"Simon Peter...lovest thou
Me more than these? Yea, Lord. Simon...lovest
thou Me? Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love Thee.
Simon, lovest thou Me? Lord, Thou
knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee. I will lay
down my life for Thee." (Jn. 21:15-17, 13:37).
LOVE is no doubt the word most commonly
used in all languages, yet it seems to be the least understood.
Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him, and he had thought
that he did, even unto giving his life; but if we recall, it was
only a few days before that he denied Him three times in order to
save himself. Although his answers were always a firm yes,
he was yet to fully understand this strange force that would not
only transform his own life but all humanity of all ages as well.
Once that fiery flame of Jesus Christ was planted deep into his
heart he would never the same. That transforming power of love
that descended from the very throne of God in the form of the
Holy Spirit not only transformed that hard and crusty fisherman,
but it enabled him to walk to the dark gallows of death with
eagerness.
There are many types of love, and they will all
sacrifice to a degree, but not many are that higher love which
will give unto death. All others are only fragments of God's
unrestrained love. Peter no doubt loved Jesus, but it was not
until he was born of that selfsame love as His Lord's that he was
able to manifest it as Jesus did -- even unto death. Until then
he loved himself more than he did Jesus. The love he had could
burn with passion at times, even to drawing a sword and cutting
off ears, but there is a point where it will fail, which Peter's
(and the other's) did.
The bottom line is this: Peter's words of,
"Yea, Lord, I love Thee," had little worth until they
were put into action; and the action could not come until after
he was filled with the fire of God from off the altar. It was
then, and only then, that he demonstrated how he truly loved
Jesus. From that day, his entire life was swallowed up of Christ.
Before that time the passion of his love was quick to draw the
sword in defense of His Lord. But now, his newfound love made him
ready to lay down not only his sword but his life as well -- the
same life he had previously denied the Lord to save. Once that
burning tongue of fire rested upon him, He knew what love was,
and the remainder of his life was a testimony of that fact -- a
testimony of Life that not many seem to look forward to in their
own lives.
This is what it appears to be on the surface,
anyway; that the Kingdom of God is lacking in large quantities of
people whose lives are totally swallowed up and consumed in Jesus
Christ. We know there are some who have truly signed allegiance
to Christ and His Kingdom, for we personally acquainted with many
of them; however, this is an exception to the rule when we
consider the size of the Church.
It is not a feigned Love these few have for
their Lord. They do not "love" Him just because they
are commanded to do so, but rather, they have come to know Him
while waiting in obscurity. Not unlike David's men who learned to
love that anointed one while hidden away together in the caves of
Adullam. They have come to know His person, not an idea. It is
Him that they love, not an imagination of the mind. The days of
merely telling God of their love, such as during Sunday morning
religious services, is over. It is not in them to simply sing
pretty love songs to their future reigning King in an
attempt to prove their love. None of the genuflecting rituals
satisfy their desires to worship the Living God. It is not the
repetitious words of "Lord, I love You" that seals the
sincerity of their allegiance to Him. Not one of those dead acts
is sufficient to fill the need to express their love. Not at all,
for their love is fulfilled in demonstration to this great One
that they know. This demonstration is simply by giving of
themselves -- 100%! That is what Love is -- a bringing forth from
the depths, from the very root and foundation of life, and
pouring its substance out upon the one who is loved. It is the
loss of one's identity and the total abandonment of self for the
sake of another. Where there is genuine love, there will always
be seen genuine fruit of that love.
Try as we may, however, there can be no fruit
of love, unless there is a root from which it may come. Jesus
spoke of this principle when he said, "If you love Me,
you will keep my commandments"(Jn. 14:15 RSV).
In other words, If you have the root of Love for Me, you
will bring forth the good fruit of love in your life with
actions. Many words of love may proceed from our
well-meaning lips, but it is not what we say that proves our
love, or how sincere we might be -- it is the action of
our daily walk. In other words, it is the walk
of our talk.
There is a common denominator to any type of
love; namely, the desire to love. Before one can love, he must
first desire to love. Those who truly have a love for the King of
kings had to first have a desire to love Him, and before
their love could develop and be put into effect, they had to
actually know Him. This is the only way to love anyone. The one
loved has to be known; otherwise, the individual is only
infatuated with an idea in his mind about the person. Having a
desire to love opens one's heart to receive the seed. From there
it grows and develops into the fruit of giving itself to the one
which is loved.
There are numerous ways that love constrains us
to give when we possess it: we can give our time, our thoughts,
our money, our attention, material gifts; or simply put, we give ourselves
-- period. This type of giving is not the product of a sense of
duty, but is generated from a genuine desire to bless others.
There is more joy in seeing others blessed than there is in
possessing what we have. Giving out of duty is of the law --
which is better than being lawless -- while giving out of love is
fulfilling the law.
How we praise God that we are seeing a people
today who are not of much rhetoric and countless idle words of
flattery, but are a people who bear from their hearts an
abundance of this precious, sweet fruit of love to God and His
Kingdom. Lip service to their Lord is not a part of their being.
They are not full of air but of substance. They have truly
presented themselves a living sacrifice. They are laying down
their lives for the King who died and rose for them. They are
giving their all to Him and His Kingdom, even though they and
their King may still be hidden in those remote caves of Adullam.
Much is in store for these. Their allegiance will be reward
beyond their fondest expectations once the reign of the Sauls
have come to an end.
Why Do
We Give?
There are at least seven things that motivate
the average person to give of themselves: 1) Their CONSCIENCE
(good or evil) compels them to give by making them pity those
less fortunate. 2) Giving in order to IMPRESS and win favor of
others. 3) They see it as a DUTY to a law. 4) They give as a
result of CRAFTY MEASURES being used to manipulate the
unsuspecting. 5) COERCIVE PRESSURES being applied by aggressive
leaders. 6) FEAR of reprisal -- they fear what people might say
or do if they don't give; or worse yet, they fear that God's unmerciful
wrath might befall them. 7) LOVE! And it is this one -- the greatest of
all which constrains those who have a love for people, for the
King, and for His Kingdom. Giving out of love is what causes us to be cheerful givers.
In all the giving of time, money and efforts,
few people lay it to thought that it is not vague things that
they are giving to -- but tangible kingdoms -- but some do
realize it, and they are becoming cautious of their giving. They
are like David's men, now that they have signed allegiance to
him, they have stopped supporting Saul in any fashion.
The casual observer generally sees kingdoms as
being the nations of the world, and this is correct, but the ones
whose eyes have been opened to spiritual perception know there is
a much wider range than this alone. Briefly, a KING-DOM
is any realm where there is a ruler with subjects to rule over.
When the word is broken down we have KING (RULER)
and DOM(DOMINION), i.e. KING'S
DOMINION or RULER
OF A DOMAIN. The Hebrew and Greek words are basically the
same. (Malkuw: dominion, rule; and Basque: royalty, rule, a
realm. [Strong's]). In the simplest terms, wherever there
is a ruling factor of any kind there is a kingdom.
With this we can see that our giving is almost
always to a kingdom of some sort, and as already mentioned, the
greatest motive for giving is that of love. We should not be
deceived into thinking, however, that just because we are giving
out of love that it is necessarily a good thing -- for our love
may be grossly misguided.
It matters not what we love, if we love it,
right or wrong, we will give ourselves to the spirit, to the
ruling factor, to the king, which rules over that kingdom. If it
is good things we love, then to good kingdoms we will be giving;
and if it is the bad things we love, it will be to lesser
kingdoms that our lives will be given. If we have a burning love
for sensual pleasure, then it is the sensual kingdoms which will
get our attention. If it happens to be sports, we will find
ourselves giving every spare minute to that kingdom. When one is
consumed by such a kingdom it is nothing for them to travel seven
or eight hundred miles to see twenty-two grown men butting heads
in the middle of a cow pasture for a couple of hours; and all
this while sitting in a sub-freezing snow storm. Or they will do
the same in sweltering heat to see which team of nine men can hit
a little round ball the farthest. What people won't do for the
love of kingdoms! It is really amazing, isn't it?
Sports may not be our particular attraction,
and we wouldn't give a minute of our time, nor a dime of our
money to that kingdom, but we can be assured of one thing:
wherever our love is seated, our lives will be given to that
kingdom to one extent or another.
The average person's kingdoms are generally
comprised of themselves, their family, and their home,
and usually in that order. Others may be given to many more and
much larger kingdoms, such as being the head of a nation or a
corporate manager of a multi-billion dollar firm. Regardless of
the type of kingdoms that may influence or even imprison a
person, or how large or small they may be, there will always be
one thing in common, as mentioned earlier -- they will be prone
to give to those kingdoms they love. Each of us, sparing none,
will give our time, our attention, and/or our money to our
cherished kingdoms. It is our nature to take care of, provide
for, and protect them above all else, for in them is where we
find our life to one degree or another.
We will not attempt to list the numberless
kingdoms there are which influence us on a daily basis, but we
will make note of a few that we can readily relate to. Men's
kingdoms can be extremely immense, extensive and awesomely
powerful, but most are very minuscule and go unnoticed by the
world. The majority's will be nothing more than their immediate
family and what is contained behind the four walls of their
homes. Or the kingdom may only be that of a lonely, time-worn,
weather-beaten man with his old mangy, flea bitten dog and his
meager, earthly possessions that he rules over. Nevertheless,
that small world is his kingdom, and he is the ruler over that
realm.
Whether one is a beggar or a nation's leader,
they will both attend to the affairs of their domain in order for
it to prosper and that their kingdom will in turn provide them
some sort of pleasure. Many times a corporate boss will forsake
home and family, devoting his entire life to building a monument
unto himself that he can find pleasure in. And likewise with the
pauper. Every free moment he has and every meager dime he makes
will go to his paltry kingdom -- the kingdom behind the four
walls of his flimsy shelter. It may not be much, but he will give
the substance of his life to that kingdom. If possible, he will
even incur debts that can never be settled in order to possess TV
sets, stereos, comfortable chairs and other paraphernalia. He
will even sacrifice for flea powder and tasty dog food for his
old lop-eared mutt. Regardless of what our kingdoms are, they are
generally very well cared for. What this is all saying, is this, Wherever
our citizenship is, there will our hearts be also(Lk. 12:34).
In other words, we dwell in and give ourselves to the kingdoms
we love!
Our home here in Alamogordo is ninety miles
north of the Mexican border, and in an attempt to control the
flow of drugs and illegal aliens into the U.S., the immigration
department has set up a border patrol checkpoint about half way
between here and there. As we pass through their checkpoint, the
agents will peer into each car, looking for something that
appears suspicious, and will always ask the occupants to declare
their citizenship. This is in order to detect a foreign
accent. They may demand the traveler to produce identification to
prove they are either a citizen of the U.S. or to verify that
they are here legally.
Like most everyone else who goes through that
checkpoint, we declare our citizenship as being that of the U.S.
However, in the truest sense of the matter, we are not citizens
of this nation, nor any other that is ruled by men, and neither
are most of you who read this newsletter. We are visiting envoys
passing through a foreign land with a visa -- we have visiting
rights. Truly, our old, adamic man has died, and we have been
born into a new Kingdom -- the one from above, that of the
heavens if you please. We are naturalized citizens of the Kingdom
of God! Even those before us who had not received the promise of
such a grand citizenship saw it afar off and "...confessed
that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that
say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And
truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they
came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But
now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly:
wherefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath
prepared for them a city"(Heb. 11:13-16).
Let us now pose the same command as the INS
agents, DECLARE YOUR CITIZENSHIP, and see what is
heard from our own lips. Hopefully, it is something akin to this:
"I am a citizen of the Kingdom of God. I am not of this
world, but come from that heavenly Kingdom from whence I was
born. I am an ambassador of Jesus Christ, the King of kings. I
have been sent by Him to aid in bringing to naught all the
kingdoms of men upon the face of the whole earth and to establish
that supreme Kingdom of God!" That, dear saints, is what
we hear sounding from the heavens! Praise God! Isn't it good to
see a people who know their origin? -- wise people who are not
attempting to prop up the very kingdoms they were sent to bring
down!
While REVELATION 11:15 is pregnant with
the promise that "The kingdoms of this world are
become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ..."
the vast majority of Christians are unwittingly doing everything
they can to hinder the reality of it. On one hand they are
saying, "Come, Lord Jesus, come, and set up your great
kingdom of peace," but on the other hand, they are doing
ignorantly fighting against it. As men's kingdoms
(ecclesiastical, governmental and economical) begin to fall, they
do whatever they can to prop them up. For one, they have all
sorts of money raising schemes to keep their church doors open,
and people give blindly to save their cherished buildings. They
run campaigns to get Christian legislators elected to high
offices in hopes of salvaging their country. These same elected Christian
officials turn around and break the people's backs with more
taxes in order to keep the crumbling kingdoms standing a little
while longer.
People's prayers are continually resounding the
words, "Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth,
as it is in Heaven. For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and
the glory, for ever. Amen" (Mt. 6:10,13),
but when it looks like their prayers may be answered -- they
panic! They pump money into their kingdoms by the billions. It
matters not whether it is taxes for their doomed nation, tithes
for their dying "church," or second and third mortgages
for homes of the grandest proportions. They will rally to the
environmental cause to save an endangered slug, water snail, or
darter fish. They will send their last dollar to money begging,
tear jerking, charlatans in order to keep their godless TV
kingdoms on the air -- blasphemous kingdoms full of devils and
every hateful bird -- kingdoms that contribute to air
pollution of the worst kind. The airwaves really need to be
cleaned up. Many who are "praying" for Christ's Kingdom
to come, are doing their part to the contrary.
Although there are very few who truly desire to
see the Kingdom of God established, there are still those who do.
They are sitting patiently in obscurity, waiting for the proper
season to arrive, and then shall they pour from those distant
caves as a plague of evil to Saul's kingdom, yet bringing life to
the world in unprecedented measures!
These unseen ones are the victorious warriors
of Revelation 12:11, those who overcame "...by the
blood of the Lamb, by the Word of their testimony, and they loved
not their lives unto the death." Although most of the
testimonies in what the world calls the Church have been
just the opposite, there are still those who are true. Within
them is the redeeming life of the meek and humble Lamb of God. No
more to be seen is the proud and exalted life of the dragon.
Rather than the wind of man and his fine speech, the Word, the
Logos, the Substance of the Living Christ is coming from the
heavens and being rooted deep within. They are not of the many
words of the carnal mind that are issuing forth from earthen
hearts like a muddy flood. But rather, they are filled with the
Living waters of God, being made ready to spring forth as the
wells of salvation, even as the River of Life proceeding from the
throne of God!
They have not been swept away by the flood nor
buried in the world by its debris. These faithful ones are not
found supporting every kingdom imaginable. There allegiance is
only to the Everlasting Kingdom, the Kingdom of kingdoms. We
won't find those who have laid their lives down for their King
living as if they are citizens of the world. It is not seen in
their makeup to spend countless thousands of dollars on frivolous
novelties for their personal kingdoms, for they have no kingdom
other than that of their Lord's. Their lives are not consumed by,
stereos, music tapes & CDS, VCRs, video games, nor by
countless toys of useless amusement. Their hearts and pocketbooks
are not given to flashy jewelry and other shiny things that catch
the eye and draws attention to self. Their interests are no
longer in buying the latest thingamajigs, or fancy gadgets; nor
do they pack closets full with clothes, shoes, and other things
to be lost somewhere in those mountains to never be worn or used
again. Condominiums, summer and winter retreat cabins and homes,
second, third and fourth cars are not what they fill the Kingdom
with. While less than one percent of most people's time or income
goes to the Kingdom of God, it is not so with these, for their
whole life is devoted to Christ and Kingdom of God.
These men and women of God do not spend
countless hours that evolve into days, even years, on football,
basketball, baseball, hockey, golf and innumerable other time
absorbing sports and recreations. Movies, dinners, parties and
lunches, long weekends and frivolous vacations to
"Dizzyland" costing thousands of dollars are not what
they live for -- for they are too busy being about their Father's
business. Time is too precious to wile away on anything that
would rob them of their goal of the prize of the high calling in
Christ Jesus. Neither can they sit with the average churchgoer
for 20 years and accumulate only 43 days of worship
time and of hearing a constant flow of lifeless rhetoric. On the
average, these same Sunday morning worshipers amass 1217
days watching TV, which computes to 29,200 hours, or 3
years and 4 months. Another study shows that by the time the
average person reaches the age of eighteen, they have watched 6
years of TV but have only attended 4 months of church
services. Again, to those who discern the season -- their time
with the Lord is much too precious for them to spend in any other
way than with and for the One that they love and have given their
life to. While a handful are faithful to their King, the majority
are about their own business of building what is precious in
their own sight.
Shall we continue on, or do we get the picture?
Do we see where the hearts of the elect of God are? -- that they
are in Christ their Lord, and it is there that their priceless
Treasure is found. On the other hand, if we see people heaping
unto themselves every imaginable thing of the world, this is a
witness to where their hearts abide; chiefly, in the kingdoms of
the world. And of course, by nature they will stockpile those
kingdoms they love with all sorts of trash, treasures and
trinkets. One would think there is an end to what satisfies the
soul of a kingdom ruler, whether he is a ruler of a nation or of
one's immediate surroundings, but not so. Even as our appetite is
not abated with food and drink (for very long), nor is the lust
of the flesh quenched by indulging therein -- neither will there
ever be a limit to what carnal minded people will spend on
themselves. Their kingdoms are much too valuable to let them fail
in any way.
It is different with the sons of the Kingdom,
the soldiers of His choosing. The awesome trials of fire and the
precessings of time have purged from them such novelties. They
have also been delivered from the notion that they became wise
and enlisted into His great army. They now know that this army
has no volunteers but consists only of hand picked conscripts.
They understand that they are not in His army because they
couldn't find work or had nothing better to do, nor that they
didn't want to go to the Last Days Barbecue, commonly
known as hell. No, not at all, for they know that His military
isn't run that way. Everyone who comes into His service is
drafted by the One who owns them. Do we
not remember? "You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen
you..." "...Ye are not your own, for you are bought
with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are God's....be ye not servants of men."
"...He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the
world..." "...Therefore endure hardness, as a good
soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself
with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him who hath
chosen him to be a soldier."(Jn. 15:16,
I Cor. 6:19-20, 7:23, Eph. 1:4 & II Tim.
2:3-4).
Anyone who has been in the military service,
especially 20 or more years ago, will readily relate to these
verses, for this is a perfect picture of a soldier in a real
army. Their freedom to come and go as they please vanishes once
the notice of induction is served and allegiance is sworn. They
can then only do as it pleases their commander. Plainly speaking,
the soldiers of Christ can not live for themselves, but only for
Him, the One who died for them.
This is not what is generally heard today. From
almost every pulpit in the world, it is said, or at least
strongly suggested, that "we choose Christ"; that of
our own "free will" we decided to join His ranks. More
than a few of today's religious teachers even induced subliminal
thoughts that the Captain of our salvation becomes our
errand boy who serves our every wish and whim, rather than we
laying down our lives and serving Him. Many of these teachers do
not encourage people to endure hardness as a good soldier of
Jesus Christ. Seldom are the people made aware that they are real
warriors who are not to entangle themselves with the affairs of
this life. While skirting essential issues, they often build
beautiful, imaginative facades of how laid back and easy it is in
the Lord's army. Therefore, the vast majority of today's
Christians are persuaded that their military basic training
consists of nothing more than learning the doctrines of their
church, performing a few rituals, and faithfully tithing to their
denominational kingdom so more souls can get "saved,"
like themselves.
The lukewarm church has done everything in her
power to make it as obliging as humanly possible for people to
make a "decision for Christ." In doing so, she has
diminished the gospel until it requires little or nothing at all
from the people. As a result, she has destroyed the initiative of
the saints to learn and mature. These pseudo-gospels serve for
nothing but to feed the self-centered, carnal kingdoms of men,
which in turn cause death in the same manner as it did in the
beginning. The First Church of Babylon has done no one a
favor by reducing the cost of discipleship, but instead a grave
injustice. As Jesus said, "Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one
proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the
child of hell than yourselves"(Mt. 23:15).
Countless numbers have left the buildings and
denominations of Babylon. They have scaled her confining walls of
slow death and made a dash for life. However, they did not flee
to the caves with their King; therefore, so many are no better
off than before. They may indeed have left her in appearance, but
her spirit can still be resident within their hearts. When they
broke those shackles and walked out, the majority carried not
only their favorite doctrines with them, but many of her goodly
Babylonian garments as well. And still worse, there are those in
rebellion who have chosen to live in the wilderness (Ps. 68:6)
and roam about as wild asses (Jer. 2:24) allowing no man (Jesus
Christ in any form) to rule over them (Lk. 19:14).
One of those niceties is "the easy way
out" and come from the spirit which says, "If it
hurts, get rid of it or curse it to hell. Think big, become rich
and heap abundance unto yourselves. God loves you, so He will
bless you with everything that makes you feel good. He doesn't
want you to suffer, and He understands if you spend a lot of time
and money doing what makes you happy and cheerful, as long as it
is not `sin.' If you can't be happy by giving much time to
spiritual things, surely God would not require such painful
things of you. Just leave those things to the preachers, teachers
and super saints. Let them hear from God, like Moses, and they
can tell you what He requires of you. And if they tell you
something hard, don't listen to them, for it must be of the
devil." This deceptive spirit continues on and reasons,
"It is next to impossible to be cheerful in shelling out
your hard earned money in tithes and offerings, even if it is for
God's great Kingdom. A God of love would never burden us with
such a heavy load." Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
There is, of course, another faction of people
who believes we should not be tithing at all -- that it is O.K.
to give of our time or efforts, but not our money. "It is
part of the law," they say, "and according to the
scriptures the law has been terminated." From the surface of
a couple of scriptures it might appear that way: "Having
abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances..."(Eph. 2:15). And
also, "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that
was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the
way, nailing it to His cross"(Col. 2:14).
We thank God that there are those who have
grown past that point of ignorance or selfish logic. They do not
conveniently misuse these verses to divert their support from the
Kingdom of God to their own or any other. Their pleasure is in
helping to build and strengthen that glorious realm of our risen
Lord. How wonderful it is to see that they are not unfaithful
stewards, stewards who dole multitude billions to their own
temporal kingdoms. Too many fail to realize that the Lord has
assigned everyone certain amounts of His earthly riches to care
for; but most often, the majority directs practically everything
to their own carnal desires.
Again, we praise God for those who remain
faithful! -- They who have the burning love for God's Kingdom --
they who are not chained to their bellies and to the riches of
the world, to wanton eyes, nor to the pride of life. Sure, they
enjoy a good meal and prefer comfort over discomfort, they
appreciate the beauty of God's creation, and they are honored to
be chosen of Him in this late hour -- but those things are not
their life. Jesus alone is their sufficiency. Although they may
have little, they lack nothing. Their diet does not consist of
the finest of cuisines and wines, but they hunger not. And their
spirits are not dampened that the personal kingdoms of men are
heaped with overflowing riches, while the only kingdom which
really matters operates on a shoe-string -- for they know the
time of their Anointed King draws near.
"Woe to the man who is legalistic and will
tithe a mite to Christ and His kingdom," are the thoughts of
the spirit of the world, "but envy the one, and set him in a
place of honor, who can heap to himself great riches, monuments
and tabernacles to accommodate such a privileged and blessed
person." It continues by saying, "Let him be a castaway
if he finds pleasure in the Holy law (Rom. 7:22,16,12),
and should he fulfill this law, curse his every deed.
Congratulate him, instead, if he sows to the fleshly kingdoms of
corruption and reaps a dead soul." Isn't it ironic that a
man is to be condemned if he lives a holy life and fulfills the
law of God, but is rewarded if he lives sumptuously and far
better than the King he is supposed to be serving? They think
nothing of throwing millions away on potatoes chips and soda-pop,
that which satisfies but for moment, but they can't justify the
same for the everlasting Bread of Life. Amazing indeed!
We won't look deeply into the following, but
will glance at a couple of things to satisfy our curiosity as to
whether the laws of God have been terminated or not. The words of
Jesus alone should be enough to lay the argument to rest. He
said, "Think not that I have come to abolish the law or
the prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to FULFIL
them"(Mt. 5:17 RSV). The word "FULFIL"
gives us a clear enough meaning here, but for a little
enhancement we will notice the Greek word, pleroo, it is
translated from: "TO MAKE REPLETE (FILL TO CAPACITY), TO
CRAM, LEVEL UP, TO FURNISH, SATISFY, EXECUTE, VERIFY"
(Strong's). With this it is somewhat easier to see what the
Spirit of the word is: Namely, in no way did Jesus come to
destroy anything that was Holy, especially the Holy law
(Rom. 7:12). It had been depleted of something so He came to
REPLETE it. HE CAME TO PUT INTO THE LAW THAT WHICH WAS
LACKING. He came and filled it up. He crammed it
full with the Spirit of Himself. He came and equipped and
replenished it with all the gracious furnishings of Life
itself. The chambers of the law were empty and had no power
to lift men from the throes of death, only to the contrary. The
law was gaunt with starvation and was in pain, being void of
sustenance, and all who tried to eat of it died. Therefore, Jesus
came and satisfied its great lack. He came and accomplished His
mission by executing what He was sent to do. He verified
that the law was good, and just, and righteous, and holy. That
was His testimony when He filled it full with His Spirit.
No, dear ones, Jesus did not destroy the law -- He gave it His
Life so there could be substance to it.
With His very nature of Love, Jesus filled the
entirety of God's law, not one thing was left unfilled. For
example, it was not because of the law that He had no other gods
before Him, but because of the Love He had for God, His Father,
that He held Him always before His face. It was not the law that
kept Him from killing those who sought to take His life, for His
desire was to give His Life that others might live. The law was
not what hindered Him from committing adultery with another man's
wife; for again, rather than defiling the flower of any man's
life, the Love of God was poured into the law, and Jesus would do
anything in His power to strengthen and bless the couple's
marital relationship. The law did not restrain Him from stealing
from people; but rather, with Love fulfilling the law, He gave
where there was a lack. To make it simple, Jesus was born of God,
He who is Love. He gave Himself unreservedly to His Father --
always giving from the bottomless well of Love. By this He was
able to not only fill up the law, but was able to sum all the
laws into one law, which James called the Royal Law:"If
ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself
[Lev. 19:18]..."(Jms. 2:8). This is also
akin to what Paul was saying in Romans 7:6, that we are to
"serve in the newness of spirit, and not in the oldness
of the letter." He never said to refrain from serving,
but told us how to serve , i.e. in the same manner as
Jesus our example, in the Spirit we are born of.
It is not difficult to see which kingdom Jesus
dwelt in, for not only did He say that His Kingdom was not of
this world, but His life always manifested His citizenship. We do
not see Him storing up the riches of men's kingdoms or filling a
house with the world's time-absorbing amusements and hoards of
useless trappings. Rome's latest contraptions, fashions or
politics were of no interest to Him, for His heart was set on a
higher kingdom, that of His home; and the entirety of His life
was devoted solely to it -- and nothing else.
If He had been persuaded by the devil to turn
the stone to bread, to bow before him and rule the kingdoms of
the world, or in pride to cast Himself down from the pinnacle, He
would then have been like so many today. He would have been
filling his personal kingdom and attending to all sorts of things
that momentarily satisfy the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life. But to our eternal benefit, His
priorities where those of His Father's, and He gave Himself to
the greater that we might possess it as well.
Now that we have been born of His Spirit, and
into the same Kingdom, it would behoove us to likewise be giving
ourselves to that Kingdom, lest we be found wanting in the great
and terrible day of the returning of our Lord in glory. Let it be
far from us to build personal kingdoms with the treasures in
which God has so graciously enriched us. If we do, we will suffer
great loss, for whatever is not established by Christ in the
heavens will be shaken apart and removed (Heb. 12:24-29). Every
plant that our Heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up
(Mt. 15:13). And if we bury His gift unto ourselves, there
will by a day when it will be taken away and given to others (Mt.
25:28).
Therefore, with soberness, let us with open
eyes see which kingdoms we have signed allegiance to. We must set
aright our priorities and make sure our way is that of the ever
straightening and narrowing way of Jesus Christ. Let us be quick
to take what He has placed into our hands and use or administer
it with honor and responsibility. Let Him be seen as the King of
all the kingdoms He has given us charge over. And let us always
remember, that all we possess has been only entrusted to us.
It has been placed in our care while He is away. It has
been laid into our hands of stewardship(Mt. 24:45-51).
We own nothing, not even ourselves; nothing nor
anyone belongs to themselves, for Jesus died for the whole world.
With His blood He bought and paid for everyone (I Cor. 6:19-20,
II Pet. 2:1). We all belong to Him, saint and sinner
alike. We are not our own (Gal. 2:20). For of a truth,
there is absolutely nothing we have received that did not come
from Him, and which will all eventually return back to Him (Rom. 11:35-36).
Let us be wise and not claim anything as our own, but be
responsible and return it freely when His Kingdom is in need. In
doing this, it will not be taken from us wherein we would suffer
great loss. Truly, brethren, let us be quick to remember, "The
earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world and they
that dwell therein" (Ps. 24:1).
To be
placed on our mailing list to receive our studies in booklet
form, write to:
The Pathfinder
Elwin & Margit Roach
PO Box 4004 Alamogordo,
NM 88311-4004