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Once there was an old man who had a hut on a lovely , large, corner block of land with a view. One day a rich man approached him and said that he wanted to buy the old man’s property. The deal was made, and the take-over date was set. The old man worked very hard as the date for the rich man to arrive and take ownership came closer. He scrubbed the hut from top to bottom, tidied all the plants around the front door, mended        windows, patched the inside walls and painted, he could hardly sleep at night with fussing about the state of the hut. On the day of the take-over the rich man arrived with a bull-dozer.

“See how pleasing I have made my hut for you,”said the old man proudly, “you will have nothing to do now.”“Oh, I don’t want the hut, “ said the rich man,“I only want the site!
I’m going to build a mansion on your beautiful corner block!”

‘ The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam    became a life-giving Spirit ...The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second  man is of heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly”                                  (I Corinthians 15:45,47,48).‘He that loveth his life (M.’soul’) loseth it; and he that hateth his life (soul) in this world shall keep it unto life eternal”(John 12:25).  (See also Matthew 10:39; Matthew 16:25; Mark 8: 35).The Spirit, in full possession of the heart, has still His two-fold work to do. It is His mission to bring to death all that is of the earth, earthy, that He may communicate the Spirit-life of the Lord from heaven.From His throne in the heart, He will work in steady progression from centre to circumference, death and life alternating in degree after degree, for the Spirit must make room in us for the building up of the new creation, so that we may be ‘no longer children’ tossed about but:‘Attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ’(Ephesians 4:13).We must surrender the life derived from the first Adam, if we are to share the life of the Lord from heaven.The subtle thing we call ‘life’, which       animates these human organisms, can be either of God, or of the earth. This life need not be visibly wrong, but its activity can be of the creature, and not the inworking energy of the Creator.(Compare Joh. 3:21; Joh. 8:28; Col. 1:29).We must be separated by the Cross, from our ‘own life’ (Luke 14:26), as much as  from our sins and the world-spirit, if we are to become ‘spiritual’, or of ‘ripe age’ in the kingdom of God. Otherwise we shall live a mixed life, and even our service will be partly spiritual, partly of ourselves, instead of being truly in the Spirit, and of the Spirit.”

Legalism:
This can be defined as WORKS of the natural man. When we are saved we see that works cannot save us, and that we must trust in Christ alone for salvation. After we are born-again we may well slip into works in order to become holy and godly. We can see that we can never work for salvation per se, yet we think we can work for holiness and godliness.
The Bible says in Isaiah 64:6
       :”...all our righteousnesses are as  filthy rags...”
This applies AFTER we are born again too!  Filthy rags try to cover up the true state of the person, really they only add to the sorry picture. Legalism does that, it is only filthy rags. The real Christian life is not works, it is
by grace through faith from beginning to end. How does legalism operate in every day life? How can we recognize this when we see it in ourselves and in other people’s teaching?

Legalism  or works will declare that if we read our Bibles, don’t drink or smoke, attend church on Sunday, pray and have a morning devotion and so on, we are holy, godly Christians. This is all to do with what WE do to make ourselves over into the image of a good Christian. Rather like the old man in the illustration cleaning up his hut. The hut will always be just a hut, not a mansion. The rags will always be rags and filthy, not fine clothes. Eventually someone who diligently works away at becoming holy by works realizes that they are failing to become godly! They realize they are just as much a mess as they ever were. In fact, we can get into a worse mess by legalism, we can become smug and self-righteous, proud of our spirituality, piously judgmental towards others,  thus adding more sins to our original score. We cannot make ourselves into the image of Christ by self-effort and works, no matter how sincere we might be.

Sanctification
Sanctification by the Spirit of God is  entirely different. The believer realizes that he/she will always fail to live a godly life, turns in their great need to God alone, and cries out to be filled with righteousness.
 

The Bible says in Matthew 5:6:
“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after
righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

The way to holiness has already  been prepared for us, in Christ    Jesus through the way of the Cross of Calvary. When we are empty of self and self-effort in a religious works sense, then we are ready to allow God to fill us  with the very righteous, holy life, the  resurrected life of Christ through the Holy Spirit. When we realize what failures we are, then we can humbly allow God to work in us and through us, bringing Christ’s Life to be manifest in us. It is sad but true that we can be saved yet still be carnal Christians. Those who still reckon themselves to be good in their own effort and strength are in reality carnal.

Does trusting alone in the indwelling life of Christ in sanctification mean I, myself, just opt out and do nothing in the way of disciplined living? Not at all. We will actually find ourselves wanting to do the very things that God wants us to do. We will long for the Scriptures, love righteousness with all our hearts, find that we are reaching out to God in ceaseless prayer, just because  godliness is being built into our new natures from the inside out. Sanctification by grace is not passive, it is active beyond anything we have experienced before with the fruit of the Holy Spirit ( Galatians 5:22-26). And we will not be “desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another” because we will not then be legalistic and thus proud of our  imagined“godliness”. We will know that the progress we are making in Christ is all due to God and God alone, and will be humbled under His mighty hand. It sometimes takes a long time for believers to see themselves as sinners AFTER they are born-again, many must fail constantly, disastrously , before they learn the lesson God has set before them.

That lesson is:
I cannot live the Christian life, Jesus Christ must do it for me.
Some believers do not learn that lesson because they never really ever try to live a godly, pure life! If they did they would soon realize they will always fail to do so. There is too much unreality, hypocrisy and pretense in our lives often,  we simply cannot face the reality of our own utter helplessness and need. Have you ever heard someone say, “I don’t know why God loves me, I seem to fail Him so often.” But that is really the point isn’t it? God loves us so much because we were lost sinners, unable to do anything for our selves at all, so under the bondage of sin that we could never escape ever.  He loves us now because He sees our wretched state, and wants to give us light on our true state, and then make us new, completely new. He does not demand that we change, He gives that changed Life to helpless ones. God knew full well that you would fail Him when He saved you initially, did you think He didn’t know that?

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me;  for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my  burden is light.”                    (Matthew 11:28-30).

Note in the above Bible verses that the picture is of two yoked together bearing a burden. Two horses do this pulling a cart laden with goods. If we seek to bear the burden of creating good works by ourselves (maybe   giving God a obligatory prayer or two to “help” us), we soon become heavy laden and labored.
Note that Jesus Christ urges us to “take my yoke upon you, learn of me.” He is like the (reverently meant) horse next to us who wants us to be yoked together with him, so that he can pull the burden for us. We are too weak, he will bear the burden of producing righteousness. “For I am meek and lowly in heart,” see that humility and service attitude? “Learn” of Him. What will be the result of letting Him bear the burden yoked with us? “Ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Is living the Christian life then a difficulty, a failure, a large and heavy load to bear then? No, for He is doing it, yoked with us, joined intimately with us. Then, “My yoke is easy, and my  burden is light.”

Hyper-fundamentals can fall heavily into the trap of unreality about what a man and a woman really are. Extreme- fundamentals can be church-goers, with no “vices” like smoking and drinking, can know their Bibles well, run their homes in what they consider to be Biblical order - and yet, at the same time,  they can be hard, cold, lacking in love,  pompous and self-satisfied. They can find their lives burdened with trying to be righteous, which brings tensions extremely difficult to bear, and they struggle and strain under the yoke alone.  If we have not love, gentleness, humility,  kindness and compassion from a      tender heart, then we are NOT filled with the Spirit, nor are we living holy lives. If we think ourselves to be living a godly life successfully by works, then we are not filled with the Spirit nor are we being   sanctified by grace alone. The renewed,  sanctified one has been   enlightened by God to his/her sin and failure in their own selves! And they are more than ready to “take” Christ’s “yoke” upon them.

Here I will give personal witness. For many years I lived my Christian life quite satisfied  with my “progress.” One day God began to deal with me very deeply. I had felt in my heart of hearts that I was an asset to any church, a spiritual person with gifts from the Lord. The Lord allowed me to go through trials which showed me how sinful my nature really was! I could not stand in myself against such trials, and could only cry out for God to “do something” with me. I asked Him to take me by any road at all, just to make me like Jesus. I saw deeper than ever that I was a sinner, never had been anything else, and that I would fail all through my  life until the very end if I did not allow God to be All in all, do everything for me and through me. I have never recovered from that period, I will always be lame just like Jacob after he wrestled with God. (Hebrews 11:21).  Don’t resist God’s dealing with you, don’t be afraid when you know yourself to be a  failure, this is true light on your own    condition before a Holy God.

Here we will get a quote from another   believer who has found the true way of renewal, or personal revival in Christ Jesus. It is interesting and enriching to compare the testimony of different Christians who have lived in various periods of Church history. The following is from Roy Hession , first published in 1950:
 

We want to be very simple in this  matter of revival. Revival is just the life of the Lord Jesus poured into human hearts. Jesus is always victorious. In heaven they are praising Him all the time for His victory. Whatever may be our   experience of failure and barrenness, He is never defeated. His power is boundless. We, on our part, have only to get into a right relationship with Him, and we shall see His power being demonstrated in our hearts and lives and service, and His  victorious life will fill us and overflow through us to others. That is revival in its essence.If, however, we are to come into this right relationship with Him, the first thing we must learn is that our will must be broken to His will. To be broken is the beginning of revival. It is painful, it is humiliating, but it is the only way. It is being ‘Not I, but Christ’, and a ‘C’ is a bent ‘I’. The Lord Jesus cannot live in us fully and reveal Himself through us until the proud self within us is broken. This simply means that the hard, unyielding self, which justifies itself, wants its own way, stands up for its rights, seeks its own glory, at last bows its head to God’s will, admits its wrong, gives up its own way to Jesus, surrenders its rights, and discards its own glory - that the Lord Jesus might have all and be all. In other words, it is dying to self and self-attitudes.”

We have to learn to let the Holy Spirit be the Arbiter in our lives, or the referee. In a game of football the referee is constantly watching, and when a foul is committed, he blows his whistle. The Holy Spirit wants to be like that in your life. He has no whistle, what He does is remove your peace, this is His  “whistle” warning that something has disturbed your relationship with the heavenly Father. If your peace has departed, it can mean only one thing, you have sinned against the Father, in some way you have separated yourself from God. Here I do not mean of course that you have lost your salvation, you can never be separated from God in that way because you are His child. But, just as a dear child can grieve his loving father’s heart in a human relationship and can be sent to his room for disobedience, so a believer can grieve God and He can remove that person’s peace, and the heart of the  believer is aware of a separation from fellowship in the Spirit with his Father.
We might cry,
“God seems so far away, I want Him but I can’t seem to find Him any more!”
Ever felt like that?

Our peace can go because of things which Christians do not usually like to call sin. Worry, anxiety, and stress are sin because we do not trust God to work out His  purposes in our lives. Bitterness, resentment, self-pity, unkindness, hurt pride, envy, jealousy - so many sins can separate us from intimate fellowship with the Father in heaven, and we lose our peace. We all walk in a sinful world, we are not made perfect yet in our walk,  so we all fall into sin at times. How can we regain our peace and the fullness of the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Conquering Self.
Roy Hession wrote these words about the Arbiter, the Holy Spirit:

“Shall we not begin from today to allow our lives to be ruled by the heavenly Dove, the peace of God, and allow Him to be the arbiter all the day through? We shall find ourselves walking in a path of constant conviction and much humbling, but in this way we shall come into real conformity with the Lamb of God, and we shall know the only victory that is worth anything, the conquest of self.”                                (“The Calvary Road” p.48).

“He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his names’ sake.” (Psalm 23:3).
Note that Jesus Christ “restores” us, and He “leads” us in the paths of righteousness, “for his name’s sake.” We Christ-ians bear His Name, God wants us to be righteous for the sake of Christ’s glorious Holy Name! How badly it reflects on Jesus Christ when His followers are sinful, selfish, pious and greedy materialists.  How many  awful scandals there have been about those who call themselves “Christians”, and who have publicly disgraced the Name of Christ. Who can tell if they were ever born-again at all?  The very Name of Christ is “evil spoken of!” Consider the verse in II Peter 2:2:
“And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.”
Where Does Revival or  Renewal Need to Start?

Many  today would see revival being the chief need of the churches, it is sure though that personal renewal could never ever happen in the churches if the homes of believers are not renewed. HOME is where revival really starts, for that is where the real person lives his/her real life. At church we can put on a front and do a fairly good imitation of godliness” (though we usually fool only ourselves), but at home the real person is seen in their true light. Snappy, selfish, defeated, unhappy, critical, irritated, given to  tempers, harsh and pretty awful, the old man lives on in many Christians’ lives in their real world at home.
Is there an answer?
Is the answer what revival is all about?

We need to realize afresh that Jesus Christ is with us all the time, through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit draws attention to the Lord Jesus, never Himself. Jesus Christ is in heaven at the right hand of God , but His Presence is brought to us through the agency of the Holy Spirit. Revival is all about relating to Jesus Christ as our Life, knowing Him deeply in each and every situation we face. Dying daily to our own thoughts, wills, strivings, supposed righteousness and plans, and yielding more and more to our Life, the Lord Himself. Can you see why people can put on all sorts of rules and  religious discipline and still be as carnal as they ever were? The Bible tells us to “put on CHRIST” not works.

Being Broken by The Lord.

How we resist being broken by God! Somehow we manage to pull ourselves up by our boot-straps after a terrible defeat, we say, “I wasn’t myself today, if they hadn’t been so selfish and nasty I wouldn’t have lost my temper like that.” Yet the Holy Spirit wanted to bring us down, wanted the bottom to fall out of our own confidence in ourselves. You and I ARE ourselves when we “lose it”, that is what we ARE! The old man is acting true to nature.

Can you see why legalism,  sanctification by works, cannot succeed? It is all an effort by self to please God, and the only Life that can really please God is Jesus Christ’s Life. True Christianity is learning to relate to and depend upon the Lord every step of the pilgrims way, sharing His very Life.
 
 
 

Modern day fake revivals tend towards making people think that if they are “revived” by  the Holy Spirit,they will shine forth in some public acknowledgement of their wonderful anointing. True renewal, on a personal level, is about a great humbling, not a great glorification for self. It brings us to the place of the SERVANT.

God wants us to be willing to become Christ-like, Jesus was a servant both to God the Father and mankind. The attribute of the Trinity which is sometimes over-looked by ourselves is humility, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are humble! Not proud. God Himself cannot be proud, for pride is a sin in the Word. The opposite of pride is humility. It is sin to be selfish and self-seeking;  God is not like that, He is always serving His creation. How awesomely terrible in God’s sight, then, must be the pride of man!  Strutting around, people mere specks in the universe God has created,   demanding their rights, expecting others to serve them, looking always for self-glorification, filled with such pride that if anyone hurts their feelings they are up in arms! It makes me feel so ashamed to realize the depths of my own pride and lack of the servant’s heart.

If we want to be renewed by the Lord, we have to be willing to take the low servant’s path, the humble way, to die to self. If we are not willing but are still hankering after the glory-trip, then God cannot work in and through us for we are not in the same “”world” as the Lord.

“Our servanthood to the Lord Jesus is to express itself in our servanthood to our fellows. Says Paul, ‘We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake’ (II Cor.4:5). The low position we take toward the Lord Jesus is judged by Him by the low position we take in our relationship with our fellows. An unwillingness to serve others in costly, humbling ways He takes to be an unwillingness to serve Him, and we thus put ourselves out of fellowship with Him.”
       (“The Calvary Road”  Roy Hession. P.P.62-63).

If we insist on operating in the old Adam life, ignoring the Bible’s     insistence to “put on” the “new man” we put ourselves in danger of spiritual deceptions and attacks from the enemy, Satan. Could this be why the church-goers of the 1990s are so prone to fall into     counterfeit revivals and fake supernatural experiences?
They so often know nothing about dying to self and putting on Christ’s Life -
the resurrection Life.

“That ye put off concerning the former *conversation  the OLD MAN, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;And be RENEWED in the spirit of your mind:And that ye put on the NEW MAN, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
(Ephesians 4:22-24).(* “conversation” means interaction ,our behaviour in every  way, not just speaking).“Knowing that the OLD MAN is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.”  (Romans 6: 6,7).“Our death with Christ and risen life in Him alone puts us in the place of safety. This is the one impregnable rock-position upon which every believer must stand in    resisting the powers of darkness.”
               (“The Spiritual Warfare” by Jessie Penn-Lewis. P. 45).

1. Reading the Word of God, the Holy Spirit opens it to us;
2. The MIND apprehends through the Holy Spirit’s enlightening,  the Mind of God;
3. Our SPIRITS are then enriched and      renewed from the apprehension of the MIND.

Read carefully
 Romans 12:1,2  and II Timothy 3:16,17.

Worry & Anxiety.
There was once a boy who owned a large, fluffy, pedigree cat who was the delight of his life. One day his mother suggested that she and the boy go and spend a week with his grandmother, who lived three kilometers away,  to give her a bit of company. The boy asked the people next door to care for his cat. They were  a responsible family and promised to brush and feed the animal, and give it milk every day. The boy gave his prized pet into their care and went to his grandmother’s home. The first day he bicycled back home to check on his cat. Had the neighbours fed her and cared for her? They assured him that they  both had, and would care for it the whole week long. The next day, and the next, right through the entire week the boy came on his bicycle to check on his cat, despite assurances that it was well cared for, and looked well and happy. He would not trust the neighbours, he wanted only to handle things himself.

This is just like many of us when we have worries and anxieties. We take them to God, but we never leave the worries with Him to take responsibility for our concerns, we take the worries away with us straight after praying. We never give God the honour of leaving HIM to work out our various circumstances as He wants to do. We dare not trust Him!  Our loving heavenly Father is urging us to:
 

“Be careful (worried, anxious) for NOTHING; but in EVERY THING by prayer and supplication let your    requests be made known unto God.”                           (Philippians 4:6).“But my God shall supply ALL your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”    (Philippians 4:19).God wants to bear our burdens Himself,He wants us to be at peace:“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”   (Philippians 4: 7).

“ ‘ Here, Lord, I abandon myself to Thee. I have tried in every way I could think of to manage myself, and to make myself what I know I ought to be, but have always failed. Now I give it up to Thee. Do of Thy will. Mold and fashion me into such a vessel as seemeth good to Thee. I leave myself in Thy hands, and I       believe Thou wilt, according to Thy promise, make me into a vessel unto Thy own honor,  sanctified, and meet for the     Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.’ And here you must rest, trusting yourself thus to Him, continually and absolutely.”After you have prayed, bring the rest of the things and situations which make up your whole life. every bit of it, especially those things which cause you to lose sleep at night, and make you anxious in the daytime. Your house, your Christian ministry or witness, the way you make your living (or how you can’t find work),  the family , the friends who have forsaken you,  those problems with money, your health,    loneliness - what ever is part of your life on earth, good and bad. Deliberately put down your load, name each section and put it down before God, with prayer and supplication, and leave those things there. ALL that is the life and substance that makes up your own pilgrimage on earth.  Don’t take them back to worry over again. And if the     worries return, give them back immediately to the Lord. Things may not change very much at first, but you will be at peace because your Father is handling things for you. Remember He will answer in and through your personality, be ready to move as God makes His will known to you in the problems that seem to plague you.

God cannot and will not fail you, if you simply trust Him as a small child does her loving father. The old hymn “Amazing Grace” talks about the “dangers, toils and snares” of life, yet the great peace of God surrounds the song writer, John Newton, because he knows his God’s care. I have seen many trials in my life too, but the Lord has delivered me out of them all, not just some but all. Trust God and say of each and every  affliction and trouble, “for THIS Christ died!”

His four daughters had been in a boat, when disaster struck and the boat sank. All four daughters were drowned. The author rowed out to the very spot where they had died, and there he wrote the following hymn:

The new man must be completely  distinguished from the old man   (Romans 6:6). The new man is a description of the born-again one becoming a partaker of the DIVINE NATURE and LIFE, this begins in the New Birth, and will continue from glory to glory as we grow in our understanding and yield to Christ alone (II Peter 1:4; Col. 3:3,4). In no sense whatsoever can the new man be the old man made over into a better fellow, nor is the new man an improved version of the old man, nor is the new man the old man turning over a “new leaf.”                   ( II Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15; Eph. 2:10; Col. 3:10). The new man is CHRIST formed in the believer. Nothing else will do, no promises, no vows, no signing some promise keeping form, not putting on religious behaviour, not reading the Bible more etc, etc.  CHRIST formed in the believer on and on into Eternity is what God wants (Galatians 2:20; 4: 19; Colossians 1:27; I John 4:12). We are being made into the IMAGE of Christ, co-operate with God in this, don’t resist His Plan by trying harder to make the old man righteous .
(Rom 8:29; II Cor. 3:18).
“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

The truth is that believers grasp very little of the stupendous work of the Holy Spirit going on in their lives all the time. They think they should be running here or there to get some New Age/Christian gurus’ teaching on the Holy Spirit, when the Bible is a closed book in their homes. They have been taught that “doctrine” is dead, and “the Spirit” is alive.  Just looking at the verse II Cor. 3:18, the latter verse above, is a thrilling teaching. “open face” is “unveiled” face. The whole passage from verse 6-18 is about our  ministries and lives being “spiritual” and not “legal” in the sense of being under the Mosaic Law.

II Corinthians 3:6-18:
Verse 6 tells us that “the    letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” This does not mean that doctrine is opposed to the moving of the Spirit, it means that legalism (as we have already discussed) is dead works, but the Life of Christ is spiritual life. Shall we now move down from verse six, each verse, to  glorious verse 18, and partake of Life into our  minds, which  will then enlighten and thrill our spirits?
Verse 7 calls the legal Law of Moses “the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, “ ( The Ten Commandments of  Exodus 34:28).  Paul describes what happened after Moses came down from Mount Sinai, “was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance “(his face). Then it tells us that this “glory” of the commandments of the Law Age, and its spiritual leader, was “done away.” Why “ministration of death”? Because all those who could not keep the Law found DEATH!
Verse 8 says about the New Testament (verse 6) “How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?” Here the Bible is telling us that the glory of the Law (legalism) has been “down away” so that the “ministration of the spirit” will take over and be more glorious. The “thou shalt nots” and  “thou shalts” of legalism give way to the New Life in the Spirit, the New Testament Age! Praise God.
Verse 9 goes on with the wonders and glory of the “ministration of righteousness” (the Spirit of Life in Christ)  compared with the “ministration of condemnation” (legalism, under the Law).  Why the “ministration of condemnation”? Because we are condemned by the Law,  we can only fail to keep it!
Verse 10 shows that the glory of the Spirit of Life in Christ “excelleth” the “thou shalt nots” and “thou shalt” of the Law.
Verse 11 shows that if once legalism and commands to obey were glorious, now “that which reImageseth is glorious.” i.e. the Spirit Life reImagess, salvation by Grace (a gift) sanctification by Grace (a gift).
Verse 12  Paul speaks of  the ministers of the New Testament’s “boldness” (“plainness of speech”) in the “hope” of the “ministration of righteousness.” Why is it called this? Because the New Testament believers are to walk in the righteousness which is utterly secured for them, it is the righteousness of Christ Jesus Himself, their Saviour and Life. Positionally we are already righteous in Christ’s righteousness alone (James 2:23). This “imputation” is the act by which God accounts righteousness to the believer in Christ. Progressively, our walk in Christ, we are to walk “worthy” of our high calling in Him, by obedience in His Life alone, as He enables and gives us holiness.
Verse 13 “not as Moses”, which put a “vail” over his face, we are not “blinded” as the children of Israel, who could  not see that the Law or legalism was coming to an end.
Verse 14 & 15 & 16 The children of Israel’s “minds were blinded” ( they still have a vail over their eyes), but the New Testament Christians have the “vail taken away in Christ.” They know that the Law is done away with, legalism has passed away. Nevertheless if anyone, Jew or Gentile, turn to Christ Jesus, the blindness concerning His glorious gift of His own Life will be clear, and the “vail shall be taken away.”
Verse 17. “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Liberty from what? The bondage of the Law or legalism .(Galatians 5:1;  4: 4,5).
Verse 18.  We have no veiled face, we       “behold the glory of the Lord.” We see clearly that the Law has passed away, and we have liberty in Christ’s Life and His righteousness from the heavy demands of the impossible burdens we bore, to keep the Law and be righteous in our “old man.” Now “beholding as in a glass”,  we reflect the very righteousness of Christ Jesus Himself, we share His Divine Life. We are transformed by He who is the Spirit of Life, into the same image from glory to glory. The Greek word for “changed” can also be translated “transfigured”, this word is used in  Matthew 17:2 and Mark 9:2  (“metamorphoo”).

Hannah Whittal Smith Speaks:

The beautiful book written by Hannah Whitall Smith,“The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life”, has much to say on the difference between legalism and Christianity. Hannah lived between 1832 and 1911.  Here we see the     reason why the majority of believers in the 1990s are not finding true revival or indeed happiness in Christ either.

“We are full of condemnation for the “Jew’s religion,” because it “frustrates the grace of God,” and makes Christ to be “dead in vain,” by depending upon outward deeds and outward   ceremonies to bring salvation. But I fear there is a great deal of the “Jew’s religion” mixed up with the Christians, and that the grace of God is as much  frustrated by our legality as by theirs; although ours may manifest itself in a slightly different form.

The following contrasts may help some to understand the difference between these two kinds of religion, and may  also enable them to discover where the   secret of their own experience of legal bondage lies:

The law says, this DO and thou shalt live.
The Gospel says, LIVE and then thou shalt do.

The law says, PAY ME that thou owest.
The Gospel says, I frankly FORGIVE thee all.
 

The law says, MAKE you a new heart and a new spirit.
The Gospel says, A new heart will I GIVE you, and a new spirit will I PUT WITHIN you.

The law says, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy  mind.
The Gospel says, Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

The law says, CURSED is every one who continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them.
The Gospel says, BLESSED is the man whose sins are covered.

The law says, The WAGES of sin is death.
The Gospel says, The GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The law DEMANDS holiness.
The Gospel GIVES holiness.

The law says DO.
The Gospel says, DONE.
 

The law EXHORTS the unwilling service of a bondman.
The Gospel WINS the loving service of a son and freeman.

The law makes blessing the     result of OBEDIENCE.
The Gospel makes obedience the result of BLESSINGS.

The law places the day of rest at the end of the week’s work.
The Gospel places it at its beginning.

The law says, IF.
The Gospel says, THEREFORE.

The law was given for the restraint of the OLD MAN.
The Gospel was given to bring liberty to the NEW MAN.... “

Two Kinds of Orchards.

The illustration of the two orchards is a helpful one, as related by Hannah Whitall Smith:“These two forms of the religious life (legalism and Spirit Life by grace) begin at exactly opposite ends. The religion of legality is as though a man should  decide to have an apple orchard, and should try to make one, by first getting some apples of the kind desired, and then getting a tree and fastening the  apples on the branches, and then getting roots to fasten to the trunk, and finally purchasing a field in which to plant his manufactured tree. That is, first the fruit, second the branches, third the root, fourth the field. But the religion of grace follows a different order. It begins at the root, and grows up, and  blossoms out into flowers and fruit.”

Have you ever been in a situation something like this? You are late, rushing to get to a church service, you can’t find your Bible, the children are fighting, there is no petrol in the car, you fall over the cat, your  marriage partner is critical of you -  then you “blow your stack” and pour your temper out on the whole family. They sit in the car as furious as you are, but when you arrive and go in the church,  all of you couldn’t be sweeter and nicer. You put on a good act of being at peace and pious! When you get through with the service, you go home as aggressive as you left it! And you slam down in the front of the television and refuse to communicate with the family for the rest of the day.

Home is the real world, you are what you are there, with the family. If you live alone, you are your real self just the same at home. You can pretend to be filled with happiness and to be trusting in Christ at church, but at home you are sad, defeated and anxious. This is really your true state.

What would God do for you in a revival in the home? He would bring peace and love, abundant life. No, all the problems would not just disappear, your responses would be utterly different though.  There are basically five major things wrong with our Christian homes:

1. We do not love one another.
2. We are not broken people.
3. We will not be servants one to another.
4. We do not know what it is to trust God.
5. We will not let the Holy Spirit convict us of sin and need.

“Love suffereth long, and is kind.”
(Love is patient, not impatient, and it is “kind.” Kindness is  consideration for others feelings,  sympathy,  giving loving treatment to others, it is about goodwill and a tenderheart).
“Love envieth not”
(it isn’t jealous).
“Love vaunteth not itself”
( it does not show-off,  or boast).
“it is not puffed up”
(it is not conceited and “full of itself”).
“Love does not behalf itself   unseemly”
(it does not speak and act rudely).
“Love seeketh not her own”
(is not self-centered, selfish).
“Love is not easily provoked”
(it isn’t given to being irritable and taking offense).
“Love thinketh no evil”
(it has not got a mind which indulges in unkind and nasty thoughts about others).

Our homes are often filled with jealousy,      impatience, critical spirit, harshness, resentment,  domination by this one or that, unkind rudeness, and lack of simply talking to each other.  GOD can give you the fullness of the Life of Christ through the Holy Spirit, and you will be made able to give true love in the home. Don’t worry about other people, you might have a marriage partner who is a terrible trial to you, YOU be revived, NOW!
Let the Holy Spirit give you light, and walk in the light.

2. We Are Not Broken People.
To hear us talk one would imagine we are as pure as the driven snow! Are you feeling pretty comfortable right now, thinking how well you really measure up? Do you say, “I only get upset when others abuse me. I am usually so loving and kind, so godly and patient.” Come now, let God reason with you. When we are broken of self, we see ourselves as we really are, and long to be filled with the righteousness from grace alone. Brokenness is costly. It means saying sorry when we offend and refuse love to others. It means taking the blame when we sin, before God and man. Brokenness knows self can never cope, it clings to the Lord in abject, humble need. It says, “I can not swim in the floods of life, I will just float. You, oh Lord, do the swimming for me.” Brokenness wants only to be real with God (and man), when it sins it comes to be cleansed in the Blood, it does not hide in the bushes like Adam and Eve did.

3.  We Will Not Be Servants One To Another.
We are all to have the servant attitude. It is not just that the  congregations of the churches should be servants, the  Pastors are called to be servants also. Jesus Christ serves, He does not dominate and rule pompously. The wife in the home is a servant, but so is the husband to have a servant attitude towards the wife and the family . The big question is not “do you want to be renewed in Christ?” It is, “are you willing to be   humbled and to be made a servant?” Here again is where the rubber meets the road. We have not thought that true revival means such things, not self-   demeaning things, not being brought low and humiliated. True revival IS this, it is the opposite to the self-seeking, self-glorifying heart of the world. Here we are talking about actually serving one another, taking a low place in our own estimation, being content to please God in serving Him, and in helping others find happiness and fulfilment in God’s love through you. Not words alone,    actions from a Spirit-filled life.

“To love is to find our own happiness in giving happiness to others, and making life easier for them.”

4. We Do Not Know? What It Is To Trust God?
If you have read so far and have agreed,    perhaps longed to be transformed, what can you do about it? Ask God to help you, and then try harder?  No. Trust in yourself     because you know you can change tomorrow? NO. Or admit you haven’t a hope of living such a transfigured Life at all?  Yes. Let us     examine some of the writings of the saints of God who have already entered into heaven, who knew in their day the open “secret” of true, authentic revival.
Roy Hession writes:

“ Does it seem hard and forbidding, this way down? Be assured, it is the only way up. It was the way by which the Lord Jesus reached the throne, and it is the way by which we, too, reach the place of spiritual power, authority, and fruitfulness....That brings us to the all-important matter of repentance. We shall not    enter into more abundant life merely by resolving that we shall be more humble in the future. There are attitudes and actions which have     already taken place and are still being persisted in (if only by our unwillingness to apologize for them) that must first be repented of. The Lord Jesus did not take upon him the form of a servant merely to give us an example, but that He might die for these very sins upon the Cross, and open a fountain in His precious blood where they can all be washed away. That blood, however, cannot be applied to the sins of our proud hearts  until we have been broken in repentance over what has already     happened and over what we already are. This will mean allowing the light of God to go through every part of our hearts and into every part of our relationships. It will mean that we shall have to see that the sins of pride, which God will show us, made it necessary for Jesus to come from heaven and die on the Cross that they might be forgiven. It will mean not only asking Him to forgive us but asking others too. That will be humbling indeed. But as we crawl through the door of the     broken ones, we shall emerge into the light and glory of the highway of holiness and humility.”   (“The Calvary Road” P.P.65,66).

“Legal Christians do not deny Christ: they only seek to add something to Christ. Their idea is, Christ and - something    besides. Perhaps it is Christ and good works, or Christ and certain religious performances. All these are good in themselves, and good as the results or fruits of salvation: but to add anything to Christ, no matter how good it may be, as the procuring cause of salvation, is to deny His completeness, and to exalt self. Men will undergo many painful self-sacrifices rather than take the place of utter helplessness and worthlessness. A man will gladly be a Saint Simeon Stylites or even a fakir, if only it is self that does it, so that self may share the glory. And a religion of bondage always exalts self. It is what I do - MY efforts, MY wrestlings, MY faithfulness. But a religion of liberty leaves self nothing to glory in: it is all Christ, and what He does, and what He is, and how wonderfully He saves. The child does not boast of itself, but of its father and mother; and our souls can ‘make their boast in the Lord,’ when He and He alone is the sufficient supply for our every need.” (P.P. 105,106.

It is not self-effort that is needed, even with “God’s help.” It is the Lord being ALL in ALL for us in our need and helplessness. Trust Him to be this in your life.

5. We Will Not Let The Holy Spirit Convict Us Of Our Sin & Need.
We Will Not Admit We Are Weak.
Do you want to have victory over sin through the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you want to have Him meet all your need, your need of strength and bravery in trials, your need of comfort in sorrow, all your need? This is renewal in essence. In our weakness, He becomes our strength:
“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”    (II Corinthians 12:10).

When one of my sons, Chris, was a child we had to cross a bridge one time. It was one of those metal railway  bridges with small holes all over it. We had to go across the bridge to get to the station.  Chris rushed onto it, but retreated in terror, he could see the train tracks through the holes and he was very afraid of heights.  I took his hand and calmed him, explaining that the bridge was safe, and we walked across together, his hand still in mine. He was strong and got to the other side, he walked through what had seemed an enormous trial to him with courage and success - but only because I held his hand. I reassured him, I encouraged him, I comforted him in the trial. So it is with us, “when I am weak, then I am strong.” Our heavenly Father makes us strong in the fact of His presence with us in our needs and alarms.
Modern day churches often teach “ more than a conqueror, that’s what I am”, that WE are strong and can leap over buildings in a single bound! But the truth is we are only strong when we are weak, we are strong IN GOD alone. He makes us strong and brave, in the midst of our own weakness. Like my son and the bridge, we can go through any situation, face any trial, go through the valley of the shadow of death even, because “Thou art with me.” He holds our hands, and we become conquerors over life’s emergencies despite our need and shaking knees. We triumph over the circumstance in Him, not go under the power of the circumstance. If Chris had tried to boost himself up and conquer that bridge, he would have never made it. God is telling us that it is O.K. to be weak and needy, for He is strong.
 
 

To walk in the light is the only way we can ever have fellowship with God, and fellowship with God in Christ IS revival. I John 1: 5-7 makes that abundantly clear. Read it now in a KJV Bible. That passage shows the CONDITIONS for fellowship with God, after we are born-again. Light when it is rejected means no more light, only darkness on that point and often on others as well.Suppose God shows you that you were jealous of your brother in Christ, and that was why you said that spiteful thing about him. Suppose you  reject that light from God, and refuse to admit that you are jealous, then you go into darkness about that point of conviction, so, you are out of fellowship with God.
Am I myself a perfect being who never fails, always trusts,  who is always successful in my daily
 We lose our peace, we have to justify ourselves by  blaming others or our situation, we can even blame God in out hearts. Suppose God does not give you what you really wanted, the door closes on a  project or a desire, it is not God’s will. You are   bitterly disappointed and try to get your will anyway.
 
 
 

“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”    (Ephesians 5:20).
One of the areas which tests, perhaps, our faith the most is the area of seeing God in everything that happens to us. It is God who is dealing with us, has chosen us, who is working all for our good, and His ways are not our ways (Romans 8:28-31).
Being submissive and trusting God   often involves accepting things which we may not have chosen for ourselves, knowing  in our hearts that God has the very best in His plan for us, and He does know what is best for our spiritually growth. Each day we must thank God for His permissive will in the events of the day, even if we cannot understand, and whether they seem good or not. For instance, a child does not understand why it has to have an injection, the   needle hurts. We  cannot explain, the little child has no reference point, he cannot grasp explanations about invisible germs. So too we cannot understand God’s dealings with us every time. It is not possible to be filled with Spirit, to be close in fellowship with God, if we want to stay self-centered and    demanding of our rights. Greedy, self-pitying, complaining people, people who murmur against God and His ways with us like the Israelites did in the wilderness, cannot live in the fullness of joyous renewal. We must face and confess these sins.
Admit to God that you are wrong, and all will be well again.

“ God is light, in Him is no darkness at all” (I Joh.1:9).

Here are some words from  Roy Hession on repentance and submission to God:

“ Being broken is both God’s work and ours. He brings His  pressure to bear, but we have to make the choice. If we are really open to conviction as we seek fellowship with God (and willingness for the light is the prime condition of fellowship with God), God will show us the expressions of this proud, hard self that cause Him pain. Then it is, we can stiffen our necks and refuse to repent, or we can bow the head and say, ‘Yes, Lord.’ Brokenness in daily experience is simply the  response of humility to the conviction of God, and inasmuch as this conviction is continuous, we shall need to be broken continually. This can be very costly, when we see all the yielding of rights and selfish interests that this will    involve, and the confessions and   that sometimes may be necessary.For this reason, we are not likely to be broken except at the cross of Jesus. The willingness of Jesus to be broken for us is the all-compelling motive in our being broken too. We see Him, who is in the form of God, counting not equality with God a prize to be grasped at and hung on to, but letting it go for us and taking upon Himself the form of a     servant - God’s servant, man’s servant. We see Him willing to have no rights of His own, no home of His own, no possessions of His own, willing to let men     revile Him and not revile again, willing to let men tread on Him and not retaliate or defend Himself.”

I know in my own life that I am well aware of when I am entirely open to God’s will and the Holy Spirit’s conviction, and when I am not. When I mean business with God I will instantly repent and be cleansed if I sin. Sometimes I grow lax and cold, I drift along defending myself. When I get my God-centered view again I know my peace will return, and I ask the Holy Spirit to search me and show me what are the wrong things in my life - opening my entire being to Him. We cannot search ourselves, we are just too biased on our own side:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”       (Psalm 139: 23,24).

From the pen of Hannah Whitall Smith:
“Let the ways of childish confidence and freedom from care, which so please you and win your hearts in your own little ones, teach you what should be your ways with God; and, leaving yourselves in His hands, learn to be literally ‘careful for nothing’...

‘Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee.’ This is the Divine description of the life of faith about which I am writing. It is no  speculative theory, neither is it a dream of romance. There is such a thing as having one’s soul kept in perfect peace, now and here in this life; and childlike trust in God is the key to its attainment.”
(ibid. P.22). (Isaiah 26:3).

All right, let me leave you with a challenge and an example.

My friend has a relative who is overweight, she has bought a number of books on weight reduction, the very best advice, sound and sensible manuals that have all the correct answers. Her husband has     demanded that she buy no more of these books, she has enough to know what to do.
Has she lost weight, having so many books? No, because she just doesn’t DO what the books have shown her, and the advice reImagess head-knowledge only.
If she did do it, she would indeed be slim. You can let the real way to personal renewal    reImages head-knowledge if you choose to, and you will never be revived and find abundant life in your own experience. Real renewal is by faith, and it means business with God, it is not knowledge only, it is faith in action. I know what is written by myself and others herein is true, because God is in a living     relationship with me right now, my heart is filled with peace. Revival is a Person - Jesus Christ filling me. Don’t just read the “manual”, move into the reality of Life Abundant with Him. It is real, not doctrine only.

True personal revival is not centered in the emotions, it is centered in the will. Your will given over to the Lord, to let Him work in you to will and to do of His good pleasure. We live in a vale of tears, this world is often a sad place, we can experience Godly sorrow as we move on in our walk with God. Just give over your will to your loving heavenly Father, and His will surely bring about the abiding in Christ that you long for.
Do not live in your emotional life?

“The secret lies just here - that our will, which is the spring of all our actions, has been in the past under the control of sin and self, and these have worked in us all their own good pleasure. But now God calls upon us to yield our wills up unto Him, that He may take the control of them, and may work in us to will and to do His good pleasure. If we will obey this call, and present ourselves to Him as a    living sacrifice, He will take     possession of our surrendered wills, and will begin at once to work in us, ‘that which is well pleasing in His sight, through    Jesus Christ,’   giving  us the mind that was in Christ, and transforming us into His image (Romans 12:1-2).”
( Hannah Whitall Smith ibid. P.49).

May  God make His countenance to shine upon you,
dearly beloved, in the days that lie ahead.
 

Next time we will look at the writings of other men and women of God, as they explore the dimensions of the Christian Life which is -
 
 
 

Get yourself a folder and keep the various issues together, we will   be giving you the godly wisdom of many consecrated believers in  future handbooks of faith,  “Beauty for Ashes.

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BOOKS USED FOR THIS HANDBOOK OF FAITH:

“The Calvary Road” Roy Hession. Published by Christian Literature Crusade.

“The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life.” Hannah Whitall Smith. Pub.Word Books.

“The Pathway to Life in God by Jessie Penn-Lewis.Overcomer Publications.
 
 
 

   despatch@mail.cth.com.au