Excerpt from WWN5(84)
THIS IS THE VICTORY FAITH
Is Perfection NOT
'Through Faith'?
We all are sinners, born into the sinful environment of this earth, and
the recipients of the nature of fallen Adam. But we're not left in
hopelessness. There are "given unto us exceeding great and precious
promises." (II Peter 1:4.) These promises become operative at the moment
we recognize our undone state, even at the point where the magnitude of
our sin overwhelms us. This is well illustrated in the experience of the
man who "was sick of palsy." (Mark 2:5) This man was completely
discouraged - his sins had made him impotent, a complete invalid,
totally dependent on friends. If he could but know his sins were
forgiven him, he would willingly accept the results of his wrong course
of living. Jesus, seeing the faith of the friends who had taken extreme
measures to bring him into His presence, said to the man - "Thy
sins
be forgiven thee." The man made no move; his faith grasped the promise -
all was well, the guilt that plagued his soul was gone. He would accept
the results from his sin without murmuring. His friends could have
pulled him up from the presence of Jesus, and he would have been
perfectly happy. This is not the end
of the episode. Religious skeptics sat among the group who had come to
hear Jesus upon His return to Capernaum. To them the promise of Jesus
was blasphemy. Jesus used the occasion of their skepticism to seal for
all time the meaning and the extent of God's forgiveness. He asked -
"Whether is it easier to say to the sick of palsy, Thy sins be forgiven
thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed and walk?"(Mark 2:9) Merely
to speak either, makes little difference; no more effort is required.
But in this case, one statement was spoken before the other to meet the
need of a human heart suffering under the guilt of sin, and to
illustrate the "exceeding" greatness of God's forgiving mercy. That
those religious skeptics might know that He, the Son of man, had power
to forgive sins on earth - yes, in the environment of sin - Jesus said
to the man lying before Him - "Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy
way into thine house." (Mark 2:11) In accepting the first promise of
Jesus - his sins forgiven him - the man responded in the same faith to
the Command of Jesus and arose and walked as he had not been able to do
from the time when the ravages of sin had come upon him. He was not only
forgiven; he was restored as if he had never sinned. To face life -
after one has sinned as if he had never sinned - is faith that works
because of the love of God shed abroad through Jesus Christ our Lord. The Christian life
does not end with merely forgiveness - that is only the beginning! Because of the
deceptive working of the enemy, we have been born blind. Now we - 2 - need to see that in the cosmic struggle being fought
on the stage of earth, the position God has and is taking is the correct
position. There is only one way by which we can see this, and that is by
beholding the Cross - whereon the Spirit of God, manifest in clay, could
be applied to us. The experience involved here is illustrated in the
experience of the man "which was blind from birth." (John 9:1) Neither
he, nor his parents, had sinned in such a way as to cause this serious
defect, "but that the works of God should be manifest in him." (verse 3)
Declaring Himself to be the Light of the world, Jesus "spat on the
ground, and made clay of the spittle, and He anointed the eyes of the
blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of
Siloam." When the man had done so, he "came seeing." (verses 5-7) The experience of this man - after he came seeing -
reveals a greater insight on his part into the religious issues of that
day, than many have of the issues facing Laodicea today. He was not
fearful at the prospect of being cast out of the synagogue, but openly
spoke the truth to the Pharisaical hierarchy who questioned him. The
result was that he was "cast out" of the synagogue. When Jesus heard
that he had been cast out, He "found him," and said unto him, "Dost thou
believe on the Son of God?" On whom else could he trust? Who else could
have done what had been done to him - for "since the world began was it
not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind."
(John 9:32) He wanted to know such a Person, and replied, "Who is he,
Sir, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou has both
seen Him, and it is He that talketh with thee. And he said. Lord, I
believe. And he worshipped Him." (verses 36-38) Here is saving faith:
simply to believe and then to express that belief in worship. Herein
also, was the victory of Christ over Satan - "Thou shalt worship the
Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." (Matt. 4:10) Jesus in His
humanity served - obeyed - God, becoming "obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross." (Phil 2:8) In His light we shall see light - the
true cure for our Laodicean blindness. "To him that overcometh" are the
words of the Divine Spirit to Laodicea. (Rev. 3:21) But HOW do we
overcome the same wily foe with whom Jesus contended? The victors
"overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their
testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." (Rev. 12:11)
This was the experience of the man born blind. He accepted the provision
of the Lamb, gave the word of his testimony, and loved not his life unto
the death - religious ostracism. Now to the final generation of earth, there is given a
truly "exceeding great" promise. Some - who so choose – will appear
before the throne of God without fault, and without guile in their
mouths. (Rev. 14:5) How shall this be? - by faith or by works? This question can be answered in the experience of
Abraham and Sarah. When God called Abraham to leave his homeland to go to
a land he had not yet seen, He also made a promise to Abraham that He
would make him "a great nation." (Gen. 12:1-2) Abraham was seventy-five
years old at that time and Sarah was ten years younger. Time passed -
Abraham's substance increased so greatly that it became necessary for
him and Lot to separate. Painful as this was to Abraham, God comforted
him with the assurance - "I will make thy seed as the dust of the
earth." (Gen. 13:16) Had he hoped to have Lot as his heir? Years continue - Lot experiences the misfortunes of
those with whom he chose to identify. Abraham comes to the rescue, and
restores the captives with their substance to their cities in the plain.
Once again God comes and promises Abraham ‑ "Fear not, . . . I am thy
shield and thy exceeding great reward." (Gen. 15:1) To this Abraham
replied - "Lord God, what wilt Thou give me, seeing I go childless. . .
. Behold, to me Thou hast given no seed: and lo, one born in my house is
mine heir." (Gen. 15:2-3) To this appeal, God was very specific. He said
- "This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth of thine
own bowels shall be thine heir." Then God invited him to come out of his
tent, and said - "Look now toward - 3 - heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number
them: and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be." (verses 4-5) Eleven
years came and went. Sarah was seventy-six years of age. All
possibilities for her to have a child disappeared. The natural
deteriorations of life had overtaken her. There must be some human way
to fulfill the promise of God. The condition of the promise, as reported
to her by Abraham was that he was to father the heir. So Sarah decided
that through her "maid" she could obtain a child to meet the design of
God. You know God does need help, doesn't He? Or does He?! If there was
any way that Abraham could have an heir by works, Sarah was going to see
to it. Then as with all who depend on works to accomplish what they
perceive to be essential to do the works of God, when the plan didn't
work, she blamed Abraham."My wrong be upon thee," was her reaction. This
experience has spiritual overtones which reach to this our very day. It
has been well stated:
The effort to earn salvation by one's own works, inevitably leads men to
pile up human exactions as a barrier against sin. For, seeing that they
fail to keep the law, they will devise rules and regulations of their
own to force themselves to obey. All of this turns the mind away from
God to self. His loves dies out of the heart. and with it perishes love
for their fellow-men. A system of human invention, with its
multitudinous exactions, will lead its advocates to judge all who come
short of the prescribed human standard. The atmosphere of selfish and
narrow criticism stifles the noble and generous emotions, and causes men
to become self-centered judges and petty spies."
(Mount of Blessing,
Chapter: "Not Judging but Doing") Now back to the story of Abraham: God permits thirteen
more years to pass. It was beyond question, Sarah had now completely
passed the time for child-bearing, and there was no known way to turn
back the process and restore the possibility for conception. Then God
comes once more to Abraham with the revelation of Himself as El-Shaddai
- "the Almighty God." The promise is renewed - "I will multiply thee
exceedingly," (Gen. 17:1-2) God became very specific as to His
intentions for Abraham - "I will bless (Sarah), and give thee a son of
her." (Gen. 17:16) To this Abraham laughed - the possibility was too
remote for him to conceive such a thing that he pled - "0 that Ishmael
might live before Thee." But God responded - "Sarah thy wife shall bear
thee a son indeed." (verses 18-19) In a few weeks, God again appeared to Abraham, and
declared in the hearing of Sarah - "I will certainly return unto thee
according to the time of life; and lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son."
(Gen. 18:10) The facts of life were too great for Sarah, and she laughed
within herself. The thoughts of her heart were known to the Lord, and He
called Sarah to task - -"Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a
surety bear a child, which am old?" Then came the question, which forms
the basis of all of the precious promises given to man - "IS ANYTHING
TOO HARD FOR THE LORD?" (Gen. 18:14)
"At the time appointed" the promised seed was to be born. Isaac
was not only a child of promise, but a child born at a "time appointed"
in the plans and purposes of God. Between this final promise to both Abraham and Sarah,
and the birth of Isaac, the Scripture places the destruction of Sodom,
and the experience of Abraham and Sarah with Abimelech. Though ninety
years of age, Sarah was still attractive enough to create possible
problems, and neither had sufficient faith that the promise of God would
assure the safety of Abraham's life, so they resorted to deception for
self-protection. When Sarah did conceive, the Scripture declares - "The
Lord visited. . . and the Lord did. . . as He had spoken." (Gen. 21:1)
Further the event occurred "at the set time of which God had spoken to
him (Abraham)" about. (verse 2) Abraham and his wife could have
continued normal marital relations and would have still
continued childless had not God acted in His Almighty power. God did not
create a new womb; He merely rejuvenated that which already was, so that
a new life might result. Isaac was
truly theirs, but only because of God's power. The time in God's plan
had elapsed to such an - 4 - extent that it was obvious that the child of promise
could not be because of mere human activity, but was born solely by what
God could and did do. The final victors in the struggle with "the beast" and
"his image" and "his mark" (Rev. 15:2) will be "without fault" because
God has promised, and He is able to perform His commitments. There has
been fixed a "set time" in the plans and purposes of God when this is to
be realized - the Day of Final Atonement. "Who hath heard such a thing?
who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one
day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed,
she brought forth children." (Isa. 66:8) This experience does not come through the eradication
of the fallen nature as was taught by the Holy Flesh Movement, and is
presently being set forth by some today in their teaching of perfection.
Sarah's womb was the same one she always had, God did not do an
hysterectomy, and then create a new womb. He rejuvenated her womb that
the normal process for which it was made might be carried through to the
bringing forth of the promised son. Perfection will result from the rejuvenation of our
fallen nature - perverted, misused and degenerated by disobedience - by
the power of Almighty God - the God who appeared to Abraham as El
Shaddai. It is by God's grace through faith, lest any man should boast.
- The Holy Spirit in all of its fullness - without measure - is
obtained by Jesus through the final intercession of His blood. "The
mighty energies of the Holy Spirit, with all their quickening,
recuperative, and transforming power, [will) fall as an electric shock
on the palsy-stricken soul, causing every nerve to thrill with new life,
restoring the whole man from his dead, earthly, sensual state to
spiritual soundness." (5T:267) When we look at ourselves - truly look - having our
eyes anointed with eyesalve, we see our undone condition in the same
light as Abraham and Sarah perceived the womb of Sarah to be - unable to
produce life - a life acceptable to God. As did Abraham and Sarah who
suggested various substitute ways - a servant born in the house, even
the child born of works accepted for the promised seed, so we perceive
and teach a substitute way to perfection based on our works of "reform."
Nothing - absolutely nothing - was or is acceptable to God, except that
which meets His specifications and comes about as a result of His power,
alone! God has promised a demonstration of perfection in the final hour
of human history. We must believe that what He has promised He is able
to perform. He will perform it in all who perceive the futility of their
own works. "THIS IS THE VICTORY
THAT OVERCOMETH THE. WORLD, EVEN OUR FAITH_ WHO IS HE THAT OVERCOMETH
THE WORLD, BUT HE THAT BELIEVETH THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD?"-
even as the man born blind. (I John
5:4-5) |