soul unto death, to bring salvation within their reach; but few would come to Him that they might have life.
“The Majesty of heaven in tears! the Son of the infinite God troubled in spirit, bowed down with anguish! The scene filled all heaven with wonder. That scene reveals to us the exceeding sinfulness of sin; it shows how hard a task it is, even for Infinite Power, to save the guilty from the consequences of transgressing the law of God.” (White, Great Controversy, p.22)
The scales dropped off my eyes. In a split second, everything came together for me. Years of frustration, observations, and failed thinking all merged into one clarifying concept–choice. The world does not see God because the world rejects God. Every choice we make opens a door and closes all others.
Choice! Independent choice. That element of freedom I valued so much in myself I now saw in other people, in history, and most of all, in God. Omnipotence was not toying with tiny creatures, He was treating us with nobility and respect. He was letting us choose, and letting us learn to choose by experiencing consequences. Evil and suffering was not God’s fault. It was caused by selfish, short sighted choices.
In a flash I saw the heart of God. I saw that He was a Person. I saw that He was alive and active after all. He was choosing us, but we were not choosing Him.
Then I saw Jesus! He was standing before me on the other side of the table where I was sitting. I connected. I understood. For a minute I caught the vision or, at least, the kernel of the vision. Now I wanted to study God. I wanted to know who He really was. I wanted to know if He really was.
Prophecy was no longer my goal. God was my goal. Prophecy was now just a tool. In the months to come, I read voraciously. For the first time, I was developing a worldview, a cosmic view of God, life, and eternity. And I wanted it in all of its beauty and power.
From abandoning God to wanting God, I had done a 180. The motivation of my research was no longer mere curiosity, but a real spiritual desire to know the Person of the universe.
Like the woman at the well, once I desired the gift, I needed to be tested and examined and revealed to myself. One does not simply waltz into the kingdom. One is prepared. And who better to help in the refinement and appreciation process than my own fearsome father.
I wrote a paper about my fledgling beliefs. I also felt convicted to stop working in my dad’s office on Saturdays. I gave that paper to my parents.
I soon discovered that I had accidentally unleashed a missile aimed at destroying my dad’s entire lifework. Did I know that beforehand? Of course not, but I did by the time our talk–interrogation, lecture, threatening session–was over. To my dad, I was not an eager student in awe of new truths learned. I was a threat. Grand horizons and hopeful vistas are upsetting to those who must have micromanaged control of their fiefdoms. But at that time, I did not understand that.
I was too naive.
That day my tyrant dad did more for me than he ever realized. With three simple questions he turned my world upside down and inside out. It would take years for me to recover, but in the end I would emerge stronger–strong enough to endure being disowned from my own family. He asked me, 1) Do you think you are right and your father is wrong? 2) Do you think you are right and the whole church is wrong? 3) Do you think you are right and the whole world is wrong?
I was speechless. I could not think. My thoughts spun off in all directions at once. I had no answers. I never considered it that way before. To say something is right implies all other options are wrong. In three short questions, my dad set the world against me and me against the world. For the next few years I was in a tiny psychological corner, unsure, intimidated, alone, unwilling and undaring to share my thoughts with anyone.
Back then, I could not have explained to you what being poor in spirit meant, but I felt it. I was inadequate and exposed, in need of help and in need of truth.
I researched and I studied and I read entire library book shelves on history, religion, science, psychology, philosophy. Whatever connection my brain made with my reading I followed it. I tore down my tiny belief system to the ground and started from scratch. I questioned everything. I had seen something beautiful and inspiring and I had to know if it was real or if it was me deceiving myself. I was not prepared to live or die for a fantasy, nor did I want to hurt or mislead others, but if what I had seen was true, then I wanted it with all I was worth. I did not trust my dad, myself, or anyone else. I was intimidated by my own questions. I could only trust strong, solid evidence, and that is what I had to find.
Evidence can be tricky. How much is enough? What is high quality and what is low quality? Facts can be twisted and re-arranged depending on who is doing the reporting. Anyone can preach. Anyone can write a book. Anyone can now post on the internet. What is truly trustworthy and what is not? One must research the evidence behind the evidence. Digging down to bedrock is really the only option. Courage is the only proper response when the shovel can dig no further.
I have been through a mini time of trouble and my goal in this book is to supply the intellectual and spiritual foundation to keep the reader from being washed away, not only by every wind of doctrine, but by the storm that rages inside the mind when the soul finally comes face to face with overwhelming trial and persecution. The first step in preparation is realizing our need, our inadequacy, our ignorance, our laziness and false confidence.
This means knowing the truth, knowing that I know the truth, and knowing that I know it because I got it from God, not other people. The poor in spirit are given the kingdom of heaven because they know nothing on earth can solve their heart and mind problem.
Proof that will force everyone to believe and agree on everything, or just one thing, does not exist. I cannot depend on someone else’s conviction. I must understand, trust, and practice truth so well for myself that I can be convinced even when no one else is. Even more than conviction, I need to see, know, and touch the reality of truth, the solidness of truth, so that I am actually believing the truth, not trusting in the power of my own convictions. I trust only truth, not my faith in the truth.
I sit alone in the prison of my mind.
Today they asked me questions
that I couldn’t answer,
not even to myself.
That is the most scariest of all.
I thought I knew.
Now I’m not sure.
In the easy times
I assumed God was on my side,
but where is He now?
I know I’m supposed to be faithful,
but I’m not full of faith.
I really don’t know how to trust.
O Lord help me!
I have no oil in my lamp.
I am cold and empty.
I wish I could do things over.
“The harvest is past,
the summer is ended,
and I am not saved.“
There is still one more point that must be made here. It is vital to know the truth, yet it is not enough. We also need the Power to live and proclaim the truth.
After almost two years of intense and exhaustive study, I came to the conclusion that the Bible is the best explanation and guidebook for life. A series of events led to a family council to decide my fate. I had not expected this move. Everybody was irritated with me, thought I was crazy, and blamed me for all the conflict. At the end of it, my dad asked me if I was still going to persist with my strange Biblical views.
I knew in my heart I should. I wanted to do. There was no other better or even equal option. Yet, I was cornered and powerless. I felt myself slip backwards inside myself, as if retreating. It was almost like someone else operated my mouth and said something like, “I don’t know. I’m not sure. I guess I give up."
Whatever I said, it was a lie. And I knew it. I knew it then and I know it now. I simply did not have the power nor the courage to tell the truth.
I dropped into total depression and discouragement. I could not please God nor my parents, but somehow I was supposed to. I began developing ulcers and spent long hours in the woods crying. I contemplated suicide three times but knew too much about death and judgment to consider that as a serious option. My morals degraded as I sank lower and lower in despair. I prayed every night, God don’t let me die; I know I’m not ready.
To fail to live up to what you know plunges you farther downhill than you ever thought possible. That was a period of my life that I never want to relive and don’t want any of my readers to ever experience. Better to test yourself, even if you fail, in the easy times so you can learn and recover, because if you fail in the hard times it is almost impossible to come back–not because God closes the door but because our own panic, confusion, and discouragement closes the door.
It was a crisp fall day under a deep blue sky at the Southern Illinois University arena. I sat on the hill looking south into the sun and wondered what I wanted to do. I had just turned 18 but I felt like an old man with no energy or desire. My pit was so deep that I really didn’t know if I wanted to climb out of it. My dad said as long as I was under 18 and lived in his house, I would do and think as I was told. I was old enough to be free, but I honestly wondered if I even cared.
Then a marvelous thing happened. I felt God near on my right and Satan near on my left. Then God pushed Satan back and God Himself stepped back. I was left all alone in my own empty space in the middle. No pressure or influence from anyone, it was my decision.
I first decided that I wanted out of the middle. I was going full speed in one direction or the other. I would grab all the gusto I could get (according to a popular beer commercial at the time) on my way to hell, or I would suffer whatever it took to get to heaven. Which did I really want to do?
It took a while. I’m not sure how long. I got up from the grass, walked across a parking lot, and made a call on the pay phone. A contact of a contact put me in contact with a graduate student and his wife, Lester and Anne Morrow. We started Bible studies together. I wanted God and I wanted to experience the real Christian life. Somewhere God had found an ember and began slowly fanning it to life.
Les quickly realized that he did not need to teach me any doctrines, but he and Anne gave me what I wanted most–a sincere, consistent Christian example. I felt like I was stepping back into Bible times when I entered their apartment. I was mourning. My desire had been awakened, and they provided comfort.
One day, he asked me, “If you died tonight, in which resurrection would you awake?” Of all the questions, Les found the only one that caused guilt and despair to well up in me almost like a volcano. I wrestled with it that night. Even in the pain he caused me, Les provided comfort. I had found only a partial answer, but he continued to encourage me.
I was baptized on Friday night, February 12, 1982. I was the first one of the males and so the dressing room was empty when I returned. I knelt down and committed myself to God like never before. With all my sincerity I told God, “No more compromise.” With all my desperation I pleaded, “Help me, Lord.”
I experienced peace that evening that I never imagined possible. Lester asked me how I felt and I simply replied with a beaming smile, “Like a son of God!” I had felt my need. I had sincerely repented. My dedication was wholehearted. My peace was full. I felt like I was finally in sync with Christ.
Yet, there was still the next step that I must struggle through. It was something that had been bothering me for years. It was that nightly prayer for forgiveness. Even after my amazing baptism, I still wrestled with this issue for months.
It was almost 10pm on a warm Saturday night. My twin brother and I were renting a mobile home near the university. As I lay on the couch reading, the doubt and fear gripped me like it had many times before. This time, however, I decided it was time to deal with it.
I left the trailer and walked down the abandoned railroad tracks behind the trailer court. I had no plan except that I was not coming back until this issue was resolved. My desperation was my prayer.
After a quarter mile I noticed the cemetery on the left. Perfect, I thought, no one will bother me there. After all, I knew the unconscious state of the dead!
For the next several hours I prayed, cried, shouted, sat down, walked around, knelt in silence, and brooded in frustration. When will you forgive me, God? What must I do? I don’t feel any forgiveness!
I was determined not to leave, but I was also discouraged. I was wandering near the corner where I had entered. It was so tempting to leave, to just give up. It was two in the morning and I was locked in limbo. That is when, for the second time, I sensed Jesus’ presence as if He was right next me. And He was. He was standing at my right side with a look of compassion and understanding. He put His hand around my shoulders and simply said, “I already did, a long time ago.”
I was shocked. Jesus already forgave me? When? I tumbled around in my mind searching my memories. What did I miss? When did Jesus forgive me?
Then it came to the forefront. When being nailed to the cross, Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” That prayer was for me! 2,000 years ago, Jesus forgave me! I’ve been forgiven since before I was born! Although I was holding on to nothing that was keeping God and me apart, I was not holding onto Him. Just believe! That was the step now. I needed to accept His free gift.
I took it! I opened my heart and let His forgiveness flood my soul! O, what peace and joy! I walked into that cemetery a dead man and walked out alive!
I found a little stream and sat down by it and sang praises to God for the next couple of hours. When I returned to my bed shortly before dawn, I was the happiest person alive. I had learned a lesson in simple, straightforward faith that I have never forgotten. Whenever I have prayed the prayer of repentance–which has been often–I do not then search my feelings to find out if God has forgiven me. I commit myself in full sincerity, then believe His word, feelings or no feelings. Sooner or later the feelings come, but faith in Jesus always comes first. I have never, never been disappointed.
Forgiveness is not only peace and confidence. Forgiveness is power. He who I thought was against me was for me. I was on God’s side and God was on mine. I could now face life, not in my own weakness, but together with Omnipotence.
The last of the major events that severed my past from my future took place a few years later. After being disowned and cutoff from family communication, I had still tried and tried to reconnect with my dad. However, after a certain phone call, things changed radically and permanently.
My dad had always been a control freak and demanded total submission from wife and children. He had grown increasingly harsh and violent. Our family was raised in abject fear. Yet, all that did not prepare me for the relentless insanity, even demonic, rage he yelled at me relentlessly for an hour straight. Finally, it was time for me leave to drive back to school.
A few minutes down the road, I snapped. I turned to my fiancee (who had listened to the call) and said, felt, and thought it all at the same time, “He is not my father anymore.” I neither planned nor premeditated it. I didn’t so much choose it as I realized and admitted it. “He is not my father anymore."
Then in the next moment, I felt a Presence from above that musically and softly whispered in my head, “I will be your Father.” Light and peace filled my soul. I relaxed. The tension of years drained away and I knew everything would be all right. I no longer felt fear and intimidation, only pity.
Ever since that time, I have never wondered what dad (who is now passed away) would think. I have never asked myself, How would my dad do this? That day, he ceased to be my reference point. For better and for worse, I was a bit like a newborn baby needing to learn about life all over again. Family, love, child rearing, social relationships, I needed to start all over again and learn from Father how to be a man.
These experiences I had in my youth, both set me behind and ahead of others. For a long time I wrestled with this. Not any more. I have accepted the truth that our Father guides us each individually and places us in church and community to help each other with our unique experiences. This book could not have been born anywhere else except out of the pain and joy of my personal history. My tendency to connect and to look for patterns has caused me lots of trouble, but has also helped many people in their spiritual walk.
All I can conclude is, Let us grow in the faith, hope, and love of Christ together and may we meet one day around the throne of our great heavenly Father!