Eyesalve
“By faith [Moses] forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible.” Heb. 11:27.
When a soul surrenders to God, it is quickened and new life takes possession of the new mind; the eyes are opened to acknowledge what they feign could even squint to see before. Acknowledgment of the goodness of God leads to surrender to His love. Nothing like love, especially divine love, can awaken the natural mind bound up by its selfishness. The new man is like the young boy, alive again by the acceptance of his friend from the female persuasion─he thinks quicker, stands taller, and has a whole new capacity for energy. “Thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. For by Thee I have run through a troop, and by my God have I leaped over a wall….He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon high places….Thou hast given me the shield of Thy salvation: and Thy hand hath holden me up, and Thy gentleness hath made me great.” Ps. 18:28-35.
An alertness, an awareness is born that only the Holy Spirit can give, as we are restored into the image of God, body, heart, and mind. “The anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him.” 1Jn. 2:27. The work of God gives the newborn in Christ a new insight into the motives of others. He can see through the façades of men, and the misbehavior of many that are deemed a mystery by others he easily understands because of the supernatural ability to admit to his own weaknesses and inherent wickedness. He has mercy on those who are condemned and castigated, because he sees that their present behavior or past life are not hopeless if they can come to see God’s love and be convicted by Him like he has been. Contrariwise, the best-behaved are also seen in their true lost condition if all their splendid moral performance is destitute of love, humility, and mercy. He can recognize those who are “not far from the kingdom of God” and those who are distant, and works to bring all of them all the way in.
There is more to this life and this world than just what the unregenerate multitudes see, and this includes the unregenerate religious multitudes. Possession by the Holy Spirit provides a different reality in which to live and breathe. This other reality is salvation, without which no man shall see the Lord. In the regenerated soul, new light shines upon God’s creation; the glory of Eden, once again, dances upon the works of His hands; everything becomes new. The lessons declaring God’s character, shrouded by sin, are again open to the understanding. It is not an altered state of mind; the head is not in the clouds or “stuck in the Bible.” It is THE FAITH OF JESUS, the condition that we must have, spoken of in Romans 3:22, Galatians 2:20, and Revelation 14:12─a surrender accessible to everyone. (Romans 10:8.) Due to this surrender, whatever is done in the life all works together to bring about prosperity, because the soul is reconciled to God and is living in one accord with His will. (Ps. 1:1-3.)
The world is persuasively pretentious, imitating the Egyptian Empire of the Old Testament. It represents happiness without God, advertising the successful life, the elite life, the life of money, all empty promises. Yes, Egyptian idolatry is alive and well. All this, however, is seen to be a dead end street. When the renewed heart and mind find a new appreciation for goodness and righteousness, all the rewards offered by the world appear in their true utter foolishness. At conversion, the character of Christ becomes a real prospect. Righteousness is possible, and the Heaven to be won isn’t a cunningly devised fable, after all.
We are born, the first time, spiritual invalids, and communion with God well nigh amputated. But the Spirit of truth works to convict the conscience. And when He has finished His work, a sudden realization of the true condition of the sinful heart alarms the consciousness. Like a flash of lightning, the soul is laid bare of all its self-made security. “Woe is me!” is the cry of the quickened heart. That flash leaves the intellect never the same again. Through the magnificently orchestrated providences of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will, the walls of our self-preservation are enabled to fall down, and love and humility welcome a new Master. We have a new capacity to trust God. We stop blaming Him for all of life’s troubles. We blame ourselves now, and see God’s wisdom by permitting the consequences of our sinful practices. We also view the world’s attractions differently. None of its supposed friendliness compares with the jealous love of a heavenly Parent, who has asserted Himself for our redemption and protection. When we see ourselves as we really are, we immediately see God as He really is, and we can see the world as it truly is.
This change is completely the work of God. In it is not a single thread of human devising. You don’t have to work it up—you can’t even produce it. A baby is just born—the mother does all the work. Though the experience is traumatic for the infant, the mother endures the great majority of the trauma. Nobody ever asked to be born; we are completely helpless even in the planning of that great event. We may not know how we were born from above, but we will know that it took place. And from that point onward, we are anxious to know that experience day after day, and for others to have the same. No sooner does one come to Christ, than there is born within him a desire to make known to others what a precious friend he has found in Jesus. The saving and sanctifying truth cannot be shut up in the heart.
This new capacity to love and know God is the bread by which man must live, for which physical food can never substitute. It is the hidden wisdom (1Cor. 2:7), the hidden manna experience (Rev. 2:17), and in a powerful manifestation it will comprise the Latter Rain of the Holy Spirit before Jesus returns. The power to overcome sin will be the noted evidence of its work.
This heaven-sent transaction, the King Saul’s new man experience (1Sam. 10:6), has been missing in the churches. Their minds are blinded; their veil is untaken away until they come to Christ. (2Cor. 3:14.) Many will say in that day, “You ate at our tables, and You taught in our streets! Open up the gates of the city!” In their unconverted condition, the sentence will fall upon their ears, “I never knew you. Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity!” They kept somewhat near Him, but never needed an intimate friendship. They kept the Prince of heaven on hold, at arms length. To be almost saved, but not wholly, is to be not almost, but wholly lost.
Faith—more than a theory, more than intellectual assent—as an experience, has become hidden from religion, and from many professed Christians. Beyond the profession, that nothing will ever really change is the only conclusion that the unregenerated heart can come to. There is no hope in the dead, professed Christian. Nothing spiritual is worth striving for; for the quickening of the Holy Spirit has not happened.
But if we consent, this conviction can be our experience. And if we keep coming to Jesus, on our knees before His written word, He will continue to flash His glittering sword in our hearts and minds, clearing away our misunderstandings of His love, converting and cleansing us. Our heavenly High Priest will never stop working to prepare us for the day of His coming, when that final, piercing brightness, in the fullness of His physical presence lays our corruption bare one last time. All His waiting children will cry, “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with the everlasting burnings?” “Who shall stand in His holy place?”
But that last, horrific and shuddering experience of the fiery conviction of His true righteousness, brought by His personal approaching in power, will forever destroy the deepest roots of rebellion. Our change will be permanent; sin will never harass us again. And everyone caught without repentance in His presence will be destroyed by the brightness of His coming.
“Who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” Mal. 3:2,3.
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” 1Jn. 3:2.
When a soul surrenders to God, it is quickened and new life takes possession of the new mind; the eyes are opened to acknowledge what they feign could even squint to see before. Acknowledgment of the goodness of God leads to surrender to His love. Nothing like love, especially divine love, can awaken the natural mind bound up by its selfishness. The new man is like the young boy, alive again by the acceptance of his friend from the female persuasion─he thinks quicker, stands taller, and has a whole new capacity for energy. “Thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. For by Thee I have run through a troop, and by my God have I leaped over a wall….He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon high places….Thou hast given me the shield of Thy salvation: and Thy hand hath holden me up, and Thy gentleness hath made me great.” Ps. 18:28-35.
An alertness, an awareness is born that only the Holy Spirit can give, as we are restored into the image of God, body, heart, and mind. “The anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him.” 1Jn. 2:27. The work of God gives the newborn in Christ a new insight into the motives of others. He can see through the façades of men, and the misbehavior of many that are deemed a mystery by others he easily understands because of the supernatural ability to admit to his own weaknesses and inherent wickedness. He has mercy on those who are condemned and castigated, because he sees that their present behavior or past life are not hopeless if they can come to see God’s love and be convicted by Him like he has been. Contrariwise, the best-behaved are also seen in their true lost condition if all their splendid moral performance is destitute of love, humility, and mercy. He can recognize those who are “not far from the kingdom of God” and those who are distant, and works to bring all of them all the way in.
There is more to this life and this world than just what the unregenerate multitudes see, and this includes the unregenerate religious multitudes. Possession by the Holy Spirit provides a different reality in which to live and breathe. This other reality is salvation, without which no man shall see the Lord. In the regenerated soul, new light shines upon God’s creation; the glory of Eden, once again, dances upon the works of His hands; everything becomes new. The lessons declaring God’s character, shrouded by sin, are again open to the understanding. It is not an altered state of mind; the head is not in the clouds or “stuck in the Bible.” It is THE FAITH OF JESUS, the condition that we must have, spoken of in Romans 3:22, Galatians 2:20, and Revelation 14:12─a surrender accessible to everyone. (Romans 10:8.) Due to this surrender, whatever is done in the life all works together to bring about prosperity, because the soul is reconciled to God and is living in one accord with His will. (Ps. 1:1-3.)
The world is persuasively pretentious, imitating the Egyptian Empire of the Old Testament. It represents happiness without God, advertising the successful life, the elite life, the life of money, all empty promises. Yes, Egyptian idolatry is alive and well. All this, however, is seen to be a dead end street. When the renewed heart and mind find a new appreciation for goodness and righteousness, all the rewards offered by the world appear in their true utter foolishness. At conversion, the character of Christ becomes a real prospect. Righteousness is possible, and the Heaven to be won isn’t a cunningly devised fable, after all.
We are born, the first time, spiritual invalids, and communion with God well nigh amputated. But the Spirit of truth works to convict the conscience. And when He has finished His work, a sudden realization of the true condition of the sinful heart alarms the consciousness. Like a flash of lightning, the soul is laid bare of all its self-made security. “Woe is me!” is the cry of the quickened heart. That flash leaves the intellect never the same again. Through the magnificently orchestrated providences of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will, the walls of our self-preservation are enabled to fall down, and love and humility welcome a new Master. We have a new capacity to trust God. We stop blaming Him for all of life’s troubles. We blame ourselves now, and see God’s wisdom by permitting the consequences of our sinful practices. We also view the world’s attractions differently. None of its supposed friendliness compares with the jealous love of a heavenly Parent, who has asserted Himself for our redemption and protection. When we see ourselves as we really are, we immediately see God as He really is, and we can see the world as it truly is.
This change is completely the work of God. In it is not a single thread of human devising. You don’t have to work it up—you can’t even produce it. A baby is just born—the mother does all the work. Though the experience is traumatic for the infant, the mother endures the great majority of the trauma. Nobody ever asked to be born; we are completely helpless even in the planning of that great event. We may not know how we were born from above, but we will know that it took place. And from that point onward, we are anxious to know that experience day after day, and for others to have the same. No sooner does one come to Christ, than there is born within him a desire to make known to others what a precious friend he has found in Jesus. The saving and sanctifying truth cannot be shut up in the heart.
This new capacity to love and know God is the bread by which man must live, for which physical food can never substitute. It is the hidden wisdom (1Cor. 2:7), the hidden manna experience (Rev. 2:17), and in a powerful manifestation it will comprise the Latter Rain of the Holy Spirit before Jesus returns. The power to overcome sin will be the noted evidence of its work.
This heaven-sent transaction, the King Saul’s new man experience (1Sam. 10:6), has been missing in the churches. Their minds are blinded; their veil is untaken away until they come to Christ. (2Cor. 3:14.) Many will say in that day, “You ate at our tables, and You taught in our streets! Open up the gates of the city!” In their unconverted condition, the sentence will fall upon their ears, “I never knew you. Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity!” They kept somewhat near Him, but never needed an intimate friendship. They kept the Prince of heaven on hold, at arms length. To be almost saved, but not wholly, is to be not almost, but wholly lost.
Faith—more than a theory, more than intellectual assent—as an experience, has become hidden from religion, and from many professed Christians. Beyond the profession, that nothing will ever really change is the only conclusion that the unregenerated heart can come to. There is no hope in the dead, professed Christian. Nothing spiritual is worth striving for; for the quickening of the Holy Spirit has not happened.
But if we consent, this conviction can be our experience. And if we keep coming to Jesus, on our knees before His written word, He will continue to flash His glittering sword in our hearts and minds, clearing away our misunderstandings of His love, converting and cleansing us. Our heavenly High Priest will never stop working to prepare us for the day of His coming, when that final, piercing brightness, in the fullness of His physical presence lays our corruption bare one last time. All His waiting children will cry, “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with the everlasting burnings?” “Who shall stand in His holy place?”
But that last, horrific and shuddering experience of the fiery conviction of His true righteousness, brought by His personal approaching in power, will forever destroy the deepest roots of rebellion. Our change will be permanent; sin will never harass us again. And everyone caught without repentance in His presence will be destroyed by the brightness of His coming.
“Who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” Mal. 3:2,3.
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” 1Jn. 3:2.
posted by David | 2:09 PM
5 Comments:
You have SO much good content, but the posts are sort of long- it's difficult for me to find time to read as much as I would like, digest your words and reply. (However, I understand that with such topics it's hard to be brief.)
God's love removes our need for other things. The more I look at Him and His love fills me, the less my emptiness needs to be satisfied by other things. The more of His righteousness I see, the less of me I want to get in the way...
That is the victory that overcomes the world. Thanks Trailady!
This is from my aunt Jeanne:
David, I read your blogs with interest, agreeing completely with some and
stumbling over others. Examples:
You say, “faith is more than a theory, more than an intellectual endeavor, but rather a quickening of the holy spirit within.” Oh, yes. And then again, “We can only understand the deep things of life through heart-faith and love. Amen.
“The church is ignorant of the true words of God in the heart.” Questionable.
Frequently, you use the word “church” negatively. What a vast number of organization that word covers. What a multitude of people.
I believe we need organized religion if a group of like minded people assemble to hold up each other in prayer, strengthen their beliefs by sharing God’s work in their lives, praise the created world, and its creator or study the word.
If an organization turns its attention to others outside the group with the thought of its own superiority and belief that it owns all truth, if it is too caught up in structure and form
to consider the need for a deepening of faith, then perhaps it is not needed.
What is important? I only recall one mention of Jesus being in the temple. I think of Him among the people as He met their needs. I can’t remember a quote where He is concerned about which day of the week to use for the Sabbath. He, so often, focused on love, forgiveness or compassion. Keep up the good work with the blogs. Jeanne
Aunt Jeanne, thanks for your comment. I didn't mean to offend. When I said, "Faith—more than a theory, more than intellectual assent—as an experience, has become hidden from religion, and from so many professed Christians," and "This heaven-sent transaction, the King Saul’s new man experience (1Sam. 10:6), has been missing in the churches," I didn't mean to isolate my denomination from this observation. We are just as much in need of faith and conversion as any. "Multitudes, in the valley of decision," was a prophecy for us just before Jesus returns.
There needs to be accountability before there can be change. This I learned in the military, where accountability is the constant demand. Like Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not these things?" Christ was being very pointed. As it is written of Him, "He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins." Is. 11:4,5.
You're right, Jesus did focus on love, forgiveness and compassion. And it was in love and compassion that He spoke those words to Nicodemus, and Nicodemus appreciated Jesus' gentleness, and also His candidness. Later, he accepted the truth.
I hope love and compassion also came through in my post. If not, I have a problem. It were better for a millstone to be tied around my neck and cast into the sea.
And I don't mean to be prejudiced, my denomination and I need to hear this just as much as any.
Aunt Jeane, thanks for reading my blog and keeping me straight. Please don't stop.
Aunt Jeanne, just one more thing. The converting power of God's love that we experienced enlists us to be a coworker with Him. I didn't mean to glory in it at the expense of others. I want others, who haven't known His love up close, to see it; and I would love to be present when they do. To witness the relief of others' stress and their burden of sin lifted, is the Christian's new goal in life. As you know, nothing else like surrender to God will bring our loved ones health and true meaning to life.
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