Spiritual Light

For Our Admonition

The purpose of God's choosing of Israel was the blessing of others; it was to make people a vehicle of His great care and healing and peace. When God's people humbled themselves before Him in obedient holiness, godly fruit was produced. When pride, compromise, and greed worked in His people and, so, hindered His working through them, what good fruit could have been produced? In the end, the kingdom of God was taken from Israel and given to others who would be more faithful in "bringing forth the fruits thereof " (Mt. 21:33-46).

But have we done so? Have we, the called-out ones, been the light of the world, the salt of the earth? Have we kept ourselves from the errors of ancient Israel? Have we escaped the shame of division? Are there any congregations of strangers to the grace of God being told that they may look with joy to what lies ahead?

The next question is even more sobering than those above. For if God so fiercely punished a guilty Israel, will He fail to punish guilty believers now? Some of the last words spoken by Jesus on this earth warn us not to think so. Gathered with his disciples on the night before he was crucified, the man called "the Branch" carefully labored in words that they might understand:

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away. And every branch that does bear fruit, He purges, that it may bring forth more fruit.

"Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can you, except you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches: He who abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit, for without me, you can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered, and they gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."

(Jn. 15:1-6)

No, God has changed neither His standard nor His purpose for His people. For the sake of all men, the redeemed are allowed to live, that in demonstrating before all men God's way of life, some of them might choose to honor Him.

The body of Christ needs to examine its faith, its traditions, its methods, and its goals. If division in Old Testament Israel was an indication of confusion and error, can the confusion of sects that God's children join now indicate anything else? Will we point the finger at Israel and wonder why she chose to die, not heeding the Scriptures, when our own Scriptures tell us that as long as there are divisions among us we are carnally minded (1Cor. 3:3) and to be carnally minded is death (Rom. 8:6).

And when we cross land and sea to make a convert, whose convert is he? Christianity's or Christ's?

Or if a poor, unschooled and unheard-of preacher boldly proclaimed that many of the most famous, most revered religious leaders among us were blind guides, would we be so offended that we would not even consider it?

Israel compromised holiness, increased her membership rolls, and God cut her off. Will He look at the congregations His children have joined and see less compromise? It is imperative that God's children be taught to know that Israel's fate is not unrepeatable, that any people who bear God's name must bear that name in holiness or be destroyed! Taking the name of the Lord in vain is still sin, and it will not go unpunished.

The body of Christ must hear her own prophets! If so, we will understand that the things which happened to Israel "happened unto them for examples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." And we will also see the good in Paul's warning, "Wherefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" (1Cor. 10:11-12).

On another occasion, referring again to God's judgment against His unfaithful Old Testament people, Paul warns New Testament saints (Rom. 11:20b-22),

"Be not high-minded, but fear, for if God spared not the natural branches [the Jews], take heed lest He also spare not you. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God; on them which fell, severity, but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you, too, will be cut off."

We must come to know, fully know and take to heart, that first of all, there is such a thing as taking the Lord's name in vain and that, secondly, the only people who can take God's name in vain are those who have taken His name at all: believers in Jesus. We must (we must!) come to know the fear of God and the fierceness of His wrath against His own people who bear His name in vain by living ungodly lives.

We are no better than the ancient Israelites. We are equally capable of being led astray and persuaded to call good, evil, and evil, good, to love darkness rather than light and cling to lies instead of truth. Therefore, we tremble for our need of God's mercy, and for His power to grant it.

From the beginning, God has been open and direct with those who come to Him concerning His simple requirements:

"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain."

I know that there are many religious leaders who teach that because of the blood of Christ upon us, God does not see, or does not take into account, our sins. But it is not true that we are counted good in God's sight for Jesus' sake, even when we are disobedient to Him. That is an old heresy, and it wearies God to even hear such nonsense:

"You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, Wherein have we wearied you? When you say, Every one that does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?"

(Mal. 2:17)

We need to reject doctrines that flatter us and eventually, when they have finished their rambling course, make what is wrong seem right. The truth is and always has been simple: Obey God and live, or disobey Him and die. It is when we are seduced by sophisticated theology and glittering religious manners that we become confused, divided, carnal. Those who do righteousness are righteous (1Jn. 3:7-10); those who do evil are evil. The righteous will be saved; the unrighteous will be cast into the Lake of Fire. That's the gospel.

Jesus gives us wisdom and power to overcome the flesh and live godly lives so that at the Final Judgment we may stand pure and innocent before his judgment seat. He came and suffered to take away our excuses for sinning; but we have often used his sacrificial act as our excuse to continue in it.

If we hope to enjoy the promises of eternal life that God offers us, we must learn the lesson which Israel's failure teaches (cp. 1Cor. 10:1-12); namely, that being the people of God, bearing His holy name, carries with it the responsibility of faithfulness to God by walking in His holiness. It teaches us that without holiness, no man will see God (Heb. 12:14), whether he is one of God's own or a sinner who has never tasted of the grace of God in Christ.

Before We Continue

Refusal to consider seriously and humbly the possibility of spiritual error was a hallmark of Israel's elders. They could have continued to revere their traditions, yet be willing to consider the prophets' and Jesus' words, and, thereby, be helped. But their unwillingness to hear, their readiness to condemn any suggestions that they had misunderstood, ultimately ruined both them and the nation. A willingness to hear is a mark of righteous people; only the guilty are hardhearted.

Because the truths in this beginning chapter help quicken our minds to the real possibility and awful consequences of developing (even unintentionally) spiritual hardness to truth, I consider it to be merely the introduction to what this book really has to say. For much of what is being taught to the saints today, and much of their religious practice, is not of God. In fact, the sects that most of God's children have joined are contrary to Christ because they divide and confuse God's children. Merely belonging to different sects which teach conflicting doctrines hardens their hearts against God's truth. And it is only in remembering with what steadfast confidence in their own righteousness that Israel slaughtered the prophets that we can be warned to listen for the chastening word.

In His fear, we sheep of His pasture must earnestly and humbly examine ourselves and our faith, for much of the responsibility to be led rightly lies squarely upon the shoulders of each follower. If I stand before God "poor, blind, and naked", my shepherd may well answer for it, but neither will I be guiltless. Every one of us shall give account of himself to God (Rom. 14:12).

It is certainly nothing new to your ears to hear that the body of Christ is "off track". We all sense that something is amiss. The presence of so many divisions among us is an indication to every good conscience of some pervasive yet hard to define error which owns great influence over God's people. Differences in doctrine, ordinances, standards, and governments are so obviously ungodly that at times they have even been defended - on the basis that God would not allow such awful things to exist among us if indeed they were so ungodly. But at heart, we all know fully well that it is not as it should be.

The Spirit of God is calling to you right now, as it is calling to everyone who is looking for the right path, "Come out of her, my people!" But God is not merely calling us out of confusion; He is calling us into His light. Let us go to Him outside the gate!

The chapters that follow will, for many of you, initiate a difficult task of re-examination. They will require all of your faith, your attention, and your prayers. In reality, you will not be judging their contents; they will be judging you.

Saints everywhere are longing for a move of the holy Spirit throughout the world that will eventuate the uniting of all who trust in Jesus, bringing all believers together into the one faith, the one hope, and the one mind of Christ. However, much depends on what we, as believers, do. There are many beliefs to be abandoned, many traditions to be discarded, many confessions to be made, and much chastening and pruning to be received. And if God's recording of Israel's failure to do these things, and His recording of the results, do not make us willing (yea, eager!) to examine in earnest our own beliefs and to be willing to hear words not easy on our souls, then will be fulfilled the words of Solomon (Prov. 1:24-26):

"Because I have called, and you refused, I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded, but you have set at nought all my counsel, and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear comes."

The messages that now follow may be a tiny part of our God's call to the divided and confused household of faith. Still, they are a part. They will not all be easy to accept, but they are all true, and we all need them. They will stand the tests of scriptural examination and endorsement of the Spirit.

There is nothing to be gained by strife and faultfinding. We have all been wrong, and we will stay that way if we refuse God's help. These truths require humility from me as well as you, and you will find no spirit of strife or self-aggrandizement in this work. There is, however, everything to be gained by instruction in righteousness, and the Spirit of truth has given me these messages for this time for the body of Christ.

"My son, if you will receive my words, and hide my commandments with you so that you incline your ear unto wisdom and apply your heart to understanding; yea, if you cry after knowledge and lift up your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding. He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous; He is a buckler to those who walk uprightly. He keeps the paths of judgment and preserves the way of His saints. Then you will understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path."

(Prov. 2:1-9)