The Simple Answers… To Life’s Most Important Questions.
Bible Study Course Lesson 9 –16
You’ve been a free person your whole life. You’ve had the right to read, or play; to work or sleep. The right to hate or forgive, to marry or stay single, to have children or travel. Your life is the result of your choices, and no one else’s. So how did that work out for you? Ezekiel 20:43.
Yes, there were some limitations on your activities; you were forced to go to school, discouraged from killing people to take their money or their spouse; and yes, you may not have had enough money, or health, or intelligence to really do what you wanted.
And yet others in your exact situation could have done better. Could have done it right. Jesus, in your exact situation –with your heart, your spirit, your home, your health, your money, could have lived a perfect life by making better choices. So why didn’t you? Because you didn’t love the Golden Rule enough.
Because of that, you were led astray by various lusts and fears and deceivers, and have been a terrible master of your own self. You should be ashamed of yourself; for you had everything you needed to live a perfect life… because God has made certain that everyone who ever lived did! (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Even once you’d made a few mistakes, you could have done a better job of damage control, instead of letting your life, your health, and your fractions just spin out of control. If God were there, He could point to dozens of times today that you’ve continued the pattern of misrule; I’m sure even I could point to a few!
And yet most people are undaunted by their manifold failures to do it right; they keep thinking “Ok, I made some mistakes, but nobody’s perfect; I just need more time/money/knowledge/etc., and I’ll get it right”; the demons also think this (Matthew 8:29). But they won’t; and you won’t (Mark 10:26-27).
People imagine themselves to be on basically the right path, but just “not quite there yet”. They imagine the Kingdom of God is just around the corner, up ahead a little ways. But they don’t realize that they’re so blinded, and so lost, the Kingdom of God is squarely behind them… and with each stubborn step, they get FARTHER from it, not nearer!
So you are a failure, in every sense of the word. You didn’t fail once, nor twice, but countless times. On your own, left to yourself, you will never find the Kingdom of God. Someone –God, man, spirit, someone must hold your hand if you have ANY hope of finding salvation.
We all know that “most people” are like that. The question is… can you see that it describes you as well? That without attention, a lot of attention, you have absolutely no hope of finding salvation?
Are you capable of admitting that you could be locked in a room with a Bible for ten lifetimes and not learn what you need to know, because your heart and spirit are blinding you to the truth… even now?
IS THIS YOU?
God chooses the worthless things of the world; the stupid, the poor, the sick (1 Corinthians 1:26-29); And the fact that you’re here, means God thinks of you as such. To Him you are an interesting project precisely because you have no value to anyone, including yourself (whether you realize it or not).
We might imagine a future in which the good Pharisee Simon could, with just the right amount of luck, have found the first resurrection on his own. He wouldn’t have, but we can imagine that he just might have been able to do it (Luke 7:36-43).
But no one could seriously argue that the hooker who washed Jesus’ feet with tears was on the path to righteousness. No imaginable amount of luck, of work, of time would have changed the fact that she would never find salvation. And both of these people, deep down, knew these things.
Thus, Simon would never completely surrender to Jesus, knowing he had a chance on his own, however slim; and for the same reason, the sinful woman had absolutely nothing to lose by surrendering to Him for she literally had no other hope of salvation. The question is… which of these people are you?
Since you’re here, we already know the answer; so really, the bigger question is… can you admit which of these people you are? Not which of these people you were, before you learned a bunch of stuff; but which of these people you ARE, at this very moment? (Luke 18:24-25).
This is why God doesn’t call righteous seminary students; He calls mechanics and drunks (Matthew 9:12-13). Because it’s easier for them to realize that they screwed up! And far easier for them to admit that they bring nothing to this relationship.
This way, everyone knows that if anything is accomplished in them, it was done in spite of them, not because of them (Ephesians 2:7-13). Because in God’s eyes, bankers are just as much failures as sharecroppers, nay, more so; but it’s easier to convince a poor black man that he’s a failure than it is to convince a rich white man.
Thus, the poor Greeks were far more likely to hear the truth than “God’s chosen people”, the Jews (Acts 13:43-49). If for no other reason than BECAUSE the Gentiles couldn’t delude themselves that they were God’s chosen people!
So if you’re here at all, it’s because God knows you will never make it on your own. The question is… do you? Because you’re here, reading these lessons, learning things that mortals may never have seen before (Luke 10:23-24), to convince you of what God already knows… that you aren’t good enough to do this.
WHAT MORE MIGHT THERE BE?
If you were, God would have told you all this, and not made you learn it from some other man. And that should make you wonder… what else is there that you don’t know, that you don’t see, that you can’t learn on your own?
What else are you, even now, blinded to by pride and arrogance? Acts 8:30-31. What else is there that you could learn from me that can’t be written into a lesson, carved into frozen spirit? How can I find counsel hidden deep in your heart if I don’t even know you? Proverbs 20:5-9.
Now, do you really need this? No, you can gain all wisdom from the Bible and God’s holy spirit just like Jesus did. And yet… did you?
Do you need Moses, Paul, or myself to explain things for you? No, not really (Romans 1:19-20). And yet… don’t you? ( Romans 1:21-22).
Did you know the things in Series 7? Or Series 1 for that matter? Could you have learned them? Absolutely. But did you?
Could God have revealed them to you? Absolutely. But did He?
Why would He choose to give them to me instead of you? I surely don’t know. The fact is He did (Isaiah 50:4).
It certainly wasn’t for my own wisdom, my own righteousness, my own ability to manage my fractions, I can say that without a doubt (1 Timothy 1:12-15). But does it really matter why? (Romans 9:20-21).
The fact is, these are the words of life (John 6:68), and you first heard them here. And if they are what you want, you’ll find a way to be where they are.
I’ve told you over and over how that works in this series… but it only works when you’re ready to admit that you will never find Christ on your own.
Not in a thousand years twice over.
REPENTANCE
It requires a great deal of humility to admit that you’re not good enough. But try to be honest; would you, in a realistic amount of time, have figured these things out? Perhaps. But you’ve already had 10, 30, 50, 70 years to figure them out in… if you were capable of doing it… why hadn’t you already?
Far more important than the knowledge of things in Series 1 and 7, have you understood and diligently practiced the things in Series 4, 5, and 6? How can you be sure… because if you did them wrong, your fractions would lie to you!
The ways of a man are ALWAYS right in His own eyes (Proverbs 16:2-3). So how can you know if you kept them or not?! Proverbs 18:17. We were not meant to do this alone; because it’s impractical and unnatural to have babies raise themselves! That’s why eating the forbidden fruit was such a big deal, because it wrecked their chances to learn from the Father!
Having to accept help, nay, having to BEG for help is humbling… which is the thing you most need in order to begin to manage your fractions! Which is why until you realize that you cannot do this on your own, you are not ready to take the next steps (Acts 2:36-38).
These simple, obvious concepts are hidden behind millennia of dogma and archaic words, but this just says that until you admit you can’t do it on your own, until you are ready to admit you absolutely cannot do it without help… no one, including God, will be able to help you… until you repent (Luke 13:2-3).
WITH UNDERSTANDING
The world thinks of repentance as the overwhelming feeling of depression you have just before you give your heart to Jesus; when the reality is that once the mood passes, your heart will do whatever it wants again, and forget that it was supposed to follow Jesus now.
True repentance is a very different thing. Read 2 Timothy 2:24-26. Repentance means acknowledging that your soul is in the snare of your heart and spirit –the prison of Ecclesiastes 4; and more importantly, realizing that there is absolutely nothing you can do about it (Matthew 19:25-26).
The Greek word translated as repentance is metanoeo which is from the two words meta and noeo which mean “with” and “understanding”. Together they mean “to change one’s mind”, in other words, to act with understanding of what you are.
God chose this word because without taking a good hard look in the mirror, you cannot see the fact which is obvious to everyone else –that you are not good enough. And this is not something we like to acknowledge, which is why God has to GIVE us that insight into ourselves, must GRANT us “repentance”.
Anyone can feel sad, hopeless, or depressed; God doesn’t need to give it to you! But repentance is the gift of seeing yourself in a clear mirror, perhaps for the first time. God holds the heart and spirit at bay, preventing them from blinding our souls, so that we can see for the first time the Truth about us;
And the truth is, that we are made of dust and that we will never get this right alone. That is acting “with understanding”, and THAT is true repentance –the realization of your own inability to fix yourself on your own.
Repentance means not only feeling sorry; it means admitting that you SHOULD have done better, that you COULD have done better, and yet that without help you WILL NOT do better next time! (Romans 7:18-25).
So obviously, repentance involves changing your actions (Luke 3:8). And yes, you should feel bad about your actions (2 Corinthians 7:8-11). But if you don’t sorrow AND turn to God it’s a waste of time (Acts 26:20); “turn to God”, because your life’s path has been AWAY from the Kingdom, not TOWARDS it!
TURN TO GOD
Now there isn’t a Christian alive who doesn’t agree with what I said above; they ALL say they can’t do this alone, they must do it “by the grace of God!”; but that’s not really what I mean. Because they believe they can’t do it alone but that they CAN do it with God’s help.
And they’re right… but they’re also very, very wrong. Because what if God doesn’t think they’re important enough to help? Today’s Christians believe that they humble themselves when they “accept Jesus”, but then boast of their freedom, and loudly proclaim that no man will ever rule over them.
But their “humility” is in fact the sheerest arrogance, for they think that they are so special that Almighty God is willing to teach them in person! That is quite literally the most arrogant thing it is possible to say –that the most powerful Being in the universe is going to spend His precious time teaching you in person just because you said “boo-hoo, I sinned”!!
So repenting means not only admitting you’re incapable of solving your own problems, but that God’s time would be better spent on someone else, too! (Psalms 8:4). God doesn’t call the mighty or the wise or the righteous specifically so that “no flesh shall glory in His presence”!
… but isn’t that exactly what every Protestant in the world does every Sunday? Glory in the fact that they are so special, that God’s presence teaches them in person? Don’t get me wrong; God does teach people in person; and His holy spirit does work in us to reveal truth. But whom does He teach that way? Acts 5:32.
Repentant sinners are, by definition, not obeying Him; they JUST ADMITTED THAT! So when you see yourself as you truly are, as God sees you, you’ll realize not only that you cannot do it alone, but that you also aren’t worth God’s time to fix (Luke 7:6). That you are not worthy for God to come under your roof, into a house called by YOUR name! Which means to be in the presence of that spirit… you’d have to go to another house, one called by HIS name!
God does teach people directly with His spirit, but not, as a rule, at first; for that spirit, in most cases, comes from some other man –your spiritual elder (2 Timothy 1:6, Acts 8:18-19). Which is why in each case in the NT, they repented by turning back to the man God sent to teach or correct them (2 Corinthians 7:7, Acts 2:36-38, etc.).
Which meant admitting that they needed help from the man who opened their eyes to their sins! Not to arrogantly demand that God teach them in person; but to humbly take any correction anywhere they can get it… with understanding that ANYONE could manage their life better than they have!
And why would God do that Himself, when He could easily delegate the job to someone else –to God’s minister, WHOSE JOB as the servant of God is to do the boring jobs that aren’t worth God’s time?
Like teaching you.
THE BORING JOBS
The fact is, God watches the world looking for people who have potential (2 Chronicles 16:9); though not as man sees potential (Romans 9:13). And then God sends those people to Jesus (John 6:44-45). And then Jesus takes those people and sends them to be humbled under the rod of other men (2 Samuel 7:13-14).
He sends them to a HOUSE (Acts 2:46-47), to learn from the older HUMANS who have already been called! Which is both humbling for you, and educational for them, as they work to break your heart and spirit which have been running wild for decades –making them better at their job, even as they begin to make you capable of doing it yourself.
God did not send you to these lessons so that you could learn some facts from me; God doesn’t care about your knowledge (1 Corinthians 13:2). So this isn’t just a “warning”, a “push in the right direction”, “a few things you didn’t know” so that you can then go figure this out on your own the rest of the way.
You aren’t here to learn these things just so that God can teach you the rest by divine revelation. That’s certainly possible, don’t get me wrong; but that’s not how God works unless it’s absolutely necessary. Because that’s why He HAS ministers, why He HAS houses –because His time is valuable.
And if you were, indeed, repentant, you would realize that you aren’t important enough for God to teach you something which I am perfectly capable of teaching you without bothering Him. Which is why it greatly impressed Jesus that a Roman centurion understood that! (Luke 7:6-10). The question is… do you understand it?
When you’ve learned all I have to offer –which, at this point, I’d say you’re about 5% of the way through –then you’ll be ready for God to take over and leave me behind. Make no mistake, you’re God’s bastard, not mine (Numbers 11:11-12).
My job is simply to get you to admit that you’re a bastard, and not a beloved son; because your Church mother was probably a whore, but at absolute best a servant girl; and a bitch in either case, in every conceivable sense of the word.
Now, you might admit these things in a moment of depression, but act differently when another more arrogant fraction takes over (James 1:23-25). Which is why the real challenge is to get all three of your fractions to agree with the idea, to accept that you are unworthy of His attention, and unable to earn it alone (Jeremiah 10:19-24).
And that takes time, and is much easier with someone to remind you daily. Once that’s done, then my job is to show you how to earn His respect, how to get His attention the right way; by converting everything about yourself into something else; something more like God, but inevitably something more like me as well (1 Corinthians 11:1).
Paul wanted all men to be as he, himself was (1 Corinthians 7:7). Isn’t that the job of a parent? To turn his children, metaphorical or otherwise, into his own image? Isn’t that the job of a master, to help his disciples see the world the way he himself sees it? To give them the skills he, himself, has?
I can’t teach you to shape marble like Michelangelo, to play the guitar like Hendrix or to write like Shakespeare. If those are things you want, then you’ve come to the wrong house. Nor can I teach you to see the world as Plato saw it, or to explain the Bible as Martin Luther understood it.
I can only teach you to see it as I see it, to do the things I can do. Which is both the benefit and the drawback of the system. For I am not God; a bit more like Him than you, most likely; but I can’t make you into God; God Himself must do that.
I can make you a little bit like Him, insofar as I myself am like Him. But I was only hired to do some of the most low-skilled, repetitive, and tedious tasks –the only tasks I am capable of doing, and the same things any parent hires a nanny to do.
But once you outgrow the need for diaper changing and constant supervision then I, the babysitter, must decrease and He must increase (John 3:28-30). Then I will receive my reward, and God will take over raising His children (2 Timothy 4:5-8, 1 Corinthians 3:8, Colossians 3:23-24, etc.).
SONS OF THE PROPHETS
God never changes (Hebrews 13:8). The NC was spread in the OT exactly the same as it was spread in the NT –by houses headed by wise men, who committed the things they knew to “faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).
Call them sons, servants, disciples, Christians. Call the teachers masters, elders, prophets, apostles, or bishops; they’re all just metaphors to describe surrogate fathers teaching God’s children to act like Him; surrogate souls teaching the souls of the disciples how to rule their fractions through bondage to a better master.
And since God never changes, this is how He is ALWAYS going to teach the truth; see, when you read Micah 4:2 or Isaiah 2:2-4, you naturally think of “house of God” as meaning the temple in Jerusalem; and sure, on one level it does indeed mean that. But what it really means is Zechariah 8:21-23.
It means Isaiah 30:21; Isaiah 14:1-3; Isaiah 22:20-25; for that matter, it means Luke 18:22. Are these words just for a long-dead nobleman? How are you supposed to follow an invisible Jesus whom you can’t hear? (Romans 10:14-15). Obviously, you do it by following a man whom you can hear –at least at first, until you CAN recognize the true Master’s voice (John 10:4-5).
The man by whom God showed you the truth – just as Jesus was showing it to the young man. You don’t “follow” him by tithing to him; nor by going to church and listening to his lecture. You do it by joining his house, by becoming his apprentice, serving as his minister, and talking of these things as you rise up and as you sit by the way.
Jesus told us that unless you become as a little child, you will not enter the kingdom of God (Matthew 18:1-5). Now you might have been thinking over these last pages “I’m an adult! I’m not going to let someone treat me like I need my diapers changed!” Is that what a little child would say?
The fact is, in every spiritual way, you fill poopy diapers with stinkers daily, nay, hourly. Accepting that, admitting it, is repentance (Proverbs 28:13). Because if you had someone to change the diapers for you, you might learn the difference between being clean, and wallowing in your own filth (Ezekiel 44:23-24)… and stop thinking that just because this slimy feeling is normal, that it’s cleanliness.
So are you willing to become as a little child, and give up pretending that you’re an adult? Willing to accept being bossed around by bigger kids, made fun of for tripping, humiliated with spankings by your parents to teach you invaluable lessons?
And as you get older, willing to literally and metaphorically do the babysitting, make the tea, do the laundry, mow the grass, take out the garbage – or whatever else the house needs done? Because everyone whose name is written in heaven has, in one way or another, gone through this process.
Samuel learned from Eli, David learned from Samuel, Elisha from Elijah; this is the natural way for God to create children in His image, after His likeness; and every family teaches us this (Psalms 103:13-18). Note that phrase there: to God’s children’s children!
Are you ready to become God’s children’s child?
THE DISCIPLE PAUL
The fact is, none of us, as we presently are, could be considered a “catch” by God; the sooner we repent and admit that, the better. Not one of us is “lovable” enough for God to risk entering a NC relationship with such unbroken spirits (Romans 3:9-18).
Because He takes His vows seriously… and every word that leaves our mouths shows that we still don’t (Matthew 12:36). And so before we are espoused to God, we must be trained; 2 Corinthians 11:2. Trained by a father figure to be a bride (Revelation 19:7, John 3:29).
Trained for, at the very least, one week. Since we won’t keep our bond with sufficient zeal, we must be apprenticed to someone who has a vested interest in making sure we keep it –whether we feel like it or not.
Throughout all these lessons, you might have thought “if disciples serving elders for a week is so central to Christianity, how come it isn’t all over the NT?” Well, it is –but it’s hard to see if a vail is over your eyes, as it still is over Christianity to this day (2 Corinthians 3:14).
Take Paul, for example. Paul was apprenticed to Gamaliel to learn the OC (Acts 22:3), but where did he learn the NC? Paul was called to the truth, with the vision that Ananias would open his eyes (Acts 9:10-12).
Isn’t this the job of every father? To break the spirit and humble the heart so that the eyes can see beyond the wrong paradigm? (Acts 9:17-19). Isn’t this the point of a father’s soul awakening the soul of his children… to teach them to see? Job 29:15.
This is what a master does; he takes people who are blind, who can’t walk straight, and he sees the path for them, and keep them walking straight until they can do it for themselves (Isaiah 42:16, Luke 4:18-19). Every master, every parent, in every sense of the word.
With that in mind, we could read Acts 9:19 to mean “the immaculate Apostle Paul was staying with the disciples”; or we could read it to say “Saul was with the disciples because he WAS a disciple of Ananias!” (compare the wording of 1 Samuel 10:11 which was also about PSAUL!)
Paul distinguished himself quickly among these disciples (Acts 9:20-22), and quickly drew unwelcome attention. But his training was not yet complete –so he went to join himself to other disciples; to be ONE OF THE DISCIPLES of some other man… but no one would take him! (Acts 9:23-26).
Whereupon Barnabas took him under his wing, taking him as a master takes a new apprentice, before his own elders, the apostles (Acts 9:27-29). You might say “but wait, you just said he was a disciple of Ananias!” But that’s how men think –but not how God thinks.
Remember, all disciples are truly the disciples of God; their human “masters” are simply symbols of the real thing; and since there can be only ONE “real thing”, all the true elders represent the same God, and thus, all disciples are brethren of the same Father.
At various places in history the houses were more fractured, as you’ve seen, and men made more of a distinction between their disciples and those of other men. John’s, Jesus’, and the Pharisees’ disciples, for instance; but at this time in particular, the house of God had “all things common” (Acts 2:44)… including, of course, their disciples!
And so for some time –years, probably –Paul remained a mere disciple, albeit a brilliant one, who was with the elder saints when they rose up, sat down, and were by the WAY at the gates of the city! (Acts 9:28, Deuteronomy 6:7).
FULFILLING YOUR MINISTRY
Barnabas was mentioned as early as Acts 5:36, making him spiritually much older than Paul; perhaps even a full seven-year-cycle older. Thus, he was himself sent on missions by the apostles, often with Paul (Acts 11:22-26, 30). Because they were both still ministers of the other apostles!
But now read Acts 12:24-25 Acts 13:1-3. Notice that word in Acts 12:24… they had fulfilled their ministry. Were they done being apostles? Nay, they hadn’t even STARTED yet! (Acts 13:1-3). So what was fulfilled here? Their MINISTRY!
Remember: ministry doesn’t mean what you always been taught. If “ministry” is just feeding the hungry or teaching the gospel, it clearly can’t be fulfilled. But this particular period of service to the apostles was FULFILLED at this point!
Their discipleship, their particular bondage to these particular elders was completed, and they were asking God to show them the next step –what to do with their newfound freedom. Should they reenlist, as it were, to learn more from these Apostles and increase their “inheritance” from them? … or was it time to do something on their own? To build their own houses?
So AFTER their graduation from their discipleship, after fulfilling their ministry, in verse 2 God gave them their first mission as journeymen… as APOSTLES! Paul and Barnabas then took a disciple of their own with them as their minister –their own personal assistant (Acts 13:5).
Note that this wasn’t the apostle John, but Barnabas’ nephew John Mark (Colossians 4:10). As it happened, this minister broke his bond when things got tough, which Paul considered unforgivable (Acts 15:37-38).
This point was important enough to Paul that he must have said “he is no longer my disciple, train him by yourself if its that important to you”, because that’s what Barnabas did (Acts 15:39). Mark eventually redeemed himself (2 Timothy 4:11), but my point today is that Mark was their minister, just as they themselves had been ministers to elders before them.
This idea casts more light on verses like Colossians 4:17, where Paul was telling a disciple to stick it out until he completes his bond “in the Lord”; which is to say, “obey your parents in the Lord” until you come of full age (Ephesians 6:1).
Take special note of the context there (Ephesians 6:2-9, Ephesians 5:21-32), as being specifically following “parents in the Lord”. Again, this concept is all over the Bible, but if you’re looking for a Church, you can’t see the obvious signs of a house; for example, 2 Timothy 1:16-18; Philemon 1:13; what do these say, if not that Paul had disciples who served him for their training?
Or read Acts 19:22; Timothy ministered unto Paul, as his “son in the faith”, which was his first step to becoming his elder son; his evangelist; his heir; and so on. Because children are, literally, your servants (Luke 15:29). And if children are servants, then servants can become children (John 15:15).
The great challenge of learning a new paradigm is that you can read verses like these and see Mark or Timothy as a minister to a flock, and that sort of fits. Which is why it’s not easy, at first, to see the real Truth since you’re so used to just replaying the algorithm your spirit has been exposed to all your life.
It’s like when you read Hebrews 6:10; you can see them passing an offering plate, as everyone else does… or you can see it as each of them being ministers to the elder saints before them! Which some of them were still doing, because they were still acting like CHILDREN! (Hebrews 5:11-14).
When Paul sent out Timothy and Erastus, it was no different from Jesus sending out His own disciples two by two; because that model of passing on the truth never changed, which is why Jesus gave us the example He did! (1 Peter 2:21, 1 John 2:6, John 13:15, etc.).
Because as He came to make the paths straight and open the eyes of the blind, He commanded us to follow in His footsteps and do the exact same thing… in the exact same way!
THE NEW AND LIVING WAY
So you must submit yourselves one to another that God may lift you up (1 Peter 5:5); for He gives grace to the humble, those who rule their beasts, and that’s a whole lot easier with a master telling you how to do it. Showing you how to live.
Just like you learned how to live the first time from your own parents. You didn’t learn how to walk and talk and eat and use a toilet from a book; you didn’t learn it from a lecture once a week. You learned by continual example, and constant encouragement and correction. How on Earth can anyone believe spiritual children can be trained differently??
Which is why God abolished the old way, the dead statutes of Moses, superseding them even while Moses yet lived –for there were always prophets among the people, even while Moses was their apostle. There were always those who could see beyond the vail, who would raise the sons of the prophets in Jesus’ name (Matthew 10:40-42).
With that in mind, look closely at 1 Corinthians 4:5-6. Paul said he judged nothing before the time; yet, we have to balance this verse with 1 Corinthians 5:3 and 1 Corinthians 6:2-5. So clearly Paul DID judge, all the time, in that same letter!
The final judgment of God wouldn’t happen until “the time”, at the return of Christ. God would look at their actions then, which would “bring to light the hidden things of darkness”. Now you’ll remember from Lesson 7-5 that this means shining a light on people, actively judging their works.
Technically, God isn’t supposed to do that until Christ returns, for right now He’s delegated the job to the angels in the rainbow… yet He is already watching the HOUSE of God! (1 Peter 4:17). And this judgment is done, among other things, by the heads of the houses God has set up, heads like Paul!
Because the whole POINT of judging ourselves (1 Corinthians 11:32), and of judging EACH OTHER (Leviticus 19:17, KJV margin) is to prevent that final judgment and “save a soul from death!” James 5:19-20.
Now let’s ask a different question; back in 1 Corinthians 4:5-6, what exactly has been “in a figure, transferred to myself and Apollos”? Remember what was he just talking about: bringing to light the hidden things of darkness, and making manifest the counsels of the hearts… which wise men do! (Proverbs 20:5, 1 Corinthians 14:25).
How can we “make manifest the secrets of his heart”? The same way Jesus did! John 2:25. How did He know what was in man? Philippians 2:5-8. Because Jesus was a man! He knew how He had felt; He understood the war in our members, which is why He said that in His flesh was no good thing! (Mark 10:18, Romans 7:18).
And knowing His own heart, and His own spirit, He therefore knew YOUR spirit and YOUR heart, for we are all born with the same heart and spirit! So it’s not difficult, if you know yourself, to “perceive” what someone else is thinking (Luke 5:22), and declare the secrets of their heart!
So Paul was saying “these things –the judgment of the Lord on your beasts –I have transferred to myself and Apollo in a sense; to teach you not to think too highly of yourselves; to rule your beasts. Our job is to be examples, but also to constantly remind you when you don’t live up to even our imperfect example” (1 Peter 5:1-3).
Granted, the ideal example should be God’s, and His voice is the one that should correct you; but if you’re too blind to see His example, and too deaf to hear His correction… what then? (Hebrews 13:7). So let God make you wiser through Paul’s “word of exhortation”, or mine, or anyone wiser than you ( Hebrews 13:20-23).
REPENT, FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND
Jesus came with a simple message: repent, because the Kingdom of God is here. Now the Kingdom of God is, really, just a really big house of God. Which means what Jesus was really saying was “repent, and join the house of God!”
Now there had been houses before this, since Adam and Eve left the Garden; but did those houses bring life? Isaiah 42:22. These houses –the houses of your parents, of your pastors, the houses of the angels themselves, have snared you in holes, and given your fractions support in their rebellion.
Your house, the house you are in right now, is almost certainly such a snare; are you ready to hear that? Isaiah 42:23. And almost no one breaks out of prison alone. They need someone to lead them out. Which is why God promised Jesus would be given as a covenant to lead them out (Isaiah 49:7-10).
Not into a great house, but a despised house, a servant of kings. Made below the angels, in other words. But notice what God promises them in verse 8; GWV says “You will make them inherit the desolate inheritance”. Their inheritance was desolate because their houses were worthless… and they were in no position to inherit His!
But now move down to Isaiah 49:18-21. These children were not, by blood, Jesus’ children! But after He “lost the other”, the Israelites, the Gentiles would come from afar to be adopted into His house (Isaiah 49:22-23).
So when Jesus said the Kingdom of God was at hand, if they’d only repent, He meant if they’d admit their inheritance was worthless; their name was worthless; their own lives were worthless. And if they were to ever mean anything, it would be through His name! (Isaiah 49:24-26). Through joining His house.
So the question I have to ask you again is… are you a failure? Can you, with any realistic amount of luck and time, find salvation from where you are right now? Just you, the Bible, and the internet? If so, then why are you even reading this lesson? Why are you here, if you have all the answers –or can easily find them yourself?
But if you are a failure; if you’re ready to admit that you are not good enough, and will never be good enough, not if you lived a thousand years twice over; if you’re ready to have Jesus, or someone He sends, take what you’ve become and remake you in His own image, after His likeness… even if that means nothing of “you” is left…
Then maybe you can be saved (Job 33:27-28). Maybe (1 Peter 4:18). If you hurry (Isaiah 55:6-7).
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
I’ve beaten around this bush so long that there’s really just a stick left where the bush used to be; but it’s time to lay the cards on the table (well, mostly). Bottom line, you need a master. You need a lord. Maybe someone else. Maybe me, if you can convince me to take on the challenge. Or maybe a disciple of mine whom I delegate to do the job.
How badly did Abigail wish to marry David? 1 Samuel 25:40-41. What was the prodigal son willing to do in order to be back in his father’s house? Luke 15:17-21. After Jesus returns, when the true Christian is finally valued by the world, how will the world treat those who have the truth? Isaiah 4:1-3.
What would you do for a very valuable pearl or a gold mine? Matthew 13:44-46. If you love the truth, and you learn that the truth is in a certain place, or with a certain person, you should be willing to sell all that you have to get it; to move somewhere, live under a bridge in a shopping cart if necessary; because if you truly love the truth as you ought, nothing else on Earth should matter (Luke 14:26).
Because really, that’s what we’re all doing; telling God that we realize that He is the only One who has the words of life; and that we would rather wash His feet, or even the feet of His lowliest servant, than live as a king without His laws (Psalms 84:10).
Just so long as we can live in His house and become like Him, nothing else matters (Psalms 27:4). Is that how you feel? Really? You will soon be expected to prove that. Because whatever rewards may await you in the future (Mark 10:29-30), first you must be willing to give up all you have.
Then again, you could try to do it the hard way. You could try to see yourself for what you are without anyone else’s help; perhaps you will. Seriously –go for it. Use my knowledge, understanding, and wisdom freely, and if I can help you in another way I’ll happily do so.
Perhaps I really am saying all these critical words to someone else, and not you; perhaps God is already teaching you in person, working with you, and plans to call you to build your own house for Him in your own name. And if God chooses to found a new house through you, literally nothing would make me happier (Numbers 11:29).
I don’t need you to follow me for my sake. If the entire world became the house of God, leaving me free to plant vineyards and make wine, that would suit me just fine (Micah 4:4). Any preacher, any doctor, any ruler who doesn’t fervently wish to be made obsolete should not be trusted.
Because if they don’t want to be out of a job, they will never work to make themselves unnecessary –as every preacher, doctor, and ruler should be, in a perfect world (Jeremiah 31:34). And that’s exactly what I’m working towards, with you and others… a day when I will be unnecessary.
Only you can decide if that day has arrived or not, in your case. But having built my own house, verse by verse, I can tell you it’s not for the timid. Remember the story of the prodigal son; you can take the knowledge I’ve given you, plus whatever understanding you already had, and go off and seek your fortune in your own name; perhaps God will bless you, perhaps not.
I hope He does, but it largely depends on why you’d be doing it –for your own name’s sake? Or for His? Do you crave independence because you think His name would be better served by you figuring all this out for yourself… or because your name would be better served IF you figure this all out for yourself?
I can’t say. You can, but you may not be telling yourself the truth. And you may not know whether you are or not. You are free; it’s your call, your gamble, and your reward –either a good reward or a bad, it’s all yours. Just remember Hebrews 10:31, and think about how some of your past gambles have worked out.
You can decide to do it on your own, or choose to submit yourself to someone else’s house; accept their name instead of making your own great. Your reward will be less, but the probability of success is enormously higher. Still not certain, to be sure, but far more likely.
The only thing I can add at this point is that even Jesus would have followed someone… were there someone worthy to follow (Isaiah 59:14-17). He built a new house because He had no choice, because there was no worthy house to join. Why would you be doing it?
Which leads us to the one verse for this lesson; Psalms 68:5-6. God is a God of the fatherless; and when He finds a potential child of His wandering the world, He sets them in a FAMILY, in a type of His “holy habitation”! A house of God!
But the rebellious, those who refuse the offer and insist on doing it themselves, will dwell in a dry land –dry, because there is no spirit of God there. Yet here in my house, as these lessons amply demonstrate, there is plenty of rain (Isaiah 59:9-11).
Which is the confirmation that here, you have a chance to find your part in the inheritance of God.