UNMIXED WORSHIP

As a boy suffering the first onslaught of adolescence, I attended a school where I was taught that I must attain perfection and holiness, because God is holy and perfect. The scriptures most often used by my teachers were Matthew 5.48, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect", and Leviticus 19.2, "Be holy, because I, the LORD your God, am holy". To accelerate the process I was given a sort of "do-it-yourself" manual and exhorted to walk my pilgrimage in fear and trembling - remembering that the devil was going to get me if I didn't watch out!

Many acts of contrition, religiously abnegating confessions, and tedious hours of studying the steps to the states required failed to produce even the least results. In my lack of wisdom I failed to understand that those commands I found impossible to obey were actually blessed promises. And though I struggled (howbeit briefly) with myself in attempts to perfect and cleanse what I'd been taught was evil and odious in God's sight, I finally gave up the struggle. I thought perhaps I was eternally lost, perhaps having sinned against the Holy Ghost in some careless way - so what was the use of all this outward hullabaloo and inward warring?

I quit the field and have never regretted it.

I shall always praise God for His mercy in planting that seed of surrender in my being!! That "giving up" wasn't a step in the guide-book - but it is, and was, a Saviour-ordained leap over the threshold INTO HIS HOUSE.

"Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand." (Daniel 12.10, NIV).

"...those who are wise will understand." According to various concordances and dictionaries at hand the Hebrew word used in this phrase for "wise" is a participial form of a word meaning to be prudent, circumspect, i.e. to act wisely, or be intelligent. It is exceedingly comforting to know that should one lack this wisdom, this ability to act prudently and intelligently, Our Saviour has provided a remedy: "...if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him". (James 1.5, NASB).

So, we pray with Paul that God give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, and that the eyes of our understanding be opened. This wisdom and revelation along with the "opening of our eyes" of our understanding will reveal to us the hope of our calling and the riches of His glorious inheritance in us. God has a specific inheritance in a people which He has decreed will bring Him pleasure and joy. (See Ephesians 1.17-18).

As He makes these things alive and real in us, we see once again the necessity for all the scouring, scrubbing, and rinsing we endure so that He may receive us to Himself, and that we may worship Him in spirit and in truth.

"Many will be purified, made spotless, and refined..." This is done because, as God duplicates Himself in a people, they become an expression of Him that will bring Him glory and pleasure. He will purify us because He is pure and make us holy, because He is holy. "Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says,

'I will declare your name to my brothers;

in the presence of the congregation I will

sing your praise'"

(Hebrews 2.11-12, NIV)

See, I have refined you, though not as silver;

I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this.

How can I let myself be defamed?

I will not yield my glory to another.

(Isaiah 48.10-11, NIV)

God placed His name upon a people, Israel (see 2 Samuel 7.23, Isaiah 45.4 and many others) - and they wandered off to serve other gods who were indeed NOT gods - but only vain representations of animals and demonic imaginations. They befouled themselves, and in so doing brought shame upon His name. Thus arose the necessity of the furnace of affliction - to thoroughly purge and refine the people whom He had honored with the name above all names.

"Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, 'The LORD knows those who are His', and 'Let everyone who names the name of the LORD abstain from wickedness'". (2 Timothy 2.19, NASB. See also LXX, Numbers 16.5). We are to bear His name! We are the forthshining of very God, enChristed with His holiness, in order to reveal and prove His magnificence to all the universe - and we must, we will, depart from wickedness. This command from the Most High bears the seed of promise - and SHALL BE FULFILLED!!!

What did He mean when He said, "I will not yield my glory to another"? (Young's literal says "honor" instead of "glory"). In John 17.22-23, NIV, Jesus says to His Father, "I have given them the glory that you gave me." It's not my object to shift and shuffle words, making a puzzle of what is not a puzzle. Since Jesus and God are ONE - no glory was ceded. It remains, then, to decide whether Jesus SHARED that glory with others or gave it all. Sharing is dividing into parts and doling out those parts to receivers.* I don't think sharing out parts is what Jesus meant when He said, "I have given them the glory...". He didn't say, "I've given them part or a little or a lot of the glory you gave me." He "gave the glory" - and this could only be done if those to whom it was given were ONE with God just as Jesus is. So - we have not received a parcel of the glory - but we are joint-participants in it - all is ours, but no member of His Body has all or more than another. When our purification is complete this will be fully grasped - not seen in part as through a piece of smoked glass. Be assured: the reason He gives us the glory is "...that they be one as we are one; I in them and you in me...".

*(Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is ONE)

Gladly, gloriously, freely - He gives His glory to those who are ONE IN HIM. And when He is completely revealed we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He truly is!! (1 John 3.2).

Our vision, called "our revelation", by some, is our covering until such time as God fulfills that vision. From thence, REALITY is our state of being! Young's Literal translation of Proverbs 29.18 is "without a vision is a people made naked". Other translations vary in some degree from the KJV - but the fact remains that the "vision", or "revelation", if you prefer, has a law of fulfillment. God doesn't reveal something to His prophets and then renege. God has a proper order for fulfillment - and every "vision" is subject to His law. He left us "an example, that we should follow His steps" (1 Peter 2.21). Let's rejoice in the way of the LORD, knowing that His revelation in us shall be fulfilled - and we are covered, now, by faith, and ultimately will be blessed with His reality.

We may often meditate upon the purposes of God, asking, perhaps, "Why does He allow such and such? Why this apparent evil or that particular suffering?" It is part of the divine plan of the ages that creation should be turned to vanity, to go through all the discipline and processing, and THEN, RETURN UNTO GOD. (Psalm 90.3 speaks of this).

It's impossible to answer the questions, posed above, without a revelation. We are in no position to judge our Creator and the fact that He created man for His own purpose and pleasure is proof in itself that He has a perfect reason for doing so. "But who are you, O man, to talk back to God. 'Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'" (Romans 9.20, NIV. See also Isaiah 29.16 and 45.9).

There's coming a glorious and grand restoration when He shall be "ALL IN ALL" - that is, be everything to everyone, supreme, the MANIFEST indwelling and controlling factor of life (1 Corinthians 15.28, Amplified New Testament).

We know there was a FALL, but the negative forces used were tools in the hands of God, fashioned and manipulated to bring about His omniscient purpose. A prime example is the crucifixion of our LORD JESUS: "This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, (the Greek says, "lawless men" ) put him to death by nailing him to the cross." (Acts 2.23, NIV). If God hadn't planned it, it wouldn't have happened - but He did plan, so our LORD fulfilled the "vision" of "the Lamb slain from the creation of the world." (Revelation 13.8,NIV).

What now of those fiery sermons condemning the "perfidious Jews", the "cruel Romans" and "damned Judas", for the "horror of the crucifixion"? We praise God for the fulfillment of His plan! - and dread the passing thought that mankind, had they known, or not known, Jesus' true identity, might have thwarted the Almighty God's purpose! Thwart God? IMPOSSIBLE!!!

Yes, men who have the law and men without the law are used to carry out His plan - but death can't hold our LORD or His body. Through this great design all are absolutely destined to REDEMPTION and the fullness of His resurrection life.

The word "fall" describes very well the desperate plunge man has taken into vanity, self-will and corruption. It tells us that this present execrable state is not "normal" - and though man may be far off from God, yet in his heart a witness is present, telling him that this distance is because of self-will. Many may live in the degradation of sin, but they know that such a life is in opposition to the will of the Creator: "since... the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now defending them." (Romans 2.15, NIV). This is all too familiar! Man is prone to accuse others and excuse himself - yet deep within him, his conscience witnesses that he has missed the mark and come short of the glory of God.

Whether accusation or excuse, in either case, there is a witness that we know there's a better way. Otherwise, we'd not try to justify ourselves in a matter, nor would we condemn another for not measuring up to what we believe is right.

No, sin is NOT the original law of our being. The struggle within tells every man that there is something amiss - and that somewhere we fell short of the mark.

God has been cleansing, purifying, testing, proving, and "unmixing" until He brings our state of being into ONENESS with Himself - the process we call the new birth and growth in the grace and knowledge of our LORD until our ultimate placing as adult sons with our Father's fullness!

The old Adamic nature in us still lives the old Adam's life. "...for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?" (1 Corinthians 3.3, NKJ). It's astonishing how much we still reveal our "mere man" walk. Often the bliss of our worship and walk in His presence is interrupted by a reaction to a situation that flaunts our carnality, and reduces us to "mere men". Repentance and cleansing are always granted by Our Creator, and this repentance is one of His divine devices that gradually change us "into the same image from glory to glory, even as the Spirit of the LORD". (2 Corinthians 3.18).

We prove that CHRIST IS IN US as we live HIS life and manifest HIS character.

"Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." (1 John 2.15-17, NKJ)

In those verses we see three areas of testing and, as indicated in a previous letter, experienced by Jesus as well as Adam and Eve.

Remember: "IF you are the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread...IF you are the Son of God, cast yourself down; for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning you, and in their hands they shall bear you up lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone..., all these things I'll give you, if you'll fall down and worship me." (Matthew 4.3,6,9).

A lengthy analysis of these verses isn't pertinent to this letter. Rather, let's focus on the purpose of our accuser in the temptation. He tried Jesus in the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, in an effort to turn Jesus away from the worship of God to his lying self.

Yes - that was the goal of Satan - to take away the worship that belongs to God only, and beguile the worshipper with rewards of the flesh.

WORSHIP IS THE POINT AT ISSUE! It is for God's pleasure we are created (Revelation 4.11) and He only is our object of worship. No matter how severe the test, how alluring the temptation - and regardless of how abysmal the fall - when all of this processing is complete, we shall stand in the SAME OVERCOMING VICTORY THAT JESUS EXPERIENCED - and shall totally, fully, worship God !

Satan's dealing with Eve is recorded in Genesis 3.6:

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave it to her husband and he ate. (NKJV)

The tree is:

good for food --- lust of the flesh,

pleasant to the eyes --- lust of the eyes,

desirable to make one wise --- pride of life.

And at this point we must refer to 1 John 2.16 and the words "lust" and "pride".

First the word "lust", (Greek: epithumia) which means, generally, a craving or desire, especially for that which is forbidden . To the Greek philosophers such desire wasn't sinful. They used it to describe the waywardness of man in conflict with his rationality, that is, they estimated it ethically instead of religiously . In Judaism such inordinate desire - covetousness - is a sin against God, Who demands total obedience and love from the whole heart.

In the new covenant of our Lord Jesus Christ the word is chiefly used to indicate evil desire , and almost always so in the epistles. It's evil because it's disobedient to the commands of God and the teaching of the Holy Spirit - whether through Jesus or the apostles. "You shall not covet", is the basic premise upon which other teaching on the same subject is based.

He who is in the bond of unlawful desire, (covetousness) is not free of self to the point that he can fully participate in God.

The present attitude that seethes through our modern churchdom has apparently demoted adulterous and covetous thought to the same status they have given gluttony - sort of ecclesiastic misdemeanors instead of sins that must be confessed and forgiven if man is to fully fellowship with the body. But lust of the eye and lust of the flesh are there at the threshold of man's consciousness, and are only thwarted by unmixed God-consciousness.

Next is the word"pride" as used in the cited verse. (Greek: alzonia ). This word describes an empty assurance which trusts in its own power and resources, and shamefully despises God's laws as well as human rights. It is an impious and futile presumption which trusts in the stability of earthly things. The man suffering this delusion - the PROUD ONE - is he who makes more of himself than reality justifies. In 1 John 2.16 this word denotes the attitude of the worldliness of the man who doesn't ask the will of the Father, but considers himself to be "self-sufficient" and able to sovereignly decide the course and content of his life. And we know that such decisions are God's and God's alone.

In James 1.14-15 we see the result of lust:

"...each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire (epithumia), he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire (epithumia) has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin when it is full grown, gives birth to death." (NIV, my parenthesis)

Man can't blame the devil for his lust and arrogant pride. The cause is within man, and man's uncontrolled carnality gets him in trouble. God allows this for His purpose.

Paul once said in Romans 7.18, "I have the desire to do what is good, BUT..." (NIV). "BUT...I have all these inner desires and emotions. I try to set my will to do a certain thing and then these inner desires keep hounding me until I finally yield to them."

"KEEP THY HEART with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." (Proverbs 4.23).

The will, that faculty of the mind by which we are inclined to a certain action, or to affection and desire - is often spoken of as "the heart". The inner desires of the heart combine with the will - and decisions are made. We need a thorough purging of our heart - so that there is no impediment to the flow of pure worship from within to our God. No wonder the Psalmist earnestly prayed, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me". (Psalm 51.10).

"Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37.4, NIV)

When HE places the desires in our heart they are RIGHT DESIRES. There are many who read this verse and understand it only as a promise of fulfillment of whatever desires they have within, no matter how whimsical. They feel that because they are "religious", and make confession of Him loudly and often - then He must give them whatever they "truly" desire - prosperity, health, whatever they name and claim as their own. They miss the point.

When we're delighting in the LORD , yielded to Him and submitting our entire being to His will, the HE places in our heart desires which are pure. Fulfillment follows, ...you can count on it! God delights in bringing to full growth the seed of the desires HE PLANTED. The prerequisite is to delight in Him; the rest just follows according to the abundance of His grace.

This dissertation will be continued.