Growing Up Into Him vs the Systematizing of Deception

Growing Up Into Him vs the Systematizing of Deception

In Ephesians 4:14 and 15, Paul sets forth a contrast of truth and deception. Truth is represented by the following words, “…[that] you may grow up into [eis] him in all things.” Deception is described by the words, “…tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive.” The words, “by which they lie in wait to deceive” take on an entirely different meaning in the Wescott-Hort Interlinear.

[TOWARD] [THE] [WITH-WAY (systematizing)] [OF-THE] [STRAYING (deception)] (Ephesians 4:14 Westcott-Hort)

Ephesians 4:14 would more correctly read, “so that we may no longer be minors, tossed to and fro and being carried about by every wind of teaching, by human caprice, by craftiness with a view to the systematizing of the deception.”

Darby translates this passage similarly.

…in order that we may be no longer babes, tossed and carried about by every wind of *that* teaching which is in the sleight of men, in unprincipled cunning with a view to systematized error. (Ephesians 4:14 Darby)

Vincent’s Word Studies captures the entire thought in two words, “Error organizes.” The King James rendition, “lie in wait,” is represented in the Greek text by the compound word methodeia, which means “a deliberate planning or system.” Our word “method” comes from this Greek word.

Kittel comments, “It first has the sense ‘to treat methodically, to handle according to plan. . .’” Through 1900 years of ecclesiastical conditioning, we have come to view order as a key component of truth. Along with the extra-biblical axiom of “cleanliness is next to godliness” we have placed “orderliness is next to godliness.” We often hear that God is not the author of confusion, but error and deception are not random or chaotic. In fact, organization is the chief power of deception.

According to Jesus, everyone who is born of the Spirit is like the wind (John 3:8), not subject to systematic control, but into the flow of the Spirit. In countless verbal and practical ways, religion daily declares Christ’s teaching here to be false, instead teaching that adherence to rigid denominational teaching is the only safe way to avoid deception.

Order is no indicator of truth. In fact, deception is more structured than truth. Russia under Stalin and Germany under Hitler had rigid order and systematic teaching under the systems of Communism and Nazism. Both claimed to exist for the good of the collective masses.

Error always organizes and the greater the deception the more systematized it becomes. It is no wonder that as we near the end of all things, a global government is emerging that by all appearances will make Hitler and Stalin look like choir boys. Phrases like global sustainability, global economy, and global warming are driven into our heads by the controlled media.

Carnal men take the dynamics of the Spirit and make a static, systematic organization out of it. What starts out as a dynamic life force becomes a hollow form of godliness. This sham displaces the power of God to bring about a true inward change in the individual, the only starting place. You cannot force men to make moral decisions by writ of law. It is in our Adamic nature to systematize legal structures so that we can cast off the restraint of the Spirit of God! David wrote, “But you have cast off and abhorred, you have been angry with your anointed. You have made void the covenant of your servant: you have profaned his crown by casting it to the ground” (Psalms 89:38-39 KJ2000). Hosea wrote, “Israel has cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him. They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols that they may be cut off” (Hosea 8:3-4 KJ2000). This is why the living word of God is constantly cutting away the soulish counterfeit life that seeks to replace the true life of the Spirit.

Which will it be–the soulish counterfeit or the true life of the Spirit? One will displace the other.
The Underlying Misconception

The foundational misconception behind all systemic deception is the idea that order brings life. We see this lived out all around us in religious circles today. You can hear it in virtually every sermon. If you do the right things passionately enough and long enough God will see your faithfulness and bless you. Everything is about achieving the proper God-pleasing form—building according to the pattern, yet they reject the one Pattern that the Father as set before us. Jesus is the Pattern! Order does not bring life. Divine life brings God-pleasing form and functionality that is consistent with His nature.

John put it this way, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4 RSV). The life is in Him and that Life is the only Light that men can accurately see by! Out of Life comes light. He has been made unto us wisdom (1 Corinthians 1: 29). True wisdom and knowledge flows, moment by moment, from divine life. There is no other source for it. All so-called “wisdom” that does not proceed from the Father of light is not light but is artificial, earthly, sensual and ultimately, devilish (see James 3:13-15).

Source determines everything. If the source is the souls of men the best you can have is a poor counterfeit of the Real. “Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush” (Luke 6:44 NRSV). Or as Gerhard Kittel succinctly put it, “Life stands always under the question of its origin and goal.”
The Soulish Counterfeit

The Pharisees give us a clear example of the cause and effect of the soulish counterfeit.

Under the old dispensation the law was binding but it was not binding enough to suit the Pharisees. No. They set themselves to give the demands of the law an even greater structure and definition as it applied to the daily life of Israel. At the heart of this effort was the twofold lust to distinguish themselves and control the people in the name of God. Soon they had written volumes of commentaries that they placed on the shoulders of the people—heavy burdens that they refused to remove—systematized error. What was the end of this error? Error always results in one thing—shutting up the kingdom of heaven against men. Jesus addressed this deception head on. “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in” (Matthew 23:13 RSV).

What this deception amounts to is simply the replacing of one order with another—the replacing of divine order (the rule of God) with human order— the true life and leading of the Spirit vs. the soulish counterfeit enforced by men. Human order always has the affect of shutting people away from God’s rule through intermediary interference. Thought the Bible has much to say about the necessity of living by and walking in the Spirit, these self-appointed mediators will not permit something so haphazard to occur on their watch. They are not going into God’s kingdom and neither is anyone else! Though they speak of God and His kingdom in glowing terms they are the enemies of the direct rule of God.

Everything that man does in the name of religion is diabolically designed to supplant the order of God’s Spirit, to replace the order of life with another system, order and head. In this carnal order all things are held together organizationally, by ecclesiastical heads in a diocese system governed by a religious hierarchy. Judaism and Islam have their own counterparts as well and are equally as hateful in their orthodox form to all who do not believe as they do. The wars that are being waged on the earth today are powered by systematized deception. The very definition of the word religion—to rebind—is what drives these religious sects.

The early church lived by a different order altogether. In God’s order Paul wrote, “And he [Jesus] is before all things, and by him all things are held together (Colossians 1:15-17 KJ2000). The whole universe is held or bound together by Jesus alone, not men. Carnal men seek to rebind them to another, the master of systematized deception.
God’s Respect for the Human Will

At the heart of God’s order is a respect for the human will. God does not impose or force his will upon anyone. The height of the human will is willingness, not reluctance, not begrudging-ness but a voluntary response to His love. Through sharing His perspective and communicating His passion by His Spirit, He seeks to bring believers into His viewpoint until both wills become one. “Come now let us reason together says the Lord.” In short, He works in us both to will and do of His good pleasure and when His work in us is finished, His good pleasure is our good pleasure. The order of God is based on union (“Emanuel – God with us”) and revelation, not a mindless objective obedience. We will know if we press on to know the Lord (see Hosea 6:3). In other words, if we know the Lord, we know all we need to know. Truly the gospel of the New Testament is God introducing Himself through His Son. It is through contact with Him that we learn Him and come to know our Father in a greater and living way. As we are in union with Him we are taught by Him. Anything else is deception because it leads people to think that they have a relationship with God when they do not. They have a purely platonic understanding of God—not founded in reality. So much of what goes on in the name of preaching and teaching is nothing more that theorizing what God is like and what His will is. Instead it should be encouraging people to seek our Father with all their hearts. Jesus taught the disciples to pray, “Our Father,” not “Great God in heaven.” All through the gospels the orthodox Jews used the phrases “our father David, our father Abraham, our father Jacob,” but in their deception they could not conceive of the God of the universe as their Father. And because Jesus referred to God as His Father they wanted to kill Him.

The order of the kosmos (the rudimentary principles of the world) is designed to manipulate and bypass human volition. Though God holds the human will in the highest regard, man does not. In man’s mind the bottom line is always the chief consideration. Therefore the end justifies the means. He wants results and so tends to despise what God values, running rough shod over the wills of his fellow men.

The point we want to make here is simply this, methodology and systematizing are not “next to godliness” but rather man’s soulish substitutes for life and growth—growing up into Him. We say substitutes because methodology and Divine Life are intrinsically opposed to one another because of their entirely different origins and births. You cannot mix the two. The former is of the world and is controlled by its mode of government–the rudimentary principles of this world. The later is of a heavenly origin and is exclusively born and guided from heaven through God’s Spirit. We see this dependency upon the Spirit lived out by the early Church in the Book of Acts. Before long, though, they began to leave the divine order and turn again to the rudimentary principles of the world. Remember the Greek word for world is kosmos which means a system. Paul addressed this carnal tendency to leave the divine order and return to the governing principles of the world in virtually every one of his letters. He asked the foolish Galatians, “Who has bewitched you. . . Having begun in the Spirit, are you now completed in the flesh?” (See Galatians 3). These foolish Galatians were trading life for systematized error, the overtly rigid order of the Judaizers.

We get an even clearer perspective from Paul’s warning to the Colossians. Please note the contrast.

“Let no one rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility and worshipping of the angels, dwelling in the things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding firmly to the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with God’s growth. If you died with Christ from the elements of the world, [kosmos – system] why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to ordinances, (21) “Don’t handle, nor taste, nor touch” (all of which perish with use), according to the precepts and doctrines of men? Which things indeed appear like wisdom in self-imposed worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but aren’t of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.” (Colossians 2:18-23 WEB)

The general direction of error is always toward rigidity, captivity, tyranny and loss. It is diabolically designed to keep you from something—to shut up the kingdom of God from you. Hence Paul’s exhortation, “Let no one rob you of your prize.” He goes on to say what the prize is and the method that the thief (Satan) uses to rob believers of that it. The prize is Christ and involvement in His Body. His Body is divinely knit together and as a result, grows with God’s growth. What does the prince of this world use to rob believers? He tries to separate us from divine life by subjugating us to ordnances and in doing so he entices us onto earthly, unholy ground controlled by men in league with Satan. He deceives us into living by our soul-life (psuchikos) and attempting to finish what God has started in us by means of the flesh.

How is this deceptive order promoted? What is the mechanism for its advancement? Error organizes and it does so by teaching. It is “according to the precepts and doctrines of men.”

As with the Galatians, the errors taught among the Colossians did not promote loose living. On the contrary, it called for greater holiness of life, abstinence, separation from the unclean thing, “Don’t handle, nor taste, nor touch.” On the surface, this certainly looks like wisdom, but the wise recognize that it is antagonistic to God’s growth. God’s growth is of an entirely different order. Though these legalistic teachings attempt to restrain the body and its carnal cravings, this self-imposed order strengthens the flesh.

In the nineteenth century, Andrew Murray understood this, unlike thousands of Bible teachers since him. He wrote in his Book, “The Two Covenants”:

The two great lessons God would teach us by it [the Old and New Covenants] are very simple. The one is the lesson of SIN, the other the lesson of HOLINESS. The Old Covenant attains its object only as it brings men to a sense of their utter sinfulness and their hopeless impotence to deliver themselves. As long as they have not learnt this, no offer of the New Covenant life can lay hold of them. As long as an intense longing for deliverance from sinning has not been wrought, they will naturally fall back into the power of the law and the flesh. The holiness which the New Covenant offers will rather terrify than attract them; the life in the spirit of bondage appears to make more allowance for sin, because obedience is declared to be impossible.

The other is the lesson of Holiness. In the New Covenant the Triune God engages to do all. He undertakes to give and keep the new heart, to give His own Spirit in it, to give the will and the power to obey and do His will. As the one demand of the first Covenant was the sense of sin, the one great demand of the New is faith that that need, created by the discipline of God’s law, will be met in a Divine and supernatural way. The law cannot work out its purpose, except as it brings a man to lie guilty and helpless before the holiness of God. There the New finds him, and reveals that same God, in His grace accepting him and making him partaker of His holiness.

It is winds of doctrine and adherence to the Old Covenant that keep Abba’s Children from growing up into Him. It is teaching that tosses them to and fro. It is teaching that carries them about here and there, prohibiting them from taking root and maturing. It is teaching—this one saying this and another saying that—that keeps believers confused, uncertain and dependent upon teachers—”ever learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth.” Though the teachings may contain some objective truths, they yet leave the hearer dependent on teaching and the teacher rather than the Wind of God’s Spirit.

Often believers are not pointed to reality but to theory, ideas, principles, and techniques that strangely never leave the realm of supposition. Being dependent on teachers, believers never get enough teaching. Beware when teaching becomes an end unto itself. Then what is incorrectly taught is no longer the problem. The real problem is that believers are subdued by the process of endless teachings that replace the voice of the Spirit in their lives. At such time, teaching itself becomes the wind that blows against the mast. Remember, apostate people “heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears” (2 Timothy 4:3 KJV).

On the other hand, truth is ordered by an entirely different principle—life and growth. Growing up into Him is not helped along by winds of doctrine. How many contradictory sermons must we sit through before we get this point? Jesus promised the Holy Spirit, who now leads all who will follow Him into all truth—spiritual reality. Anything less than this is simply organization begging for life. Remember, according to Paul, another indicator of apostasy is powerless form (morpho¯sis – outward semblance, as distinguished from the essential reality – Vincent). “…having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” (2 Timothy 3:5 NKJV)

So what is our safeguard against such a well-ordered and seemingly legitimate deception? We must learn to distinguish the outward semblance from the essential reality.

“You cannot make something to carry the testimony of the Lord. You cannot make people carry the testimony of the Lord. You cannot gather them into Bible institutions and make them vessels of testimony. Only God can make spiritual men and women, living men and women, men wrought for this purpose. We must take our hands off one another, and leave them to the Lord. If it were something else we could get together and take counsel together, and we could arrange a scheme, an enterprise, and get beautifully organized, and launch it, and carry it on; but that is like a Philistine cart, and in the testimony of Jesus that cannot be done with the guarantee that God will sponsor it and take responsibility for it. God must constitute us a vessel on the basis of life and knowledge of Himself, and no man can do that, no man can make that sort of thing, only God.

So we stand back from one another and let the Lord do it. Much as we would like to help we can do very little; we have to let the Lord do it, and make men and make women, and when the Lord has made them there is the power of the Name. You cannot fit men to bear the Name, only God can fit men for that. It is a matter of the testimony of the Name in mighty energy and power being borne by men and women who are alive unto the Lord, and in intelligent fellowship with Him. Anything other is bound to break down, to go wrong, and what is more to come under the judgment of God sooner or later.”
Addressing the Default Argument

Some might ask, “Didn’t Paul write, ‘Let all things be done decently and in order’ (1 Corinthians 14:40)? Doesn’t this mean that we should order our gathering? And that if there’s going to be order there must be a director?”

Yes, Paul did write that, and yes, there is a Director. Paul wrote this qualifying statement right after he informed the Corinthian believers who that Director is. Divine order comes directly from God by His Spirit. Divine order is in the Spirit. Therefore Paul references, “speaking by the Spirit of God…diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit…there are diversities of workings, but it is the same God who works all in all…the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man…given by the Spirit…by the same Spirit…by the same Spirit…in all these works that one and same Spirit, dividing to every man individually as he will…by one Spirit…drink into one Spirit…God set the members every one of them in the body…God has arranged the body.” We could site many more such references. There’s the order! Without this order any attempt to organize in the name of Christ is error and because it is thought to be right and true, it is deception. This is an either/or situation. There is no solution in compromise. To compromise is to settle for lukewarm mediocrity. Or to borrow the words of Michael McDonald in his hit song, No More Prayin’:

“We are lost between faith and hope
Between heart and mind, between love and pride.”

So which will it be, truth or outward semblance, as distinguished from the essential reality? Growing into the fullness of the stature of Christ, or being tossed to and fro by the teachings of men? Following the Wind of God’s Spirit or being blown about by every wind of doctrine? Will we return to the order that flows from divine life or continue to scheme, enterprise and get beautifully organized? Will we be taught of God as was prophesied by the prophets of old or will we continue to deceive ourselves and heap up teachers?

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, says the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:33-34 KJ2000)

Let no one rob you of your prize!

The Radical Call

These words of Ahab depict the degree of surrender required to answer Christ’s call and enter the Kingdom of God. When Jesus came preaching the Kingdom of God, He issued a call that required no lesser surrender, demanding the radical renunciation of all that you are and possess. It also requires a radical response to heed the radical call of the King of kings. Jesus was absolutely brutal and unwavering about the requirements of following Him and be HIS disciple. He made no exceptions.

By George Davis and Michael Clark

And yet today, we Christians glibly parrot the words “I am following Jesus, I am a follower of Christ!” We sing of our devotion to Christ, “I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back . . .” and yet we seem unsure of what these words really mean. To some following Christ is attending Church and paying tithe. To others it is blind submission to a Church hierarchy. To others it may mean something different, whatever their concept of holiness may be. But what does it really mean to answer Christ’s radical call, “Follow Me”?

When Jesus first began His earthly ministry. he issued a radical call to twelve men. That call was no less radical than the one Ben-hadad issued to Ahab and clearly represents Christ’s call to every believer. We can learn much by considering these individuals Christ gave this invitation to, and pondering how radical it was for them to immediately drop everything and follow Him. This kind of utter detachment and abandonment stumbles the western mind. From a twenty-first century theological perspective, this borders on irresponsibility and fanaticism. The very Idea that men would leave their trades, wives and children to follow someone who had no place to lay His head, defies all the western values that Americanized Christianity holds dear and dutiful.

For instance, two fishermen, Simon Peter and Andrew his brother, were casting a net into the Sea of Galilee when Jesus came walking by. Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Without questioning, they IMMEDIATELY left their nets and followed him. Really! How strange is this? Going on from there, Jesus saw two other brothers, James and John in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, getting ready for the next day’s catch. The scripture says “He called them.” Is that it? He simply called them? He didn’t reveal the whole counsel of God, give an altar call, or ask for a show of hands? He called them? What was their response to this simple and yet radical call? “They IMMEDIATELY left the boat and their father, and followed Jesus (Matthew 4:18), not for a day, not for a week, not for a month but for three years. Put yourself in their place. Ask yourself; “Is my commitment to Christ this radical?”

Then there was Matthew sitting at the local Internal Revenue office, collecting taxes from his fellow Jews for the Roman government. Jesus said to Matthew, “Follow me.” What did Matthew do? “He got up and followed him.” (See Matthew 8:8). What irresponsibility! He had a government job with all the perks! His future was guaranteed, and he left it all for a life of uncertainty.

The same thing happened to Philip. “The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow Me.’” (John 1:43, NKJV).

Perhaps the answer to this mysterious selection process is found in Jesus’ words, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). These men may not have fully known who Jesus was at first but Jesus knew them and that they were chosen by the Father. They also recognized His voice as that of the Good Shepherd and followed Him.

Another who desired to follow Christ asked that he be allowed to fulfill his responsibility to his family by first going and burying his father. “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” What was Jesus’ response to this grieving man’s request? Surely such a circumstance would merit an exception. Not so! Seemingly defying all social protocol this Radical from Nazareth replied, “Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead” (Matthew 8:22) “but you go and announce the Kingdom of God” (Luke 9:60).

Can you put yourself in this man’s place? Here you are among fellow believers and you go to the “head pastor” of your church and say, “I need you to excuse me from my place on the ministry team this Sunday. My Father in California has just died.” What would you think of this man if he replied to you, “Let your dead unsaved relatives put him in the ground. You are not excused.” How would this sit with you? I can tell you that a pastor with this attitude would soon have no flock in today’s church.

Another said, “I want to follow you, Lord, but first allow me to bid farewell to those who are at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God” (Luke 9:61-62).

Wow! Do these demands seem a bit unreasonable to you? Surely we should honor our earthly fathers enough to give them a proper funeral? Don’t we owe it to our families to at least tell them “goodbye” before disappearing from their lives?

Then there was the rich young ruler who ran to Jesus, knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except one–God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not give false testimony,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and mother.’” The rich young ruler answered, “Teacher, I have observed all these things from my youth.” Jesus looking at him loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me, taking up the cross” (See Mark 10:17-21).

Because Jesus loved, he issued The Radical Call–requiring the one thing lacking. He looked upon him and loved him and that love required that he expose that one weight of earthly responsibility that so easily beset him. What utter disregard for this man’s financial responsibilities! Sell all and give to the poor? Couldn’t this money be better spent to support missionaries, apostles and prophets as they traveled around preaching the kingdom? How irresponsible is it to give away all this money when it could be used to further the gospel.

What would you think if you went to join a church and the pastor asked what kind of life you were living? You assure him that you are in good standing with God, but then he tells you if you were really perfect you would give all you have to the poor and come and follow him. What audacity! We can understand a man requiring you to give all to HIS ministry if you were to join it, but to give all you have to those wretched poor who most likely would have squandered it all in a week or two, never! But this was the very test that this rich young ruler was required to pass. He failed it miserably, and went away sad.

We wonder just how many would also fail such a test in today’s church system. Jesus told him, “Yet, one thing you lack. . .” What is our “one thing lacking”? That is what Jesus went after in each of these cases and He has not changed. Today we are being tested just like they as to whether WE are worthy of His kingdom.

Art Katz wrote in the forward to his book, The Spirit of Truth:

How is it that a phenomenon whose origin is heavenly and was purchased at such a cost should become, by our generation, so melancholy a culture? I was brought one Sunday morning, free from any commitment of my own, to enjoy the luxury of hearing another preacher. I went tripping as a doe, full of delight and anticipation, buoyed by the lavish praise for the minister as a preacher of the Word by the brother who escorted me.

I was seated in the balcony of the crowded church attentive and waiting but not a little disturbed by the contrasting groups around me. On the one hand, the audience included clusters of giddy teenagers round about. On the other hand I was struck by the air of religious stiffness and joylessness in the adults. I endeavored to throttle my jaundiced subjectivity, not wanting in any way to allow it to impinge upon the preached word now beginning to come forth. As the message unfolded, I could readily understand the enthusiasm for the preacher which my companion held. The words were clear, pointed, correct. But what then was this strange uneasiness rising in my soul that with every word intensified ’till finally my innards were knotted in an inexplicable anguish?

At last I realized my dilemma: My mind was approving the outward biblical and doctrinal correctness of the word preached, but my soul was recoiling at the spirit of the speaking which contradicted it’s every syllable! We were with the one enjoined to radical commitment and sacrifice, while the other was saying, “No need to panic; this needn’t be taken seriously–remember, this is only a sermon. I’ll provide a biblical message weekly and you provide for my personal security and well-being. I won’t push you and you don’t push me, and we’ll get along famously.”

In that moment the realization was birthed in me, (should I have not long before seen it?) that the truth is the whole truth and nothing but the truth, that the spirit of the one speaking–the constitution and grit of the person–must be in complete agreement with the words of the one speaking or it is a LIE. The devastating words of the widow of Zarephath to the prophet Elijah pierce me still: “Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the words of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.” (1 Kings 17:24)

It is one thing to speak the words of Christ and preach from the Bible, yet it is a whole other thing to speak from a life within that is in agreement with the one who wrote the scriptures. Is it any wonder that today’s ministries lack what the early apostles had? Of them it was said, “With great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.”

Who Do You Love?

Many a person has heard the call of God, but not followed because they feared disappointing their parents who had designs on their futures, perhaps to take over the family business or become a doctor or a lawyer, thus fulfilling their own childhood aspirations. You guessed it, Jesus even had something to say about this.

“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:37-39, NKJV).

On another occasion, while Jesus was teaching in a house His mother and brothers stood outside “and sent to Him, calling Him.” Mark records that “a multitude was sitting around him when messengers told Him, ‘Behold, your mother, your brothers, and your sisters are outside looking for you.’ He answered them, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ Looking around at those who sat around him, He said, ‘Behold, my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.’ (See Mark 3:32-35)

Neither Mark nor Matthew give any indication in their accounts of this event that Jesus ever went out to see His relatives. He evidently left them standing outside. He simply turned to the multitude around Him and said, “Behold, my mother and my brothers!” By today’s Christian standards, to ignore your parents in such a manner is disrespectful and rude. Christ’s devotion to the will of His heavenly Father superceded all earthly loyalties and responsibilities, and in that He was radical indeed. His life and devotion to the Father fully exemplified the radical-ness of the call that He issued to others. He also required this same radical abandonment in those who would follow Him.

Many of us have gone on to find our lives and make something of ourselves at the bidding of our parents, all the while ignoring the commandment of the Lord to follow Him. What a loss! All because of this radical call, we deem Christ too extreme, too demanding. So we settle for an existence that is less than perfect as we join the flow of American mediocrity with our house in the suburbs, our two new cars, color TVs and home entertainment systems, hot tubs, and all the creature comforts of this world that we can or cannot afford.

As a result of this, so many of us in this same boat form clubs of like souls who have not followed on to know the Lord and we call these organizations “churches.” We hire men who will tell us we are doing the right thing, who are willing to scratch our ears, teaching nothing beyond the general and predictable level of commitment that each group has deemed to be reasonable and therefore correct. We call these teachers, pastors. No, this is NOT the church of Jesus Christ, who by definition are His called out ones. The bar of Christian commitment has been lowered so far that you have to scuff your feet to stub your toe on it. The Radical Call cannot be demanded by anyone but Christ, yet religious man is intent on watering it down to make things comfortable and palatable for all. After all, if we were to preach the same radical message that Jesus preached, how would we ever fill our impressive church buildings and pay our pastors’ big salaries? We must be practical here!

Today we are considered saved if we sit in a padded pew while the man up front gives an altar call that is no more inconvenient than secretly slipping one hand in the air. Least anyone is embarrassed by our public display of loyalty to Christ; the rest of the faithful close their eyes and bow their heads, no one looking around. If THIS is indicative of the level of our commitment, no wonder that the divorce rate, crime rate, drug and alcohol abuse, etc, statistics among Christians in America match that of the un-churched. It takes a radical commitment and conversion to walk a life that is beyond the downward pull of this world system. If we are to live as citizens of another kingdom that is not of this world, we must first take a step that is as radical as putting a man on Mars. We must boldly go where the nominal believers dare not venture.

This Radical Call is well depicted in John Bunyan’s classic, Pilgrim’s Progress. A man, later called Christian, stood crying, looking around as though he could not tell which way to go. A man named Evangelist came to him, and asked why he was crying.

Christian answered, “Sir, I perceive by the book in my hand, that I am condemned to die, and after that to come to judgment; and I find that I am not willing to do the first, nor able to do the second.”

Then Evangelist gave him a parchment roll, with the words “Flee from the wrath to come” written within it. After reading this, Christian asked, “Where must I fly?”

Evangelist: (pointing with his finger over a very wide field said, to Christian) “Do you see yonder wicket gate?” (Matthew 7:14)

Christian: “No.”

Evangelist: “Do you see yonder shining light?” (Psalm 119:105; 2 Peter 1:19)

Christian: “I think I do.”

Evangelist: “Keep that light in your eye, and go up directly thereto; so shalt thou see the gate…”

The man began to run toward the light, but he had not run far from his own door before his wife and children perceived it and began to beg him to return. Refusing to look behind him and putting his fingers in his ears, Christian ran towards the middle of the plain, crying, “Life! Life! Eternal life!”

His neighbors also came out to see him run. Some mocked, others threatened, and some cried after him to return. Two even followed him, determined to fetch him back by force. The name of the one was Obstinate and the other Pliable. Finally they caught up with him. Christian asked them why they had come. “To persuade you to go back with us,” they replied.

This dream (as Bunyan called it) demonstrates the struggle all believers face as they set out to follow Christ. The decision to follow Christ in such a radical abandonment is viewed by the world as madness and by today’s church as fanaticism. The obsession to run after and bring such demented ones back is driven by the prudent, balanced and wise voices of Christian mediocrity.

The Seemingly Irresponsible Teachings of the Radical Christ

Early in my (George) walk with Christ, in my childish faith, I didn’t know any better than to read the words of Christ and take them literally. When I read, ” whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also,” I thought that was what it really meant. Silly me. Before long I learned that Jesus’ words needed to be interpreted and made contemporary. These simple words were not as easy to understand as I first thought. I soon learned that it sometimes took three hours to explain what Jesus said in three seconds. Things were much more complicated than I thought. So off to Bible school I went to learn how to arrive at a balanced perspective. Who knows, I might have done something radical or even irresponsible if I didn’t learn how to interpret these difficult teachings of Christ.

There I sat in the classroom and sure enough, someone asked the Professor a profound question, “When Jesus said, ‘Give to him who asks you, and don’t turn away him who desires to borrow from you’ (Matthew 5:42), what did He mean?” Surly He didn’t mean, “Give to him who asks you, and don’t turn away him who desires to borrow from you”? An anticipatory hush fell over the student body, as the all-knowing Professor set out to explain the qualification and responsibilities that the one asking must meet before another should give to them. I had no idea that there was so much involved. Certainly it would be irresponsible to give to someone without knowing the extenuating circumstances. Would they be responsible with the gift? So it was that I learned how to interpret the coded language of Christ. You take His words and interpret your wants and desires into them, under the guise of prudence and responsibility.

Christ’s Utter Disregard For Sound Financial Principles

There is much talk in Christendom today about “sound biblical financial principles.” There is much talk about “grounded principles and solid practical advice so you can plan for a secure future, get out or stay out of debt, and enjoy freedom that comes from having your financial house in order.” They talk about “stewardship and financial security, understanding wise money management skills, investing to maximize results, avoiding financial disaster, retiring with a comfortable lifestyle,” and so forth.

This is the language of Wall Street, not the Via De La Rosa.

One day while Jesus was teaching His disciples one of the multitude that had also gathered around said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” That sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? It is only right that this man should receive his share of the inheritance. Surely Christ would take the time to correct this injustice. But no, it seemed that Jesus didn’t even see this man’s plight but looked beyond to a greater problem. Jesus said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” Then Jesus turned to His disciples and the rest of multitudes around Him and said to them, “Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man’s life doesn’t consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses.”

Then He spoke a parable to them, saying,

“The ground of a certain rich man brought forth abundantly. He reasoned within himself, saying, ‘What will I do, because I don’t have room to store my crops?’ He said, ‘This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns, and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.”‘ “But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared–whose will they be?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:16-21)

In America soundness of responsibility is measured by the size of your barns, the extent of your portfolio, the size of your bank account and whether it can be said of you, “He is a success.” This preoccupation with mammon is also rampant in the American churches, which are modeled after American big business. And the Americanized gospel is a mixture of America’s corporate values and the Judeo-Christian ethic. Even the American churches have adopted this measure of success and respectability. As a result, many ministers have taken on the flavor of the motivational-speakers of corporate America, speaking more of success and money than of the risen Lord, making wealth the proof of your godliness. They teach that if you have great faith you will have great wealth. Hence they constantly tear down their barns and build bigger and more extravagant ones, to lay up many goods for many years. In corporate America, bigger is always better, but not so in the kingdom of God.

One such well-known Christian financial counselor wrote,

“Can you imagine retiring with a nest egg of $1 million? It may seem excessive but, actually, it’s not unrealistic. Consider that 30-year Treasury Bonds currently yield about 5.7 percent interest. If you invested $1 million at 5.7 percent interest, you’d receive annual income of $57,000 or $4,750 per month. That may be more income than you’d need if you retired today, but consider the impact of inflation over time. Currently, inflation is about 2 percent, but it wasn’t too long ago when inflation was much higher. And we may see higher inflation rates in the future.

“Let’s assume a long-term inflation rate of 3 percent per year. If we discount an income of $4,750 per month beginning 10 years from now at 3 percent inflation, it is equivalent to $3,520 per month today, or $42,000 per year. If you plan to retire in 20 years with an income of $4,750 per month, it is equivalent to $2,609 per month today, or $31,000 per year. Thus, due to inflation and the very real income needs you will have in the future, it is not unreasonable at all to have a nest egg of at least $1 million.

“Many people may believe that accumulating $1 million in savings and investments is impossible. However, it’s very possible!

“Let’s assume that you can earn 10 percent on your investments. This is based on the fact that the returns of large capitalization stocks over the last 70 years have averaged in the range of 10 percent to 11 percent. If your investments are in a taxable account, then you must earn more than 10 percent in order to net 10 percent after taxes. Assuming you’re starting from scratch, the chart on this page shows how much you’ll have to save each month at 10 percent interest in order to accumulate $1 million by age 65. As you can see, the earlier you start, the less you’ll have to set aside each month.”

Regardless of Christ’s teachings regarding the foolishness and danger of storing up and trusting in riches, such teaching is common in Christendom today. This may sound like sound financial counseling and may even work, because you get what you seek. You have your reward, but the real issue here is where our hearts are. Where our treasures are, there our hearts will be also.

Now compare the sound financial teachings of Jesus Christ to His disciples.

“Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life, what you will eat, nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they don’t sow, they don’t reap, they have no warehouse or barn, and God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds! Which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his height? If then you aren’t able to do even the least things, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow. They don’t toil, neither do they spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if this is how God clothes the grass in the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith? Don’t seek what you will eat or what you will drink; neither be anxious. For the nations of the world seek after all of these things, but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek God’s Kingdom, and all these things will be added to you.”

What kind of hippy attitude is Jesus teaching here? He seems to be rejecting the moorings of established society. Isn’t it ambition that drives a healthy economy? We should not forget who Jesus is teaching here! He is teaching the poor how to get ahead. His sound financial advice to them was, “Take no thought for your life.” But hang on to your hats folks! It gets more radical from here!

“Don’t be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Sell that which you have, and give gifts to the needy. Make for yourselves purses which don’t grow old, a treasure in the heavens that doesn’t fail, where no thief approaches, neither moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (See Luke 12:13-40)

The Un-Christlike Model of Today’s Church

Let’s see if we have this correct thus far. Jesus is telling the multitudes (Greek ochlas–those with no titles of positions) to take no thought for their lives, and then he tells them to take what precious little they have, sell it and give it to those more needy than themselves.

The parable of the unjust steward (Luke 16:1-14) points to the need of the believer to use the unrighteous mammon at his disposal to buy “friends that can receive him into everlasting habitations.” We as Christians should be doing the same with those things that we call our own by lessening the burdens of those who are weighed down in this world.

Have you ever noticed that the ones who are the most generous are the ones who have little? I, Michael, spent some time in Guatemala and I have never seen such poverty, yet such giving hearts as I saw in those people. It taught me what Jesus meant when He said, “Blessed are the poor.” James warned, “Do you not know that it is the rich who exploit you?” How many of us will stand before God and find that we have no friends on the other side to receive us because we were not rich toward God by helping the poor, the widows and the orphans? Instead we have already had our reward in THIS life, because we spent all our lives pleasing our own flesh with the resources God put us in charge of.

How much of our lives are spent in finding our lives? Do we in the American church really live like our REAL lives are in heavenly places in Christ? If so, then why have we and our churches spent so much to store up so much in this life? A mere hundred years ago, the American church was spending great amounts on foreign missions. Not so today. We leave it all to governmental organizations to do that and thus the Gospel of Christ is not being manifest in the world.

Many years ago I, Michael, was on a church board of deacons. I took the position that was offered because I had a heart for foreign missions and that church was known to spend 30% of its budget on reaching out to the lost in foreign lands. Almost as soon as I accepted the part, the pastor started coming to our deacons’ meetings and asking us to cut back our donations to mission work and start earmarking more of the church income for “building-up the base.” You guessed it. It was not long before the missions budget was cut to less than 10%, the food bank was designated for members only, and many other self-centered programs were instated. I resigned in disgust halfway through my two-year term.

For there to be a radical call to a lost and dying world, there must once again be radicals doing the calling, just as Jesus called. You cannot preach a radical gospel from a padded pulpit to people sitting in padded pews, while you wear your three piece, silk- lined Armani worsted wool suit. All the while your parishioners are checking their Rolex watches to see how much longer your canned sermon will last. Does anyone see the irony in all this that calls itself the church? As the singer, Ray Stevens, so aptly observed, “Would Jesus wear a Rolex on His television show?” Too many have the attitude of a small-time evangelist that I (Michael) once knew. As he belched after a big meal and patted his bulging belly, he observed, “Yup! This forsaking all is really where it’s at.”

Now let us say in conclusion that we (George and Michael) are required to be just as ruthless with our carnality as we are at pointing out the flesh of today’s ministers and the fallen state of the church. God is requiring of us the same radical call. I (Michael) remember how surprised I was when I prophesied something to a local church and found out that God was first requiring it of me! Judgment first begins in the house of the prophet, then the family of God and finally it goes out to the world.

Please hear our hearts here. We are not throwing stones from our lofty ivory towers. We are just two brothers in Christ who desire to see God’s glory fill the earth. We also desire that all flesh offering resistance to this (including our own) would be burned away by the fire of God’s Spirit. We understand that the manifold wisdom of God cannot be made known except by the Ekklesia. This wisdom is rarely seen today, for today’s church has lost its salt, it radical-ness, its otherworldliness. Many are beginning to see the need for the restoration of the primitive Church” and are heralding a cry of return to Radical Christianity. This all seems right and true, but understand this: you cannot have radical Christianity without radical Christians and you cannot have radical Christians without a Radical Call! You may recapture the primitive pattern, but if you lack the primitive abandonment and sacrifice that the early Church possessed, you still have nothing that would set you apart from any other worldly institution. You may have radical programs, a radical worship team, a radical youth group, but without a radical severing from the things of this world in your life and a wholehearted clinging to the Kingdom of God, all you’ve got is empty religion.

Those who truly follow Jesus will not find themselves welcome among the religious institutions controlled by men, any more than He was welcome among the religious institutions of 2000 years ago. The Radical Christ still calls us from outside the camp. Will we take up our crosses and go out to meet Him, bearing His reproach? Are we willing to pay the price?

Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Hence, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. (Hebrews 13:12-14, NASB).

Are You In The Matrix

There is a movie called “The Matrix” that came out a few years ago. It has violent content and thus an “R” rating, but if you can get past this it has much to teach us as Christians. We are called to be pilgrims and sojourners in this world as we follow Jesus, who said that His kingdom was not of this world system. The movie is filled with types and shadows of our reality (or should I say “non-reality”?) in this current world as those who have had the world pulled over our eyes, blinded to the depths of the mystery of Christ and our privileges as His “joint heirs.”

There are three types of “reality” portrayed here in the script. One is where most of mankind is found, bound up in an artificial world that dictates their lives to them. The second is the A I (artificial intelligence), a super computer that has taken power over mankind and made them slaves. The third type are those who have escaped the control of this evil, life-robbing system and have a permanent home in a place called Zion.e

While the battle was going on between man and the super computer that was trying to take over the world, the earth was turned into a waste place, totally uninhabitable due to nuclear winter. Most of humanity is entombed in this vast computer controlled machine, having their lives sucked out of them as its energy source. The people who are free are in Zion, where it is still warm near the core of the earth. A few are on board vessels that travel below the devastated cities in old sewer systems, seeking ways to rescue those who are trapped in the AI. The vessel featured in this movie is called the Nebuchadnezzar.

The writer of letter penned to the Hebrews wrote:

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven. (Hebrews 12:22-25, NKJV).

We are the saints of God, called out of the mind numbing world that has been plunged into spiritual darkness by Satan (the A I) unto a new city called Mount Zion or the New Jerusalem. We are called to His Godly perfection by the resurrection power that works in us through Jesus Christ. Not everyone will obey His upward call to leave this world and its delusions behind. We who have broken out of that system of darkness by the power of God’s Holy Spirit have been called to help free those who are still captives in it. In this way we are like the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar. As Jesus told His disciples:

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:8, NKJV).

The Matrix has a high tech motif, with a cast that includes a type of Christ, a prophetess, a shepherding elder and even a Judas figure. The plot centers around a plan to draw one man, Thomas A. Anderson, or “Neo” as he is known in the world of computer hackers, out of this world system into the REAL world. The crew of the Nebuchadnezzar set Neo free of the A I and the delusion of the Matrix so that he can take his place as an important part of delivering the rest of the world from the clutches of this wicked system.

Some Christian writers cast Neo as a Messiah figure, but I see him more as a fore-runner. He is a type of everyone who walks in Christ and takes up his true inheritance as a fellow heir, accepting all the privileges and responsibilities in this world and in the next. There is a Christian underground that communicates over the Internet, sharing with one another the truths that are setting them free of the systems of men, be they of the world or the worldly church. These are “hacking” their way out of the blindness and deception that has held so many captive for the last 1700 years.

The opening scene of the movie shows a green screen computer monitor flowing with numbers. The Matrix agents are busily trying to trace a phone call between a woman named Trinity and the traitorous Cypher, who has set her up to be caught. Like the whole crew of the Nebuchadnezzar, she is an experienced computer hacker, senses that the call is being traced, and hangs up.

Trinity is in a dingy room in a hotel called The Heart of the City. She has been using her computer to watch Neo in his fantasy world. The crew is planning to extract him from his false life of lies. This is a type of Satan’s control of the minds of the people of this world, blinding them to the truth.

Satan took the minds of man captive when he got man to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil by promising they would be like God if they did. The captive humans in the Matrix are all fed a programmed lifestyle they really think they live. In reality, they are laying in vats of liquid with cables and tubes plugged into their bodies, being used as an energy source for A I, until they are used up and discarded like so many old “copper top” batteries. With all this in mind, consider Paul’s words to the Corinthian Church:

Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone 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 excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. (2 Corinthians 4:1-7, NKJV).

Meanwhile back in The Heart of the City Hotel where rooms can be rented by the hour, Trinity is about to arrested by the police who have been sent out to take her back captive into the A I system or kill her in the process. After a harrowing escape she manages to get to a phone booth and is beamed through the phone lines back to the Nebuchadnezzar just in time.

The Prince of this world would rather take us back under his power so he can continue to use us, but if he can’t delude us with his lies, he will try to kill us, just as he has done with everyone who has become a real treat to his kingdom. There are thousands of martyrs who have given up their lives, refusing to go back under his control in his system of lies.

The enemy has placed his agents, like the one here called Cypher, in our fellowships. Jesus spoke of this in the parable of the wheat and the tares and the separating of the sheep from the goats. Paul also spoke of these when he wrote to the Galatians:

Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain. Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage), to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. (Galatians 2:1-5, NKJV).

The movie continues with the next scene opening in Neo’s apartment, a bachelor pad strewn with computer cables and hardware. Neo is short for neophyte or new believer. He is trying to hack into reality and find the truth. He spends hours researching the captain of the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar, a man named Morpheus. He wants to make contact but does not know how. He has come to the attention of the rescue ship’s crew and made Morpheus believe that this one, Thomas Anderson, is “the one.”

Neo has dozed off in front of his computer while researching Morpheus and the screen goes blank. While his head is on the desk, the words appear on the screen, “Wake up, Neo! Neo, the Matrix has you.” It is the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar trying to make contact with him.

As he awakens and wipes the sleep out of his eyes, the screen reads, “Follow the white rabbit.” Neo tries to clear the screen but his keyboard has no effect. Then the screen reads, “Knock, knock!” just before there is a knock at his door. He nearly jumps out of his skin in shock. At the door is a group of people who have come to buy some of his boot legged software. They invite him to unplug for a while and go party with them. At first he refuses, but as one of the girls turns away he sees a white rabbit tattooed on her shoulder. He decides to follow the prompting that appeared on his computer and follows them.

In the next scene, Neo stands alone in a wild party, feeling out of place, wondering what is going on. Trinity walks up to him and makes the first personal contact. She says to him, “Hello, Neo. I know a lot about you. I’ve been wanting to meet you for some time.” He is totally shocked when she tells him that her name is Trinity, the same one the cracked the IRS D-base, another hacker like himself. She was rescued out of the Matrix and is now about to be part of his rescue as well. Their dialogue is as follows:

TRINITY: “Right now, all I can tell you, is that you are in danger. I brought you here to warn you.”

NEO: “Of what?”

TRINITY: “They’re watching you, Neo.”

NEO: “Who is?”

TRINITY: “Please. Just listen. I know why you’re here, Neo. I know why you left your family and your friends why you left your home to come to this city. You’re looking for him. I know because I came looking for the same thing, but when he found me he told me I wasn’t really looking for him. I was looking for an answer. It’s the question that brought you here. You know the question just as I did. It is a hacker’s question.”

NEO: “What is the Matrix?”

TRINITY: “When I asked him, he said that no one could ever be told the answer to that question. They have to see it to believe it. The answer is out there, Neo. It’s looking for you and it will find you, if you want it to.”

Jesus told those who would be His disciples that they must leave family, friends and home behind to follow Him. Neo has left all to find the truth about the Matrix. Like Abraham, he has gone to another land to find that city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. He knows that the natural is not the way it really is and has been trying to locate Morpheus in hopes of finding out what the Matrix is. I see a similarity between the name Mopheus and the Greek word metamorpho, which means transformation. The Creator is seeking to extract each of us from the world system level and transform us into sons of God. Jesus is the prototype. As apostle Paul wrote,

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed (metamorpho) by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2, NKJV).

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29, NKJV).

The next day Neo is sitting at his desk at work, staring a at a blank computer screen, still stunned by the exchange with Trinity the night before. Just then a FedEx man comes to his cubicle and hands him a package. He opens it and out falls a cell phone which rings at that moment. Shocked, he answers and this is the exchange:

NEO: “Hello?”

MORPHEUS: “Hello, Neo. Do you know who this is?”

NEO: “Morpheus…”

MORPHEUS: “I’ve been looking for you, Neo. I don’t know if you’re ready to see what I want to show you, but unfortunately, we have run out of time. They’re coming for you, Neo. And I’m not sure what they’re going to do.”

NEO: “Who’s coming for me?”

MORPHEUS: “Stand up and see for yourself.”

Here, Neo stands up and looks toward the elevator, only to find the agents of the A I and the police heading his way. Morpheus tries to show him how to escape by crawling along a ledge on the outside of the high rise building, but Neo is afraid of heights, and so he gives up and is taken to be interrogated. There the agents put a bug in him and turn him loose. They will track him without him knowing it, hoping he will lead them to Morpheus.

During the interrogation, Agent Smith, the chief villain, says to Neo, “We know that you have been contacted by a certain individual. A man who calls himself Morpheus. Whatever you think you know about this man is irrelevant to the fact that he is wanted for acts of terrorism in more countries than any other man in the world. He is considered by many authorities to be the most dangerous man alive.”

When a person allows himself be transformed by the Spirit of God, he is no longer of this world. The world under Satan knows that and sees him as an enemy. This is why true followers of Christ are targets in this world and the worldly church system. Jesus put it this way,

For he who is not against us is on our side. (Mark 9:40, NKJV).

In Galatians, Paul wrote about the those under the law persecuting those who follow the Spirit and the war that goes on between them.

Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise. This is allegorically speaking: for these women are two covenants, one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. For it is written, “REJOICE, BARREN WOMAN WHO DOES NOT BEAR; BREAK FORTH AND SHOUT, YOU WHO ARE NOT IN LABOR; FOR MORE ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE DESOLATE THAN OF THE ONE WHO HAS A HUSBAND.” And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. (Galatians 4:21-29, NASB).

The next morning after the agents turn Neo loose, he gets a phone call from Morpheus, who says, “You’re the One, Neo. You see, you may have spent the last few years looking for me, but I’ve spent most of my life looking for you.” We often hear a Christian testify that they “found Jesus.” In reality, God chases us down and finds us. Isaiah wrote:

I was sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by My name. (Isaiah 65:1, NKJV).

The next night the crew of the Nebachudnezzar meets Neo inside the Matrix on a rainy city street where they debug him and take him to Morpheus. The dialogue which follows is very interesting.

MORPHEUS: “I imagine, right now, you must be feeling a bit like Alice, tumbling down the rabbit hole?”

NEO: “You could say that.”

MORPHEUS: “I can see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up. Ironically, this is not far from the truth. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Can you tell me, Neo, why are you here?

NEO: “You’re Morpheus, you’re a legend. Most hackers would die to meet you.”

MORPHEUS: “Yes. Thank you. But I think we both know there’s more to it than that. Do you believe in fate, Neo?”

NEO: “No.”

MORPHEUS: “Why not?”

NEO: “Because I don’t like the idea that I’m not in control of my life.”

MORPHEUS: “I know exactly what you mean. Let me tell you why you are here. You have come because you know something. What you know you can’t explain but you feel it. You’ve felt it your whole life, felt that something is wrong with the world. You don’t know what, but it’s there like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that brought you to me. Do you know what I’m talking about?”

NEO: “The Matrix?”

MORPHEUS: “Do you want to know what it is?”

Neo swallows hard and nods

MORPHEUS: “The Matrix is everywhere, it’s all around us, here even in this room. You can see it out your window or on your television. You feel it when you go to work, or go to church or pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.

NEO: “What truth?”

MORPHEUS: “That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, kept inside a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A prison for your mind. Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.”

Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s offspring, and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You shall become free’?”

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. And the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:31-36, NASB).

As the scene continues:

Morpheus opens his hands. In the right is a red pill. In the left, a blue pill.

MORPHEUS: “This is your last chance. After this, there is no going back. You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and you believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”

Neo feels the smooth skin of the capsules, the moisture growing in his palms

MORPHEUS: “Remember that all I am offering is the truth. Nothing more.”

Neo opens his mouth and swallows the red pill.

MORPHEUS: “Follow me.”

In this discourse there are a number of similarities with how we come to Christ. First, we are introduced to the idea that there is another world that we are not part of, the kingdom of God. Often we heard Him calling us during our lives, but didn’t recognize His voice. He saves some from death by miraculous acts. Others have a perception of a spiritual presence in their lives. Some have a great emptiness in themselves that they try to fill with the things that the world has to offer, but nothing satisfies.

When the spiritual world starts to open up, most of us feel like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole into a new world we have never experienced before. When we become aware that we must give up control of our lives, we are not sure that is a step we want to take. To enter fully into the kingdom of God it is necessary for us to give all control over to Jesus, for He is the Head of His body, the called out ones who believe.

It takes some of us years to understand just how thorough a delusion the enemy has woven into our lives. As Morpheus puts it, “The Matrix is everywhere, it’s all around us, here even in this room. You can see it out your window or on your television. You feel it when you go to work, or go to church or pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.”

It is easy to see the difference between the lusts of this world system and those things that are spiritual. We can see it all around us in the television, at work, and in the oppressive tax system of social government. But it takes most of us many years to see the difference between the Matrix in the church systems and the real kingdom of God. The church systems of today are not the same as the infant church set in motion by the Spirit in the New Testament. Anyone who abides in that system are soon taken captive to its desires for its own purposes. It takes many years and much revelation from God before captivity to this religious system is broken.

Morpheus here is a type of Christ. He is calling us to come out of all forms of bondage and be free in Him. As Morpheus explains to Neo, “You are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, kept inside a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A prison for your mind. Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.”

Jesus came to set the captives free. Much to the chagrin of the religious system of that time, Jesus was not interested in kicking the Romans out of Israel, but setting the people free of religious tyranny. Of Roman’s heavy taxation Jesus said, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When speaking of the religious leaders he was more specific:

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. Woe to you, blind guides, who say, “Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.”

Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, “Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.” Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, “If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.”

Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? (Matthew 23:13-33, NKJV).

Yes, like Morpheus told Neo, we have to see it for ourselves. Many of us have been beaten up for years by those in control of the church because we have dared to let the Spirit of Christ become manifest in us. Controllers are always threatened by the freedom of the Spirit as He blows through their carefully orchestrated meetings. It is the grace of God that keeps us at odds with this system, locked outside their inner circles, for He is calling us outside the gates of Christendom unto Jesus who suffered outside the religious camp of the Jews. It is there He has set His spiritual table for us to feast from (See Hebrews 13:10-14).

The pill that Neo took that led him to freedom was red. Jesus purchased our freedom by the shedding of His blood, and we must follow Jesus if we are to find our total freedom. Jesus said,, “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you can not be my disciples.”

After Neo swallows the red pill, Morpheus goes on to tell Neo, “The pill you took is part of a trace program. It’s designed to disrupt your input/output carrier signal so we can pinpoint your location.”

NEO: “What does that mean?”

CYPHER: “It means buckle up, Dorothy, ’cause Kansas is going bye-bye.”

Once we have truly been born again, we are no longer of this world or its sin nature. We become aliens and pilgrims in a strange land. We have rejected the control of this world, and it rejects us.

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him. (Romans 6:1-8, NKJV).

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:8-10, NKJV).

In the next scene we see the Matrix rejecting Neo’s body and flushing him down the sewer. The crew of the Nebuchadnezzar rescues him, just like Jesus the good Shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine in search of the one. Where did the church get the idea that people should come into one of their buildings to get saved?

On that day Jesus went out of the house, and was sitting by the sea. And great multitudes gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole multitude was standing on the beach. And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow. (Matthew 13:1-3, NASB).

We also need to follow His example and go out of the house to where the starving people are found.

Next we see Neo waking up in the Nebuchadnezzar with body and soul together for the first time, asking Morpheus, “Am I dead?”

MORPHEUS: “Far from it.”

NEO: “Why do my eyes hurt?

MORPHEUS: “It is the first time you have used them.”

How true! While in the world and its worldly churches we are every bit as blind as the Jews who rejected Jesus as their Messiah. When He rescues us from all that, we start to see things in the light of the Spirit. Because we had never before used our spiritual eyes, some of the things He wants to show us hurt.

Next Morpheus tells Neo, “Rest Neo, the answers are coming.” In entering into the Father’s rest we find all the answers we need to walk out the kingdom in this world. It is not by our might or power that we must walk, but by His Spirit. To walk in His seventh day rest is to walk in the Spirit just as Jesus did (see Hebrews chapters 3 and 4).

The next day Neo wakes up in his own room on the ship and is taken on a tour. As he is introduced to the crew by Morpheus, they walk by the ship’s plaque. It reads “Nebuchadnezzar – Mark 3 No. 11.”

Mark 3:11 reads:

And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.” (Mark 3:11, NKJV).

With the help of the port on the back of Neo’s head left over form his captivity in the Matrix, Neo is plugged into a computer program. This program is used by Morpheus to give him a tour of the Matrix. Neo sees the vast fields of fetuses grown to give the machine the power it needs to survive. Finally it ends in this discourse:

MORPHEUS: “What is the Matrix? Control.”

He opens the back of the television remote control.

MORPHEUS: “The Matrix is a computer-generated dream world built to keep us under control in order to change a human being into this.”

He holds up a coppertop battery.

NEO: “No! I don’t believe it! It’s not possible!”

MORPHEUS: “I didn’t say that it would be easy, Neo. I just said that it would be the truth.”

Control is the issue between real life and death. Everything about this world system seeks to control its occupants. Control is everywhere, draining us of our lives. But there is one great difference between this world system and God. God does not control His people. He leads them like a good Shepherd. He goes before them, calling them by name and they know His voice and follow Him. This is NOT control, but willing submission out of hearts of love for Him. John chapter ten teaches us about His ways as our Shepherd.

So many are still living in a Satanic controlled dream world that holds them captive and sucks the life out of them. The greatest delusion is the religions of men, for they give the perception of spirituality without giving their adherents spiritual freedom to follow the Spirit.

Not many people can stand to see the whole truth, because in accepting the truth we must make some changes. The moment we refuse to be changed by the truth is the moment we are back under the control of the lie and once again under the control of The Matrix.

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-14, NKJV).

Next we see Neo back on the ship, unplugged from the construct program, struggling with the truth.

NEO: “I can’t go back, can I?”

MORPHEUS: “No. But if you could, would you really want to?”

Deep down, Neo knows that answer.

MORPHEUS: “I feel that I owe you an apology. There is a rule that we do not free a mind once it reaches a certain age. It is dangerous. They have trouble letting go. Their mind turns against them. I’ve seen it happen. I broke the rule because I had to.”

This is so true. The older we get and the longer we are in the world systems, the harder it is for us to get free. All the ones Jesus called as His disciples were young men in their twenties. When old Nicodemus came to Jesus one night, he was unable to understand the simplest of spiritual terms. The wineskin had already started to harden.

Morpheus continues: “When the Matrix was first built there was a man born inside that had the ability to change what he wanted, to remake the Matrix as he saw fit. It was this man that freed the first of us and taught us the secret of the war; control the Matrix and you control the future, When he died, the Oracle prophesied his return and envisioned an end to the war and freedom for our people. That is why there are those of us that have spent our entire lives searching the Matrix, looking for him. I did what I did because I believe the search is over.”

Paul wrote of this:

And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. (1 Corinthians 15:45-50, NKJV)

Jesus is that Life-giving Spirit. He is the one that has come to end the war.

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. (Ephesians 2:14-19, NKJV).

The dialogue continues:

NEO: “I know what you’re trying to do –”

MORPHEUS: “I’m trying to free your mind, Neo, but all I can do is show you the door. You’re the one that has to step through.”

Once we are saved, the problem is in our minds. Our minds have to become totally free. We must see ourselves as IN CHRIST beyond any doubt in order to walk in His power and authority. The door is there for us to step through just as it was for John in the Revelation.

After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” (Revelation 4:1, NKJV).

For a long time we Christians have left Jesus standing outside the door of our Laodicean churches while we were all snug inside. We thought that we were spiritually rich and needed nothing, selling short the kingdom of God, but all the time God saw us as mere babes needing milk. Sunday after Sunday we hear basic rudiments of faith preached again and again and we never go on to anything more. (see Hebrews 4:12 to 5:2)

He is calling us higher than the rudimentary levels of this world and sacramental religion. We are called to NOW dwell in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (see Ephesians 1:3, 1:20, 2:6, 3:10, and 6:12). From here in heavenly places the bride is seen coming down, the New Jerusalem from above.

Morpheus continues: “Let it all go, Neo. Fear. Doubt. Disbelief. Free your mind.”

We, too, can miss it. Yes, WE who have been baptized in Christ! How? By refusing to walk in faith and follow Him into an ever increasing level of obedience. We must enter into His rest and there find the faith we need to walk after Him in our daily lives.

In a later training program, Neo is taken into a downtown Chicago scene bustling with people. Here Morpheus explains to Neo, “It is important to understand that if you are not one of us, you are one of them.” Jesus put it this way: “No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Mammon is all the enticements of this world with which it seeks to control you through your carnal nature and lust for gain. There is no middle ground. The carnal nature is at war against God.

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. (Romans 8:7-9, NKJV).

Here in this program Neo encounters an agent of the A I that morphs from the form of a beautiful woman into his real self. Morpheus explains the threat to Neo. “The agents are sentient programs. They can enter any software that is hardwired to the system. They can become anyone who is still a captive of the Matrix. It the Matrix is a prison, then the agents are its wardens and if humankind is to survive they first must be stopped.”

MORPHEUS: “I’ve seen an agent punch through a concrete wall. Men have emptied entire clips at them and hit noting but air. Yet as powerful as they are, their speed and strength are but tethers to the rules of an unreal world. Because of this, they will never be as strong or as fast as you can be.

Neo scratches his head.

NEO: ” What? Are you trying to tell me that I can dodge bullets?”

MORPHEUS: “No, Neo. I’m trying to tell you that when you’re ready, you won’t have to.”

As powerful as Satan and his minions might be, God has placed a greater power in those who are His –a power over demons, sickness and death, the power to reverse the entropy brought into this world through sin.

Later, not knowing it, Neo catches Cypher at the computer controls of the ship making a deal with Agent Smith. Cypher is willing to sell his body back into the Matrix if he can become a movie star and live the rest of his life in the delusion of success, living high on the hog, with the reality outside the Matrix erased from his mind. For this bit of delusion, he agrees to turn over Morpheus, the only one with the password to access the mainframe computer in Zion. Here the plot starts to thicken. Judas is about to sell out the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar and turn Morpheus over to the agents.

Finally, the day comes when Morpheus takes Neo to see the Oracle and here is Cypher’s chance to betray Morpheus. Inside the Matrix and in the city once again, Cypher turns on his cell phone and drops it in a nearby garbage can so the agents can follow its signal.

In the car a dialogue goes on between Trinity and Neo, who recognizes some of the city where his mind was once a captive in non-existence:

NEO: “I have these memories, from my entire life but… none of them really happened.”

He turns to her.

NEO: “What does that mean?”

TRINITY: “That the Matrix cannot tell you who you are.”

NEO: “But an Oracle can.”

So many people in this world are seeking an identity from the system that sucks the life out of them. They spend all their lives trying to build a legacy and a name for themselves or serving some insidious sin that controls them through the lusts of their body. They look to the Matrix to tell them who they are.

Finally in his meeting with the Oracle she tells him, “Sorry, kid. You got the gift, but it looks like you are waiting for something… your next life, maybe. Who knows. That’s how these things go… ”

How many of the promises of the Bible for its kingdom people do we delegate to the next life? The older I get and the more God opens my eyes, the less I apply the words of the scriptures to the next life, but see it as all ONE life and see that “ALL scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness…” The dispensational teachings of men have made too much of the Bible of no effect in the lives of God’s saints today.

The Oracle continues, “Morpheus believes in you, Neo and no one, not you or even me can convince him otherwise. He believe it so blindly that he’s going to sacrifice his life to save yours.”

Jesus believes in us, and He believes in the power of His Father to bring us forth into the fellowship of the Son. He believed this so much that He gave His life so we could be joint heirs of that inheritance with Him. Paul wrote to the Romans,

Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. (Romans 8:27-30, NKJV).e

Later in a hotel they are climbing the stairs on their way back to the Nebuchadnezzar. Trinity has this dialogue with Neo:

TRINITY: “What did you just say?”

NEO: “Nothing. Just had a little deja vu.”

TRINITY: “What happened? What did you see?”

NEO: “A black cat went past us and then I saw another that looked just like it.”

TRINITY: “How much like it? Was it the same cat?”

NEO: “It might have been. I’m not sure.”

Trinity looks at Morpheus who listens quietly to the rasping breath of the old building.

NEO: “What is it?”

TRINITY: “A deja vu is usually a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they change something.”

The more things in Satan’s evil kingdom change, the more they remain the same. He is not original except in his own rebellion and passing that rebellion on to men. He has succeeded in deluding man over and over with the same root of temptation generated in his own heart. Of him Isaiah prophesied,

For you have said in your heart: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” (Isaiah 14:13,14, NKJV).

Oh to be like God. On the surface this seems to be a godly goal, but is really rebellion. Man is not called to imitate God, but to yield to Him and let His Spirit manifest His will in us. It is not “What would Jesus do?” as if we could imagine what God would do in any situation, much less have the power to do it. No, it is rather, “what is Jesus doing in us at this moment as His saints?” This is the difference between rebellion and yielding. The spiritual man knows there is no good thing in his old nature.

Finally, they all escape the agents and police of the Matrix except Morpheus, who lays down his life for Neo and the others. He is not killed, but taken to be interrogated in a very secure police building. Cypher gets back to the ship before the others and continues his betrayal by unplugging the rest of the crew while they are still in the Matrix, killing them. He comes to Neo and just as he is about to unplug his body, Tank revives from the wound inflicted by Cypher and kills the traitor. Once back on the ship, Neo hatches a plan to save Morpheus and is determined to go it alone. Trinity convinces him that she must go with him for him to succeed. God calls us to function and minister as a body, not a bunch of one-man bands.

In the mean time in the government building where Morpheus is being held, Agent Smith stands, staring out the windows at the city below shimmering with brilliant sunlight.

AGENT SMITH: “Have you ever stood and stared at it, Morpheus? Marveled at its beauty. Its genius. Billions of people just living out their lives… oblivious.”

Morpheus is handcuffed to a chair, stripped to the waist. He is alternately shivering and sweating, wired to various monitors with white disk electrodes. Beside him, Agent Brown sucks a drug from a glass vial, filling a hypodermic needle.

AGENT SMITH: “Did you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program. Entire crops were lost.”

Agent Brown jams the needle into Morpheus’ neck and pushes down the plunger.

AGENT SMITH: “Some believed we lacked the programming language to describe your perfect world. But I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through suffering and misery.”

Agent Brown studies the screens as the life signs react violently to the injection.

AGENT SMITH: “The perfect world was a dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up from. Which is why the Matrix was redesigned to this: the peak of your civilization.”

He turns from the window.

AGENT SMITH: “I say ‘your civilization’ because as soon as we started thinking for you, it really became our civilization, which is, of course, what this is all about.”

When Satan and his minions found themselves cast out of heaven and without bodies , they set out to take this world captive for their own use. They still seek our bodies to manifest themselves. They use delusion and lies to control us so that they can manifest the real evil that drives them. This is where all the pain and suffering of this world comes from.

Agent Smith sits down directly in front of Morpheus.

AGENT SMITH: “Evolution, Morpheus. Evolution.”

He lifts Morpheus’ head.

AGENT SMITH: “Like the dinosaur. Look out that window. You had your time.”

Morpheus stares hard at him, trying not to show the pain racking his mind.

AGENT SMITH: “The future is our world, Morpheus. The future is our time.”

Here we see the insidious plan of Satan at work. The first world was perfect, and God considered everything He created was good. Satan set out to be the god of this perfect world. By deceiving man and getting him to join the rebellion against God, Satan became its ruler. Man fell for the same lie that was in Satan’s heart, “If you eat of this tree you shall be like God, knowing both good and evil.” Upon man’s fall, entire crops were lost. Man was doomed to die in his sin. God then enacted the rest of His plan by putting in motion a sequence of events among men that would make way for the advent of His Son who would suffer and die for mankind that they might be saved and conformed into His own image.

In a sense Agent Smith is right, “human beings define their reality through suffering and misery.” As Paul put it:

. . .that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:10,11, NKJV).

Without suffering and tribulation there is no entering the kingdom of heaven. (See Acts 14:22).

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:1-5, NKJV).

This quote from Agent Smith is interesting, “I say ‘your civilization’ because as soon as we started thinking for you, it really became our civilization, which is, of course, what this is all about.” This is how Satan took control of the world God had given man to rule over. He got man to let him do the thinking for him, making him think that he was doing the thinking.

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. (Genesis 3:1-7, NKJV).

God nowhere said that touching the tree in the midst of the garden would cause them to die. She was now thinking for herself, or was she? Her thoughts were really put in her mind by the enemy. Satan accused God of lying to man to protect His own self interest and tells Eve, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Here is the folly of religious man. He still eats of this tree today. He is constantly deciding for himself what is good and what is evil. “We don’t smoke and we don’t chew and we don’t go with the girls that do!”

Jesus must have used a different measuring stick, because the religious leaders of Israel were constantly offended by His actions. He ate with sinners and harlots. His disciples did not observe the ceremonial washing of hands before they ate. They were constantly breaking the Sabbath, at least according to these self-righteous ones who ruled by the law over the people of Israel.

Jesus did not walk by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He walked by the Tree of Life. When the Pharisees came at Him with a good and evil question, He gave an answer that rendered life. We would do well to learn form Him and listen to the Father of all life as He did. Here is an example:

Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”

This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” (John 8:3-11, NKJV).

Jesus did not answer according to a law, but gave the poor woman life and freed her of condemnation and sin. Jesus did not come to fortify their religion, nor did He come to establish a new one that was better. He came that all men might have life and that more abundantly. He came to reverse the curse that came upon man when he listened to the serpent. He came to give man another chance to learn to hear the voice of the Father speaking to him in love. Isaiah prophesied of this when he said,

And though the Lord gives you The bread of adversity and the water of affliction, Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, But your eyes shall see your teachers. Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left. (Isaiah 30:20,21, NKJV).

John put it this way,

But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. (1 John 2:27, NKJV).

In the following dialogue Neo, and Trinity argue over whether it is Neo–who will save the world–or Morpheus who really counts:

TRINITY: “Neo, Morpheus sacrificed himself so he could get you out.”

NEO: “Morpheus did what he did because he believed that I’m something I’m not.”

TRINITY: “What?”

NEO: “I’m not the One, Trinity. The Oracle hit me with that too.”

Trinity is stunned.

TRINITY: “No, you… have to be.”

NEO: “I’m sorry, I’m not. I’m just another guy. Morpheus is the one that matters.”

TRINITY: “No, Neo. That’s not true It can’t be true.”

NEO: “Why?”

TRINITY: “Because…”

Uncertainty swallows her words and she is unable to tell him what she wants to.

Christ came to not only die for our sins so we would not have to, but to prepare the way so that we could walk before the Father like He does. For many people, this causes the same confusion we see here in this dialogue between Neo and Trinity. Morpheus, a type of Christ, IS the one that counts, but at the same time we count, too, because we are becoming one with him As Jesus prayed in that last hour before He was to go to the cross:

They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them. (John 17:16-26, NKJV).

All the way through this prayer of His, “I” and “them” are mentioned together. This is the goal of the gospel and the Christian life–Christ in us the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).

The dialogue back onboard the Nebuchadnezzar continues:

TANK: “Neo, this is loco. They’ve got Morpheus in a military-controlled building. Even if you somehow got inside, those are agents holding him. Three of them! I want Morpheus back, too, but what you are talking about is suicide.”

NEO: “I know that’s what it looks like, but it’s not. I can’t logically explain to you why it’s not. Morpheus believed something and he was ready to give his life for what he believed. I understand that now. That’s why I have to go.

TANK: “Why?”

NEO: “Because I believe in something.”

For the first three hundred years of the church, the people of God laid down their lives for Christ and millions of them died at the hands of the Jewish leaders and Roman despots. They believed in something because Jesus led the way and first laid down His life for that same goal. They considered it an honor to die for their faith in Christ. Like Moses, the momentary comforts of this world could not hold them back from going the distance.

By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. (Hebrews 11:24-27, NKJV).

Neo and Trinity arm themselves in the construct and Tank transports them into the Matrix where they manage to rescue Morpheus from the agents in spite of the seemingly insurmountable odds. Afterwards we hear this exchange between Neo and Morpheus before they are able to exit the Matrix:

NEO: “Morpheus, the Oracle… she told me –”

MORPHEUS: “She told you exactly what you needed to hear. That’s all. Sooner or later, Neo, you’re going to realize just like I did the difference between knowing the path and walking the path.”

Here is the crux of our dilemma as faithful saints in Christ. Are we going to just give lip service to the promises of Christ or are we going to start living them out by the power of His Spirit? Someone once said, “You are what you believe.” The longer you live, the more you will see this is true. There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.

Finally, Morpheus and Trinity manage to escape back to their ship, but before Neo can get out an agent materializes and thwarts his exit on a subway platform below the city. Morpheus, Trinity and Tank watch the confrontation between the two foes. Neo looks toward the stairs as if to make a run for it, but turns back to face Agent Smith.

TRINITY: “What is he doing?”

MORPHEUS: “He’s beginning to believe.”

When we really begin to believe, we start walking that way. We become what we believe in Christ. The theme of this whole movie focuses on getting Neo to believe that he is “the one.” Morpheus believes he is; Trinity wants to, and that belief grows with each leap of maturity Neo takes.

At what point are we saved? Some say you are saved when you “accept Christ as your personal Savior.” Yet, the Bible says that we were in Christ from the foundations of the world. Paul wrote,”Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:1,2, NKJV). True salvation is a process that is ongoing. The process is not complete until we come into the fullness of Christ and walk out our faith like the Master did on this earth, “that where I am, they might be also.” As Paul wrote:

. . .that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. a(Philippians 3:10-14, NKJV).

Neo battles against Agent Smith and finally wins–for a moment. Agent Smith gets run over by a subway train as they struggle, but then pops out of the interior of the train car as it stops and the doors open. At this Neo takes off up the stairs on a dead run. The chase is on through the bustling streets of Chicago with all three agents after him. Finally, Neo climbs the fire escape on the back of the Heart of the City Hotel and dives into room 303 where a phone is ringing, his method of exit from the Matrix. But Agent Smith is there with gun drawn, waiting for him. Neo sees the barrel of the gun pointing at him and then “BOOM!” Neo is shot in the chest. He staggers back, “Boom” again and again. Neo staggers out into the hall and slumps down against the opposite wall leaving a streak of blood on the wall as he hits the floor, dead.

AGENT SMITH: “Check him.”

Kneeling beside him, Agent Brown checks his vital signs.

AGENT BROWN: “He’s gone.”

Agent Smith smiles, standing over him.

AGENT SMITH: “Good-bye, Mr. Anderson.”

Meanwhile, back on the Nebachudnezzar, they have been fighting their own battle against the Sentinels, octopus like robots armed with lasers that can cut into the ship. The sentinels have been sent out by the A I to destroy them. They have a dilemma. The crew’s only defense is to fire their electro-magnetic pulse weapon that disables the sentinels but also breaks the electronic tie to Neo and kills him.

Neo appears dead in the hallway of the cheap hotel, surrounded by the three agents, but Trinity believes that he will raise from the dead. This reminds me of the scene of Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus, speaking to Martha Lazarus’ sister.

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” (John 11:23-27, NKJV).

Back on the ship, Trinity speaks into the lifeless body of Neo in the chair where it is plugged into the Matrix.

TRINITY: “Neo, please, listen to me. I promised to tell you the rest. The Oracle, she told me that I’d fall in love and that man, the man I loved would be the One. You see? You can’t be dead, Neo, you can’t be because I love you. You hear me? I love you!”

Her eyes close and she kisses him, believing in all her heart that he will feel her lips and know that they speak the truth.He does. And they do. His eyes snap open.

Back on the main deck of the ship, Trinity screams as the monitors back to life. Tank and Morpheus look at each other. It is a miracle.

TRINITY: “Now get up!”

In the hall of the hotel. Holding his chest, Neo struggles to get up. At the end of the hall, the Agents wait for the elevator when Agent Smith glances back. He rips off his sunglasses looking at Neo as if he were looking at a ghost. Neo gets to his feet, all three Agents grabbing for their guns. As one, they fire.

NEO: “No!”

Neo raises his hands and the bullets, like a cloud of obedient bees, slow and come to a stop. They hang frozen in space, fixed like stainless steel stars. The Agents are unable to absorb what they are seeing. Neo plucks one of the bullets from the air. He drops the bullet and the others fall to the floor. Neo looks out, now able to see through the curtain of the Matrix. For a moment, the walls, the floor, even the Agents become a rushing stream of computer code.

Back on the main deck of the ship. all three stare transfixed with awe as the scrolling code accelerates, faster and faster, as if the machine language was unable to keep up or describe what is happening. They begin to blur with brilliant saturated color images of Neo standing in the hall.

TANK: “How…?!”

MORPHEUS: “He is the One. He is the One!”

An explosion shakes the entire ship.

Back in the hotel hall, Agent Smith screams, his calm machine-like expression shredding with pure rage. He rushes Neo. His attack is ferocious but Neo blocks each blow easily. Then with one quick strike to the chest he sends Agent Smith flying backwards. For the first time since their inception, the Agents know fear. Agent Smith gets up and attacks again but as he lunges, Neo disappears. Spinning around he looks to the others and feels something, like a tremor before a quake, something deep, something that is going to change everything. Suddenly a earing sound stabs through his earpiece as his chest begins to swell, then balloon as Neo bursts up out of him. Agent Smith screams, fighting what seems inevitable as Neo absorbs and envelops him, overtaking Smith as if he were now an Agent, until only Neo is left. Neo faces the remaining Agents. They look at each other, the same idea striking simultaneously and they run.

In Christ we who are his saints, win over the wicked one.

. . .but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.” And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. (Revelation 12:8-11, NKJV).

As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:36-39, NKJV).

Back on the ship, sentinels are everywhere, destroying the ship. A laser cuts its way towards Morpheus, who stands at the EMP detonator.

TRINITY: “Neo!”

In the hotel hall, he hears her. He reacts to the ringing phone, rushing towards it even as he LASERS burn towards Morpheus on the Nebuchadnezzar. We see Neo dive for the phone as the laser hits.

TRINITY: “Now!”

Morpheus turns the key. A blinding shock of white light floods the chamber; Sentinels blink and fall instantly dead, filling the pit with their cold metal carcasses. In the still darkness, only the humans are alive.

TRINITY: “Neo?”

His eyes open. Tears pour from her smiling eyes as he reaches up to touch her. She kisses him; it seems like it might last forever.

It does.

And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen! (2 Timothy 4:18, NKJV). Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20,21, NKJV).

FADE TO BLACK

FADE IN:

CLOSE ON COMPUTER SCREEN as in the opening. The cursor beating steadily, waiting.

A PHONE begins to RING.

It is answered and the screen fills instantly with the trace program. After a long beat, we recognize Neo’s voice.

NEO: “Hi. It’s me. I know you’re out there. I can feel you now.”

We CLOSE IN ON the racing columns of numbers shimmering across the screen.

NEO: “I imagine you can also feel me.”

We DIVE THROUGH the numbers, SURGING UP THROUGH the darkness, SUCKED TOWARDS a tight constellation of stars.

NEO: “I know you’re out there. I can feel you now. I know that you’re afraid. You’re afraid of us. You’re afraid of change. I don’t know the future. I didn’t come here to tell you how it’s going to end. I came here to tell you how it’s going to begin.

“I’m going to hang up this phone. I’m going to show these people what you don’t want them to see. I’m going to show them a world without you, a world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries, a world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.”

God sent Jesus into this rebellious world to oppose the works of the devil. He paved the way for us to have a part in that work. Satan knows his days are numbered. Change is foreign to him. He only can repeat what works for him. It is God that authors change, though He Himself does not change. We who abide in Christ are His instruments of change. “Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7, NKJV).

God has given us the task of revealing the truth to those who seek it. He did not give us a job of trading them one form of bondage for another. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32). Jesus came to fill up the just requirements of the law and set us free to walk in His Spirit as God’s own sons and daughters. In this world all things in Christ are open to us.

We shoot through the holes as Neo hangs up the phone. He steps out of the phone booth and slides on a pair of sunglasses. He looks up and we rise,higher and higher until the city is miles below. After a moment, Neo blasts by us, his long black coat billowing like a black leather cape as he flies faster then a speeding bullet.

After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” (Revelation 4:1, NKJV).

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. (Philippians 3:13-15, NKJV).

Obey the upward call of the Spirit in Christ and His life in you becomes an adventure with no boundaries.

FADE OUT.

THE END

Quotations are from the Matrix script by Larry and Andy Wachowski, and may vary slightly from dialog in the movie.

By Michael Clark

Is the Church an Addictive Organization?

We are slowly and painfully becoming aware of the role of addiction in our society. We are learning not only about chemical dependency but about codependency and the roles played by members of dysfunctional families.

Alcohol and drug addiction are just the tip of the iceberg. Many experts are recognizing that there are various other forms of addiction. Some involve substances introduced into the body, such as alcohol, drugs, nicotine, caffeine, salt and sugar — substances that can be mood-altering — but others involve a process: extreme preoccupation with relationships, money, sex, religion, gambling, romance, violence, the arms race, television and so on. In such cases, one becomes addicted to the “process” of the addiction. For example, someone addicted to money is more concerned with having (or not having) it than with money itself. Both types of addictions interfere with people’s ability to be in touch with themselves, their spirituality and their world. The addiction changes behavior, distorts reality and fosters self-centeredness. Any addiction can kill; some do it more slowly than others.

No one has only one addiction. As addicts begin recovering from their primary addiction and achieve some sobriety, other addictions emerge. The addictive process is like an underground river. The mainstream may be drugs and alcohol; when that branch is blocked (with recovery) the river finds another channel, then another, and another. To recognize the underlying addictive process is to acknowledge that society itself operates addictively; its institutions perpetuate the addictive process. Individual addicts are characterized by self-centeredness, dishonesty, preoccupation with control, abnormal thinking processes, confusion, denial, perfectionism, judgmentalism, repressed feelings and ethical deterioration. Society exhibits these same traits. It does not merely encourage addictions; it regards them as normal.

This addictive process can be seen as part of what Jesus called “principalities and powers.” By shutting off our awareness of ourselves and our spirituality, addictions make us easier to manipulate and control. The person who is best adjusted to an addictive society is like a zombie, neither dead nor alive.

The church, too, can take on the characteristics of an addict. Matthew Fox has argued that the Catholic Church is functioning like an addictive organization. Addictive leaders, he says, “have the power to bring an organization to the brink of destruction.” “The Vatican’s obsession with sex is a worldwide scandal that demonstrates a serious psychic imbalance,” Fox claims. He also sees an illusion of grandiosity” in the church, which he believes serves as a kind of “fix” for the addict obsessed with power. Citing another trait of addictive behavior, Fox says that the church functions out of an “illusion of control.” It does not communicate directly with those it has censored, but rather, like a dysfunctional organization, communicates only indirectly. He also believes that the Catholic Church, like the typical dysfunctional family or organization, refuses to engage in self-evaluation and self-criticism. “Differences are seen as an attack,” he says. It therefore isolates itself and relates only to those who think as it does.

An organization can function in an addictive way on four levels. These levels can occur simultaneously or by themselves, though the fourth level is not usually found without the first and second. The addiction grows more complex on the higher levels.

The first level occurs when there is an addict in a key position. First-level addiction in the church usually means that the minister or someone in leadership is an addict. Such people may be substance abusers, but usually in the case of church leaders the problem is an addiction to work, sex, romance, self-abuse, power or money.

For example, I know a minister’s adult daughter who was exploring her own workaholism. She had become exhausted and realized that she did not feel she had any value unless she was “productive.” “I learned to be a workaholic in my home,” she told me. “I have always been obsessed with work, and this has been unhealthy for me and often interfered with my relationships. One day I picked up a book on adult children of alcoholics and was mesmerized. I couldn’t put it down. There was no drinking in my family, but the dynamics described in that book were my family.

“My dad was never home,” she said. “He was always working. Even when he was home, he was ‘in the study’ and we kids were not allowed to ‘disturb’ him. His work was the most important thing in our family. If any of us complained about never seeing him, he always had the excuse that he was doing ‘the Lord’s work’ and working himself to death was justified.

“Because he was always tired and overextended, he was always irritable. When I read the descriptions of the rages and mood swings of the alcoholic father, I realized that we had the same thing in our family. The entire family was always walking on eggs around him, and our lives were geared to his life and his moods. Nothing else mattered.

“Because of his intensity about his work, his constant ‘cause’ and his overwhelming obsession with money, my family was oriented toward crisis. We were always on the edge of some disaster.

“He ran the church the same way. The only people who were worthy of his respect were those who were willing to ‘suffer for Christ.’ He was respected for being a hard worker, but he was never loved. Just as we kids always felt guilty and bad about ourselves in his presence, the parishioners were always uneasy and felt guilty in relation to him. No matter what they did, it was never enough.

“Although he was always working and on the run, his actual productivity decreased. He recycled old sermons more and more often. He died in his late 40s and no one ever knew him. I feel like I had a nonrecovering alcoholic for a father. He did not really serve Christ or the church. I now know he served his disease.”

Recent research has shown that workaholism is one of the more socially accepted addictions. Yet, contrary to common assumptions, workaholics are generally less productive than others and are destructive to their organizations. They develop other symptoms of addiction, such as a preoccupation with control (a desire to control themselves, the church and everyone around them) , confused and abnormal thinking patterns, judgmentalism, dishonesty, perfectionism and self-centeredness.

A sexual addict is anyone who is obsessed with sex and whose life has become unmanageable in relation to sex. Sexual addicts are not only those who obsessively engage in sexual activity. People and institutions that make sex the most important aspect of any relationship and read sex into every behavior or relationship yet claim a “pure” attitude about sex are also likely to be sexual addicts.

Addictions invariably arise from certain dualisms that are, in a strange way, mutually supportive. In sexual addiction, the most common dualism is obsession-repression. When addicts repress something they become obsessed with it, and when obsessed with something they try to repress it — a cycle that supports the addiction.

Recent scandals in television ministries and investigations of clergy accused of molesting children are signs of sexual addiction in the church. The church’s repressive approach to sexual matters has often curbed healthy sexual development and expression. One of my Catholic friends has said, “The message I received from the church about sex was, ‘Sex is dirty. Save it for your husband!’” By focusing on premarital sex rather than on whether people love one another before marriage or if they have a relationship before marriage, the church makes sex the most important aspect of any relationship. The information I have been gathering from the people with whom I work suggests that we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg with the recent exposé of priests and clergy molesting children. Incest perpetrators are often respected members of the church and community. When we ignore these matters, they flourish.

Romance addiction is an addiction to illusion or appearances, or to a cause that puts one in an illusionary world. Those addicted to a cause become controlling, demanding, self-centered and even dishonest for the sake of the cause. Those who truly believe that the end justifies the means are romance addicts. For example, I knew a pastor who strongly opposed war but verbally and psychologically abused those who differed with his opinions. He had become so obsessed with the righteousness of his cause that he no longer valued individuals.

Self-abuse, an addiction just beginning to be recognized, seems to underlie many other addictions. It is closely tied to workaholism and chemical addiction. Seminaries and churches talk about valuing the children of God, but they can encourage self-abuse by turning pastors into “Type A” personalities. Few seminaries with which I have consulted offer courses in nutrition, exercise and wellness. While many do offer classes on prayer, they allot little time for students to pray. After classes, studies, fieldwork, family and community responsibilities, students have little time or energy for caring for themselves.

Addiction to self-abuse not only affects individual leaders of the church but is also integrated into the structure. Churches expect clergy to be workaholics and clergy spouses and families to serve as unpaid workers. The pay scales for the ministry — salaries that parishioners would find inadequate for themselves — often assure suffering for the clergy family.

Addiction to power is also evident in churches. It may be encountered in individuals or groups, or be integrated into the church structure. No alcoholic or drug addict trying to get a fix was ever more determined than a power addict. I know a church in which by polity decision-making is in the hands of the congregation, but the minister almost always manipulates or withholds information to get his way. Among clergy he is respected as a powerful and skilled leader. In the congregation he is viewed with suspicion by all but the few who operate like he does.

The second level of addiction in organizations occurs when people support addicts in their addictive behavior. Many forms of codependency exist in the church, usually in very “nice” people. Since they have a poor sense of personal identity, they seek their identity and validation from outside and are terribly fearful of alienating others. Though “nice” on the outside, they are often angry on the inside; one never quite knows what their real feelings are. They have probably learned that anger or “negative” feelings are unchristian, so they repress these feelings and let them out indirectly with great force. Because they are so confused about their feelings, they are unable to interact straightforwardly with others.

Codependents or relationship addicts cannot distinguish between “taking care of’ (which often involves manipulation and control, and can be very destructive) and caring for someone. People who “take care of ” others often believe that ignoring some behavior is a caring act. The clergy and the laity in one church that had an alcoholic in a key lay position spent an inordinate amount of energy “ignoring” the fact that he was not doing his job on a very important committee. They griped and complained behind his back when he did not follow through on his responsibilities or when he came to a meeting drunk, but everyone covered up for him and did not want to hurt his feelings” by confronting his behavior or asking him to resign. Everyone around him suffered gallantly. They believed they were caring for him. What they were doing was not helping him recover from alcoholism.

People from dysfunctional families follow certain patterns of interacting in an organization. For example, those who had taken the “hero” role in their family (i.e., have been the “good,” obedient children who try to bring the appearance of order to the family) are often very hard workers and seem to benefit the organization greatly. Unfortunately, they can almost never cooperate on a team and almost always need to work alone. They are often perfectionists, very demanding of themselves and others.

People who grew up in dysfunctional families are accustomed to crisis. When things are going well, they get anxious. They are always waiting for the other shoe to drop, a crisis to arise, so they can use their skills. When things are going well they have trouble knowing what to do, so they create a crisis.

All of these behaviors wreak havoc in an organization. Yet probably the most damaging is the learned behavior of covering up and enabling the addictive behavior, as evident in the above-mentioned case of the alcoholic layperson. “Hero” children of addictive families tend to enter the helping professions, making this type of addiction common in churches and especially among clergy. The church can also act as a codependent. Some engage in social ministry by deciding what the recipients need and how they should receive it, without asking them what they believe they need or helping them achieve it for themselves. Such churches can be oppressive in their care-taking.

The third level of organizational addiction is when a person becomes addicted to the organization — when the organization itself provides the fix. This level of addiction includes work addiction, addiction to the mission of the organization or addiction to the promise of the organization. A person addicted to the promise of the organization is willing to endure any amount of bad experiences to hold onto that promise, which can be anything from “life everlasting” to a sense of belonging to a community or being accepted. One young woman shared with me how lonely she had been as a child and young adult. She looked to the church to be the family she never had and was led to believe that she would be affirmed if she just did the right things. After being molested by the minister and finding no acceptance among her church “family” for her assertions or pain, she left the church, realizing she had been hooked on an empty promise.

The church is especially vulnerable to these types of addictions. Even when their addiction is to a good cause, a good organization or a worthy promise, addicts lose touch with their spirituality and their relationship to God; the addiction takes over their life, their relationships and their being.

The fourth level of organizational addiction is when the organization itself functions as an addict. In these cases, there is an incongruity between what the organization says its mission is and what it actually does. An organization’s personnel practices, its emphasis on control, and how it interprets and works with power can all reveal signs of addiction.

The Christian church espouses a theology of pluralism; it claims there is no discrimination in the eyes of God, who loves and respects all creatures. Some time ago, however, some consultants studied the decision-making process of a national church organization that strongly espouses pluralism and found that at every level decisions were made in a way that actively inhibited pluralism. Not all minorities (including women, gays and racial groups) had access to major committees. Some, like gays, had to hide that part of their identity in order to participate.

Unlike that of the dominant group, the culture of some of the minority groups did not make decisions using Robert’s Rules of Order or by politicking. Thus they had to lie about how they made decisions when reporting to the dominant group, which would not accept other methods. The national church governing body agreed that these findings were accurate, but it decided to drop the project because it would be too disruptive to the church (as if the lack of a genuine pluralism was not already disrupting the church)

Another example of such an inconsistency is the way many recovering addicts are ignored or rejected by the church. If grace is available to all, why is it offered to some and not others? A minister who is a recovering addict told me that he often experienced more grace in the basement of the church during a Twelve-Step support group meeting than he did in the sanctuary.

A control ideology also indicates an addiction. How does a church share the gospel? Those that impose their belief system on others contradict the notion that the gospel and the teachings of Jesus are powerful in their own right. Can we not trust that simply sharing will be powerful enough?

Churches that are closed systems are so insecure that they believe their survival depends on destroying everything that differs from them or does not support them. Such churches lack faith in the gospel’s inherent power.

These are some of the addictions that I have found operating on many levels of the church. Addictive behavior robs Christians and churches of their full spirituality. Confronting these addictions offers the possibility of recovery and grace. It is a long process; as the Twelve Step Program of Alcoholics Anonymous states, addiction is cunning, baffling, powerful and patient. The first step is naming and facing the addiction.

by Anne Wilson Schaef

Anne Wilson Schaef is a consultant on addiction problems with Wilson-Schaef Associates in Boulder, Colorado. This article appeared in the Christian Century, January 3-10, 1990, pp. 18-21, copyright by the Christian Century Foundation and used by permission. Current articles and subscription information can be found at www.christiancentury.org. This material was prepared for Religion Online by Ted & Winnie Brock.

Developing Spiritual Understanding ~ Part 4 ~ Some Conclusions

Acts 19:5

5 When they heard [this,] they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 7 Now the men were about twelve in all.

Acts 19:5

5 When they heard [this,] they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 7 Now the men were about twelve in all.

The Bible records that Jesus received the Holy Spirit in “Full measure.”

(KJV) John 3:34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure [unto him].

(CEV) John 3:34 The Son was sent to speak God’s message, and he has been given the full power of God’s Spirit.

Coloss 1:19

For God in full measure was pleased to be in him;

Well, it appears to me, that the Spirit of God is distributed in measured amounts as determined by God himself.

Should I be afraid to ask God for what some people call “ The Holy Spirit baptism?”

Philippians 4:6~7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

(GodsWord) Luke 11:11

“If your child asks you, his father, for a fish, would you give him a snake instead?” 12 “Or if your child asks you for an egg, would you give him a scorpion?” 13 “Even though you’re evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children. So how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

Proverbs 28:1

“A wicked person flees when no one is chasing, but righteous people are as bold as lions.”

Acts 2:17

‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.

Romans 8:14

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Galatians 4:6

And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”

Romans 8:15

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

Romans 8:26

In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don’t know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words.

I feel that one thing that we must remember is that “Gifts” are to be used for glorifying God’s Son, Jesus by up building His chosen body ~ the church. Some are for personal prayer and building oneself up, but they are not given for personal boasting or showing off.

I feel it it is important to remember that just because some claim to have spiritual gifts, or even heal others, it doesn’t mean they are necessarily in tune with God.

Perhaps this section of Matthew Chapter 7 will put some of this and other scriptures above into perspective?

12 “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. 13 ” Enter by the narrow gate; for wide [is] the gate and broad [is] the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 “Because narrow [is] the gate and difficult [is] the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. 15 ” Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor [can] a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 “Therefore by their fruits you will know them. 21 ” Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ 24 ” Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 “and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 “and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

Well, I have been saying some things that may not be embraced by everyone who reads this. This is all right because I trust some good seeds have been planted. It is up to my Lord Jesus Christ to see that they grow, if they are ~ in fact ~ good seeds. If they are not, I pray for a crop failure.

Now, I must look at ~ what might be considered ~ another sacred cow. With some trepidation, I realize that, like my understanding of Spiritual gifts, this one might cause others to wonder if I am a Christian at all. I ask that you examine the scriptures before passing judgment.

Wey NT
2 Cor 13:1

This intended visit of mine is my third visit to you. (“On the evidence of two or three witnesses every charge shall be sustained.”)

1 Peter 1:2

You were chosen according to the purpose of God the Father and were made a holy people by his Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be purified by his blood. May grace and peace be yours in full measure.

(TEV) Philippians 2:6 He always had the nature of God, but he did not think that by force he should try to become equal with God.

Deuteronomy 6:4 (ASV & Darby))

Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah:

John 5:15 The man left and told the leaders that Jesus was the one who had healed him. 16 They started making a lot of trouble for Jesus because he did things like this on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus said, “My Father has never stopped working, and that is why I keep on working.” 18 Now the leaders wanted to kill Jesus for two reasons. First, he had broken the law of the Sabbath. But even worse, he had said that God was his Father, which made him equal with God. 19 Jesus told the people: I tell you for certain that the Son cannot do anything on his own. He can do only what he sees the Father doing, and he does exactly what he sees the Father do. 20 The Father loves the Son and has shown him everything he does. The Father will show him even greater things, and you will be amazed. 21 Just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants to. 22 The Father doesn’t judge anyone, but he has made his Son the judge of everyone. 23 The Father wants all people to honor the Son as much as they honor him. When anyone refuses to honor the Son, that is the same as refusing to honor the Father who sent him. 24 I tell you for certain that everyone who hears my message and has faith in the one who sent me has eternal life and will never be condemned. They have already gone from death to life.

Mark 12:29

Jesus answered, “The foremost is, `HEAR, O ISRAEL ! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD;

James 2:19

You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.

1 Timothy 2:5

For there is one God: and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus:

So, what about the “Trinity?” Well, when I study it, it appears that the teaching was not practiced in the early church. Shouldn’t something as important as dividing God into three parts or personages be addressed in the scripture? Certainly history records Constantine, not a believer then himself, forced the bishops to accept duality of God and Jesus in the 2nd century. The Holy Spirit was added later.

Perhaps a good determinant of how much “Peace” one has can be evidenced by how much one submits to God.

Romans 3:17

And the way of peace they have not known.”

Romans 8:6

For to be carnally minded [is] death, but to be spiritually minded [is] life and peace.

1 Peter 3:11

Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it.

Hebrews 12:11

Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Ephesians 2:14

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,

Ephesians 2:15

having abolished in His flesh the enmity, [that is,] the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man [from] the two, [thus] making peace,

Philipp 4:7

and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philipp 4:9

The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

2 Peter 1:2

I pray that God will be kind to you and will let you live in perfect peace! May you keep learning more and more about God and our Lord Jesus.

1 Peter 1:2

You were chosen according to the purpose of God the Father and were made a holy people by his Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be purified by his blood. May grace and peace be yours in full measure.

What about feeling guilty about our old sins, and reminding others about their past mistakes and sinful ways?

Hebrews 8:12

For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

Hebrews 10:17

then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their misdeeds no more.”

Heavens, If God doesn’t remember our sins and misdeeds, what right do we have to?

(NASB) John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,

The Bible records that Jesus received the Holy Spirit in “Full measure.”

(Romans 8:15

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

Romans 8:26

In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don’t know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words.

I feel that one thing that we must remember is that “Gifts” are to be used for glorifying God’s Son, Jesus by up building His chosen body ~ the church. Some are for personal prayer and building oneself up, but they are not given for personal boasting or showing off.

I feel it it is important to remember that just because some claim to have spiritual gifts, or even heal others, it doesn’t mean they are necessarily in tune with God.

Perhaps, it is our job to continue to search the scriptures and ask God for his wisdom that we may understand His will for us in our lives?

Developing Spiritual Understanding ~Part 3

Matthew 12:31

“Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.

Matthew 12:32

“Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

Luke 12:10

“And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.

Wow! This is very serious. Maybe we would be wise to learn about this Holy Spirit. Let us see if we can find Him in the Old Testament. How about the second verse of the Bible?

Genesis 1:2

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Genesis 41:38 So the king said to them, “No one could possibly handle this better than Joseph, since the Spirit of God is in him.”

1 Samuel 10:10

When they came there to the hill, there was a group of prophets to meet him; then the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.

1 Samuel 19:20

Then Saul sent messengers to take David. And when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing [as] leader over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.

1 Samuel 19:23

So he went there to Naioth in Ramah. Then the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on and prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

Job 33:4

The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

Psalms 143:10

Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

Isaiah 61:1

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because Jehovah has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;

Daniel 5:14

“Now I have heard about you that a spirit of the gods is in you, and that illumination, insight and extraordinary wisdom have been found in you.

Could this be the same Holy Spirit that is referred to so much in the New Testament? Let’s look at the conception of Jesus and the virgin Mary.

Luke 1:35

And the angel answered and said to her, “[The] Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

Matthew 1:18

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 1:20

But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of Jehovah appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

So, Jesus was the son of god, conceived by the impact of the Holy Spirit on Mary. Yet, He had not yet received the Holy Spirit himself. When did Jesus receive the Holy Spirit? All four gospels record the event as happening when Jesus was baptized by His cousin, John.

Matthew 3:16

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.

Mark 1:10

And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.

Luke 3:22

And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”

John 1:32

And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.

Now that Jesus had received the Holy Spirit, what was the impact on Him?

Matthew 4:1

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Luke 4:1

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

Hebrews 4:15

Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin!

Does that mean that when we accept Jesus, we are immediately empowered to resist temptation and not sin? I wish! Even after, we still fall short.

Romans 3:23

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

I think that all includes us ~ even after we accept Jesus ~ too. Fortunately for us, He knew that we would need some time to get cleaned up so we could more effectively serve.

Matthew 9:13

“But go and learn what [this] means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Mark 2:17

When Jesus heard [it,] He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call [the] righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Isn’t that good news?  When the Apostle John was writing to the churches, who were made up of Christians, he said :

1 John 2:1

My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Do we receive the Holy Spirit when we accept Jesus or are baptized in His name? Wow, this is a much disputed question that has been a cause for division. I feel that we receive “Salvation,” certainly “Saving Grace,” perhaps a measure of the Holy Spirit when we publicly embrace Jesus ~ but not the “Gift” of the Spirit.

Aren’t the “Fruits of the Spirit,” manifest in our lives, proof that we have received the Holy Spirit?  Those who have put to death the “Works of the flesh?”

Galatians 5:19-21

(NKJV)

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told [you] in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Is this the way we are to know who is really one of God’s? Is this a clue as to whom we should listen to?

Matthew 7:16

“You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?

Matthew 7:20

“Thereforeby their fruits, you will know them.

The fruit of the Spirit is manifest by many fine believers who have worked diligently to discipline themselves, even though they might not ever have received the “Gift” of the Holy Spirit. These fine lovers of Christ are to be commended. So what is the difference? Perhaps by examining a number of scriptures we might see:

John 20:22

And when He had said this, He breathed on [them,] and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:8

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 2:33

“Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.

Acts 2:38

Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:15

who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:17

Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Acts 9:17

And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 10:43~7

Acts 10:43 “To Him all the prophets witness that, through Jesus name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”  While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we [have?"]

Acts 19:2

he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”

1 Thess 1:6

And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit.

Developing Spiritual Understanding ~Part 2

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Wow! That seems pretty restrictive, doesn’t it? As a child, and then for years, I pondered the dilemma of how a Good God could automatically condemn the millions of poor souls who had never heard of Jesus and never would.

The clear answer I have received is, “He doesn’t.” As He loves his mankind creation, God has always made a Lawful provision for His people to get to Him. It is by turning from their evil ways ~ and His son, Jesus, will be the final judge of that.

(CEV) Romans 2:14~16 Some people naturally obey the Law’s commands, even though they don’t have the Law. This proves that the conscience is like a law written in the human heart. And it will show whether we are forgiven or condemned, when God has Jesus Christ judge everyone’s secret thoughts, just as my message says.

(TEV) Romans 2:14~16 The Gentiles do not have the Law; but whenever they do by instinct what the Law commands, they are their own law, even though they do not have the Law. Their conduct shows that what the Law commands is written in their hearts. Their consciences also show that this is true, since their thoughts sometimes accuse them and sometimes defend them. And so, according to the Good News I preach, this is how it will be on that Day when God through Jesus Christ will judge the secret thoughts of all.

So, even if one does not know The Lord Jesus, they will still be judged by Him, judged according to our actions and our heart’s condition. It seems to me that God wants to give people the time to change and stop doing what is wrong.

2 Peter 3:9(NKJV)

The Lord is not slack concerning [His] promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

(BBE) 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his word, as he seems to some, but he is waiting in mercy for you, not desiring the destruction of any, but that all may be turned from their evil ways.

(GodsWord) 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord isn’t slow to do what he promised, as some people think. Rather, he is patient for your sake. He doesn’t want to destroy anyone but wants all people to have an opportunity to turn to him and change the way they think and act.”

For those of us who are blessed to have been introduced to Jesus, it is a little different. We have the recorded life example of Jesus, His own words, and those of the early apostles, to serve as model of how we must live to help us. Receiving salvation via Jesus is pretty simple.

These three translations all say how.

(NKJV) Romans 10:9~10 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

(CEV) Romans 10:9 So you will be saved, if you honestly say, “Jesus is Lord,” and if you believe with all your heart that God raised him from death. God will accept you and save you, if you truly believe this and tell it to others.

(Darby) Romans 10:9~10 that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from among [the] dead, thou shalt be saved. For with [the] heart is believed to righteousness; and with [the] mouth confession made to salvation.

Once we have done that, what next? We are told in the scripture to be baptized.

Mark 16:16

He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.

Acts 2:38

Peter said to them, “Each one of you must turn away from his sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven; and you will receive God’s gift, the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:12

But when they believed Philip’s message about the good news of the Kingdom of God and about Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

1 Peter 3:21

“Baptism, which is like that water, now saves you. Baptism doesn’t save by removing dirt from the body. Rather, baptism is a request to God for a clear conscience. It saves you through Jesus Christ, who came back from death to life.”

Entire volumes have been written about baptism. Baptist denominations have been established which indicate the importance of the act. Catholics consider baptism a sacrament. Certainly there is more involved here than the simple act of emersion in water.

Perhaps something occurs in the process which is spiritual. But, at the least, the baptized person should come out of the water convinced that he or she has been totally forgiven for past sins, saved from eternal death, and determined to serve Jesus.

Does this mean that we can continue sinning (doing what God has made clear to us is wrong) once that we become Christians? I don’t think so.

Mark 10:19

“You know the commandments, `DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’ ”

Romans 13:9

For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

1 Cor 6:9~10

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

So, it seems that we Christians must change too, if we are ~in fact~ believers.

1 Cor 15:34

Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.

Well, what about ‘Grace?’

(NASB) Ephesians 2:8~10 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

James 2:18

But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

James 2:20

But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?

James 2:26

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

So what are we, as Christians, to do if we have a sin or weakness problem? We confess to Jesus who paid the price of our penalty for us, make a genuine, heart~felt commitment to stop, and ask for help in overcoming the weakness.

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So, does that mean that we can go right on sinning?

1 John 3:9

Whoever is a child of God does not continue to sin, for God’s very nature is in him; and because God is his Father, he can not continue to sin.

But I thought that we were not held to the “Law” any more!

Matthew 5:19

So then, whoever disobeys even the least important of the commandments and teaches others to do the same, will be least in the Kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, whoever obeys the Law and teaches others to do the same, will be great in the Kingdom of heaven.

So what “Law” are we talking about here? I feel that the “Ten Commandments” are the “Law” that is referred to in this New Testament scripture, that Jesus was talking about the “Big ten” ~ specifically ~ and not the rules and ceremonial ordinance laws that the Jews were to practice to cover their sins and atone for their shortcomings.

Matthew 5:17

” Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.

John 13:34

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

Ephesians 2:15

by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,

Is there a case for “Eternal Security?” Perhaps.

Matthew 5:19

So then, whoever disobeys even the least important of the commandments and teaches others to do the same, will be least in the Kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, whoever obeys the Law and teaches others to do the same, will be great in the Kingdom of heaven.

1 Cor 3:14~15

“If what a person has built survives, he will receive a reward.” If anyone’s work is burned up, it will be lost, but he will be saved; yet it will be like an escape through fire.

(NASB) Romans 8:38~39

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 14:4

Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

I believe, if our time doesn’t run out, God will lead His lost sheep back ~ perhaps into a new, more loving, fold ~ so we may serve Him even better than we once had. Because He knows people’s hearts, God is willing and able to use people’s mistakes for the glory of establishing the kingdom of Christ Jesus. Perhaps, this is the very reason many of us are still alive?

John 14:26

but the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things and shall remind you of all things that I said to you.

John 15:26

And when the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father, that One will witness concerning Me.

John 16:7

But I tell you the truth, it is advantageous for you that I should go; for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you.

There is an unforgivable sin, but most people have not committed it because they have never know the Spirit in such a way as to be able to deny Him ~ the Comforter ~ that provides the blessed assurance that we are going to be right with God ~ and led out of our blind spots ~ cleaned up if you will ~ and make us better witnesses of God’s enduring power and love.

[ See the Holy Spirit in Developing Spiritual Understanding ~ Part 3 ]

Developing Spiritual Understanding ~Part 1

My Developing Spiritual Understandings: by Russ Miles © 2004~05

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Philipp 3:12

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

Having asked God ~ in the Name of His son, Jesus ~ for wisdom and insight, I begin the work of resolving some of my own theological conflicts. I feel,  my developing spiritual understandings, some of God’s knowledge ~ that He has graciously shared with me ~ may be of interest to some others who seek to remove the denominational barriers dividing many of us. With utmost humility, some trepidation, and limited formal education, I embark, accepting this self~assigned task.

Matthew 6:1

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

First of all, I profess to be a Christian. Therefore, whenever possible, I will use The Bible, God’s inspired written Word to mankind, as the authority for my reasoning’s. Is this the only “Inspired” Word of God? Probably not, but it is the most widely available, generally accepted, compilation of His reflections to mankind through these particular chosen authors. The Bible is a great place to start.

John 3:16

“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.

While this is, perhaps ~ the most well known ~ certainly the most memorized, scripture today ~ as taken from the New King James Version translation ~ I feel other translations offer rich insights into many disputable, and more difficult for me to understand, truths of God’s Word. For example:

(CEV) John 3:16 God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die.

(TEV) John 3:16 For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.

I am not married to, nor confined by, any one single translation. Thousands of dedicated scholars have had the inspiration, and diligence to complete these works. Although there are many more, the ones I will attempt to stick to in this study are:

New King James Version
NKJV

New American Standard Bible
NASB

King James Version
KJV

Revised Standard Version
RSV

Modern King James Version (Green’s Translation)
MKJV

Literal Translation Version (Green)
LITV

American Standard Version
ASV

John Darby’s New Translation
Darby

Weymouth New Testament Translation
Weymouth

Young’s Literal Translation
Young

Contemporary English Version
CEV

Today’s English Version
TEV

Reina Valera 1960
RVR60

International Standard Version
ISV

Rotherham’s
Rotherham’s

JPS 1917
JPS 1917

I only pray that I do not do with God’s sacred Word what the Apostle Peter said others have done in interpreting the Apostle Paul’s writings.

(TEV)  2 Peter 3:16

This is what he says in all his letters when he writes on the subject. There are some difficult things in his letters which ignorant and unstable people explain falsely, as they do with other passages of the Scriptures. So they bring on their own destruction

Even by Peter’s and Paul’s time, people had misinterpreted scriptures and written statements to justify their own positions about what they wanted to explain God was saying. Now that we have had another 2,000 years and major language changes, we can even more easily do this, either accidentally, or even on purpose.

NKJV   2 Peter 3:17

You therefore, beloved, since you know [this] beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked;

CEV
Matthew 7:13

Go in through the narrow gate. The gate to destruction is wide, and the road that leads there is easy to follow. A lot of people go through that gate.

Matthew 7:14

But the gate to life is very narrow. The road that leads there is so hard to follow that only a few people find it.

Luke 13:24

Do all you can to go in by the narrow door! A lot of people will try to get in, but will not be able to.

What cautions! So, I warn you, do not take everything that I say as direct from God ~ but rather see my words as the soulful meditations of a much loved ~ seeking the truth ~ happily forgiven ~ man. Look up the scriptures for yourself. Pray for Almighty God to lead you to the truth and reveal the errors in my understandings and thinking.

John 8:32

You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

Philipp 3:16

In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have already attained.

1 Peter 4:11

If any one preaches, let it be as uttering God’s truth; if any one renders a service to others, let it be in the strength which God supplies; so that in everything glory may be given to God in the name of Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the might to the Ages of the Ages. Amen.

Of significance ~ regarding the scriptures:

(TEV)2 Timothy 3:16 & 17

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed.”

Perhaps, I must set aside ~ for the moment ~ some of the doctrines I had accepted as fundamental, as a result of the training and instruction that I have had to date. I know it will be difficult for we want to believe that what we have learned from our personal knowledge quests, pulpits, or Bible studies ~ is right. Some of the things I am suggesting here are in conflict with many of the traditional Christian foundations and other widely accepted church beliefs.

Ephesians 4:3

Try your best to let God’s Spirit keep your hearts united. Do this by living at peace.

Again, I am cautioned:

(CEV) James 3:1 My friends, we should not all try to become teachers. In fact, teachers will be judged more strictly than others.

Let me just say here that I am but an ardent, anxious student who wants to stay in the mouth of God, while heeding the warnings.

Revelation 3:16

Thus, because, lukewarm, thou art, and neither hot nor cold, I am about to vomit thee out of my mouth.

I have, in my life, run both hot and cold. Yes, I have been lukewarm too. I can tell you, hot is better! It is a lot more satisfying.

Okay, I am ready for some meat. Let’s ask some questions: “Exalt Jehovah our God?”

Job 33:12

” Look, [in] this you are not righteous. I will answer you, For God is greater than man.

Job 36:22

” Behold, God is exalted by His power; Who teaches like Him?

Psalms 7:11

God [is] a just judge, And God is angry [with the wicked] every day.

1 John 4:8

He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

Rev 3:19

I correct and punish everyone I love. So make up your minds to turn away from your sins.

1 John 4:16

And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

Psalms 99:5

Exalt Jehovah our God, and worship at his footstool. He is holy!

How can I worship this God?”

John 4:24

God is Spirit, and those who worship God must be led by the Spirit to worship him according to the truth.

[ Please see Developing Spiritual Understanding ~Part 2]

Confession – It’s Time To Take Out The Garbage!

None of us wants to look inward at ourselves and see the bad things we have stored up. We like to believe that we are good people. We convince ourselves that because we do not commit criminal acts that we are good people. We also say things like, ” I’m not perfect, I make mistakes”. What’s wrong with us? We convince ourselves that we are good, yet on the other hand we are bad too. So have we convinced ourselves that we are blameless for our actions? Do we figure we are not bad because we’re not in jail? We like to think that since we are not perfect that it’s ok to continue living the way we do. We all know that the flesh is corupt. All the flesh thinks about is itself. It doesn’t want anything to do with the soul or the spirit (our intellect). The carnal mind is going to keep on telling us lies as long as it can get what it wants. And as long as the flesh is dominate over our spiritual side, we will keep on deceiving ourselves.

The flesh is mans downfall, it wants what the world has to offer, not what God has to offer. As long as we obey the flesh we will be bent towards the world, not walking upright like God created us. To receive what God has to offer one needs to start by denying ones self and that is like death to the flesh. So in a carnal, fleshly way we pursue sensual pleasures, or things that gratify our appetites. Problem is that something is missing: “God”. You could go to church all week, volunteer, study your bible, etc., etc., but as long as your flesh is dominate you have no life in Christ. Mark 8:34 – 37.

Who do you worship, God or the world and the things that belong to it? You can’t have both. Although many people think they can. One of the problems is, is that as long as we can’t see any wrong in what we are doing than it must be ok, right? Wrong. We are completely blind to these things because we are still carnal. We have not awakened the soul and spirit yet. The only way to awaken our spiritual side is by denying ourselves and following Jesus to the tomb (this is not the baptism of water. The water baptism is a baptism that is a pledge made to God from a good conscience. After we die in Christ we then can be reborn to our true spiritual selves. This is the spiritual revolution that begins to take place. The flesh doesn’t understand what’s going on. The light of faith is darkness to the flesh. The flesh no longer has control of its normal faculties. This is where the battle begins.

In order to help reach this point we need to look inward. We need to acknowledge our sins. 1John 1:8,9 ‘If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity’. In order to acknowledge our sins we need to turn to Jesus for His help. Remember, we need to first deny ourselves, which means we need to want to give up our old ways of living, all of it,a nd pick up our cross. We will need it to nail the flesh upon it. Jesus is the way, follow Him. This is what He meant when He said,’ The road is long and narrow and few find it’. It’s not a matter of finding it, it’s right in front of you. You need to be willing to get on this road at all costs, no matter what tests and trials come up. It’s not a road for the lazy ones or the ones of the world. It’s for people who want to be known as a child of God.

If you can turn your eyes inward and with all sincerity and honesty and willingness to clean yourself up, Jesus will be there to help you. He will even bring forth the sins you forgot. It is a deep and serious cleansing. The sins we remember and the ones shown to us by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we need to write them down. You can put them in categories like: greed, lusts, sloth, impatience, anger, resentments, envy, gluttony and jealousy. It’s going to take some time to do this, so don’t rush it. It’s a wonderful learning experience as well. After you have written all this down, you need to take it someone who is experienced in this type of confession. So that you two can talk about what you have written and pray together for your forgiveness. In James 5:16 it says, ‘ So confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another and this will cure you’. No denying this scripture. I’ve been in alot of different churches and I don’t know why they don’t teach this. Could be because we’re lacking in spiritual teachers and preachers. Too many taught by man and not by the Lord. Also this is not a subject that would tickle people’s ears.

I’m going to give you a testimony if I may of my experience of this type of confession. I’m only telling this to show you truth in the scriptures of the importance of a true, all out confession and to glorify God bless His heart and soul. When I learned of this type of confession and decided to do it because I was willing to do anything and everything in my walk with Jesus to grow spiritually and learn to do what’s right in the eyes of God. When I took all my papers that I had written all my sins on to a minister that was familiar with this type of confession, we talked about everything and he even asked questions about things he didn’t see on the papers. Then we prayed. After we were done, I felt so renewed and pure inside I cannot even begin to explain how beautiful it was.

When I left, I ran into some people I knew and they asked me what was going on. I said,” What do you mean?”. They said that I had this glow about me. I told them what I had just done. I could see in their faces that they were just in awe by seeing this radiance of light glowing from my body. From my head to my toes I was in such a wonderful state of overwhelming…I’m sorry but I just can’t find the words to describe it. I don’t think there are any. This is what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is about, I know that for sure. After your confession there is one more thing for you to do. Make amends to the people you have resentments towards and people you have hurt and done wrong to.

Designated Drivers…Breaking Free Of Religion & Finding Relationship

Much of the confusion, much of the pain, much of the discouragement that abides with modern Christianity is, well, because of modern Christianity. Years of soul searching and self-condemnation is part and parcel to the whole atmosphere of today’s “church”.

A web of deceit, a pit of falsehoods, a myriad of misunderstandings about God’s true nature and His true plan for (and true nature of) His body has, with many, caused a life of despair and hopelessness inching toward the cliff of total rejection of the things of God. For others, they stay clear of the cliff but yet resolve themselves to merely “hang-on” regardless of the state of things no matter how excruciating things might be. Then there are those that follow blindly along the bottom of the ditch which they have long ago fallen into, believing “all is well in Zion”.

Point being this: God’s word, His designs, and His desires for the “body of Christ” are true, hopeful, magnanimous, all-perfecting, all-glorious, and all-set-in-stone. The problem is not with God or His wonderful plan. The problem is, and always has been, with man and this world system that man simply can’t break himself away from.

This note is to you dear saints who have broken both legs kicking yourself with. To you precious ones in the “body” that have spent most of the years, if not decades, asking “what in the world is wrong with me?” is this word addressed…

I give you the clear answer… It’s what’s in the world is wrong with the “church”.

I am not here to catalogue again that list of offences. For much has already been determined on that score and written in length and made accessible to the hurting believers thank God. But I do say that there is nothing wrong with your deep commitment to Jesus.

Satan has even accused you of surrendering too much. That’s how low you can go at times. No. Nor is there anything wrong with God’s Word. Nothing untrue there. His desires and designs is what He wants for His body. They simply are not accepted by the whole of the body. They are not longed for by the body. They are not heeded by the body.

There is a price to be paid for implementing His construct and a bigger price to pay for rejecting it outright. We see today the results of that rejection, which have also been catalogued and forwarded for perusal and study.

So be comforted. Be ready to answer the forward and rebellious and even the honest seekers. Hold to the Truth. Remain steadfast and unwavering in this tumultuous time. All ships are being tossed about. Be the anchor He called you to be. The anchors are the one’s God is looking to in this hour. The party is over and you have been designated as driver to transport those drunken with falsehood and emptiness home. Keep your keys handy.

by Devon Leesley