Recovering realities 05

05.

Dying to live
Jesus made it absolutely clear; “Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone.” Dying is a must to secure proper avenues for life to manifest. The cross denies us the right to live our lives on our own terms. Rulings and regulations of another sort apply for the life in Christ; the ways of the world find an end at the cross. The cross denies us the right to formulate a framework for Christian living. Each and everyone who approach the Lord must be prepared to go through this extraordinary, non-negotiable reduction which opens for the things which are settled and safeguarded by the Law of the Spirit of Life. The cross denies us access to these things, as we continue horizoned by our own views, in the same incorruptible manner as the first couple was denied re-entry into the Garden of Eden – there, angles with swords, here an old rugged cross.

The cross, the preaching of the cross, is the power of God unto salvation. But we are engaged in producing system upon system which to some degree rest on theological scholarship but each of these constructions are aiming at warding off the necessity of experiencing the cross of Christ in practical living. The reality of its power is somehow denied or located to a spiritual level to which none of us need to enter – grace, they conclude, allows us to refuse the quest for fullness. A true revelation of grace, however, comes with the discovery of the necessity of thorough repentance and formation.
Meddlesome efforts of this kind have introduced a reduction of what salvation is at its root; the law of grain of wheat does not apply anymore, a dying to be able to take part of the resurrected life is simply not needed as a means to saintliness. The right to a living according to self is re-established in the name of salvation. As a result of this process, the saint to-be suffers great loss in regards to that which is so much greater – the resurrected life in Christ, a life which truly pleases both God and men. The resurrection-side of the cross is defined as “Christ in us, the hope of Glory.” The resurrection-side of the cross is defined as a walk in newness of life. The cross denies us the right to try to undertake such a walk in our own power. Capturing or emulating a resurrected life on the basis of soulish capacities is nothing but a humanistic initiative. Nothing is gained or enforced but a continuation of the rule of the flesh.

Man captured by the attraction and resourcefulness of the cross views the world together with its influences as an absolute enemy. He becomes aware, soberingly aware of the impact and tension pressed into the words of James: “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God.” Jas 4:4. To live in, and to stay alive amidst this intense tension takes an ongoing experience of the cross of Christ. The cross invites us into a fellowship which lasts through conflicts. The cross creates opportunities for reconciliation. The cross gives us a sound mind, a godly mind which expresses goodness even when thoughts and views diverge. Its common approach is summarised in “newness of life”. It creates a new mind, a different approach.

The cross is indeed suited to purpose, practical and sufficient, inescapable and attractive. Its definite aim is to annihilate every structure opposed to the dynamics of the resurrection life. The final results of its workings bring us to a richness and fullness which can not be obtained by any other means. Man positioned outside its influence will be deceived by the theological influences designed to re-instate flesh as common rule and denominator. Herein we find the perennial conflict between that which is authentic and its counterfeits.
Many are they who find themselves in opposition regarding the necessity of the cross of Christ. But none of us are able to live and serve in our own strength – the cross is a must if salvation and saintliness has become our goal. No other truth causes opposition of any measure: A Christian lives his life on the basis of the death of Christ – “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me.” This is the hope of Glory, this is resurrection expressed as a reality.
For the re-establishment of this reality among Christians we pray.
For thorough experiences of the cross we pray.
A praying for these things shows the cross already at work.
A praying of this kind secures salvation and saintliness among us all.

Lars Widerberg

Characteristics of a Zealous Man

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A zealous man in religion is pre-eminently a man of one thing. It is not enough to say that he is earnest, hearty, uncompromising, thoroughgoing, wholehearted, fervent in spirit. He only sees one thing, he cares for one thing, he lives for one thing, he is swallowed up in one thing; and that one thing is to please God.

Whether he lives, or whether he dies
whether he has health, or whether he has sickness
whether he is rich, or whether he is poor
whether he pleases man, or whether he gives offence
whether he is thought wise, or whether he is thought foolish
whether he gets blame, or whether he gets praise
whether he get honour, or whether he gets shame
for all this the zealous man cares nothing at all.

He burns for one thing; and that one thing is to please God, and to advance God’s glory. If he is consumed in the very burning, he cares not for it – he is content. He feels that, like a lamp, he is made to burn; and if consumed in burning, he has but done the work for which God appointed him.

Such a one will always find a sphere for his zeal. If he cannot preach, work, and give money, he will cry, and sigh, and pray. . . If he cannot fight in the valley with Joshua, he will do the work of Moses, Aaron, and Hur, on the hill (Exodus 17:9-13).
If he is cut off from working himself, he will give the Lord no rest till help is raised up from another quarter, and the work is done. This is what I mean when I speak of ‘zeal’ in religion.

J. C. Ryle

Things that Grieve

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Fellowship with the Holy Spirit in Prayer

Reading: Jeremiah 9 and 10, 2 Corinthians 2:16

Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
A man’s voice verbalising anguish unspeakable.
A man’s voice articulating grief darker than night.
A man’s voice punctuating the heart of the Eternal.
A prophet’s cry amidst men who do not care to lend their ears to decency, preferring their own discipline of delusion.

Who is adequate for these things? Who is sufficient for this? Who is able to pray as one ought in times of great delusion, when everyone deceives his neighbour and when they bend and teach their tongues to speak lies.

Who is adequate for these things? Who is willing to carry the burden of the Lord amidst nations and peoples whose customs are but vanity. Where does one find a priest like Phinehas ready to cut sharply into contemporary approach of the Church or a Jeremiah to break away from the common culturally framed and fitted style.

Prayer means obtaining communion. Prayer means being changed and shaped into likeness with Him who lives always to make intercession. Prayer means to be saturated by the Life of the One who alone is Holy. The things which please Him will please the intercessor. The things which glorify Him become the sole interest of the praying man. The things which grieve the Holy Spirit will grieve you. The intercessor will accompany Jeremiah in verbalising anguish unspeakable.

The dispensation of the Spirit is the dispensation of the inner life. Prayer means obtaining communion. The dispensation of the Holy Spirit is meant for the cultivation of the inner life. A praying man is a saint in progression. A life in prayer, the inner life, is life habitually maturing.

The Father offers the absolute lordship of the Holy Spirit for the sake of insight into the ways and measures of Heaven. God offers the absolute lordship of the Holy Spirit for the sake of the establishing of a fellowship whose aim and purpose is aligned to the one set intention determined and stated by Heaven. Life lived and disciplined under the lordship of the Holy Spirit sets the stage for mature intercession.

Men of old were known and recognized among men and in the heavenly realms because they were heard in that they feared God. They acknowledged, submitted to and gave themselves to the throne where the art of the inner life begins, is learned and finds its purpose. The things of Heaven consume the intercessor. The things brought forth from the fellowship before the throne endures. These things prevail. These things cannot be shaken, cannot be brought to nought.

Item one: Intercession is an outpouring of God’s heart through a man’s heart. This is priestly ministry.

The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh. The weapon of our warfare is an outpouring of God’s heart through our lives. The weapon of our warfare is the sanctifying presence of the Spirit of life. The covenant with the Levitical priesthood was one of life and peace; how much more. . . The Levitical priesthood was installed for the sake of service, for the sake of the presence of God among his own people, for the sake of a testimony – how much more. . .

Priestly ministry takes priestly compassion. Priestly ministry takes the heart of God explicitly expressed. Priestly ministry requires sacrificial compassion. Intercession according to God’s heart, according to God’s standards insists upon priestliness beyond human capacity. Who is sufficient for this?

One of the Old Men said: “No man is greater than his prayer life”. He also said: “We mistake action for unction, rattle for revival, and commotion for creation”. Priestliness brings the heart of the Lord to be seen among men. Prayer carries the burden of the Lord. The things that grieve the Spirit grieve praying men. The things that contradict the holiness of Heaven perplex and bring maturing saints on their knees. A prayer session before the throne opens time for God to share His burden with His confidents. Priestliness brings heavenliness to the Earth. Praying men are conformed into the likeness of the One with whom they commune.

God can use your tears. The Father gathers tears in bottles, He lists them in a scroll – Ps 56:8. Tears are a priestly tool to bring forth the Kingdom. These precious vaporizing pearls establish His Throne.

Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

Item two: Intercession is an outpouring of God’s heart through a man’s heart. This is prophetic ministry.

Concern and perplexity regarding effective intercession should bring the modern Church, even the modern prayer movement to its knees. Prayer is a matter of securing an operative testimony of Heaven on earth. Are our prayers heard before the Throne? Are we in any substantial measure recovering ground as to the cause of the Kingdom? Are we honest about exploits and accomplishments? Does our intercession have relevant repercussions in heavenly realms and earthly affairs? Does our intercession reflect the will of God?

The inner way, the ministry of the interior is, first of all, communion before and with God. But the inner way is indeed the way instituted by the Lord to conduct the affairs of Heaven amidst the rebellion and confusion of modern men. What grieves the Holy Spirit perplexes and grieves the people of God. “Do not learn the way of the nations. . . for the customs of the peoples are delusion. . . Who would not fear Thee, O King of the nations?

This is the setting in which the prophet cries out, Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears. This is the setting in which the praying community breaks down in tears, in an apostolic “Who is sufficient for this”. Prayer is the language of the poor, of the ones who have no earthly resources. Tears constitute the language of the ones who see the need of utter correction and judgment. Tears are the language of the Cross in operation. It is a language which is perfectly understood before the throne. It is a language which in a perfect manner opens for the throne, for the lordship of the Holy Spirit.

Item three: Intercession is an outpouring of God’s heart through a man’s heart. This is royal ministry.

In all our praying, are we willing to consider to what degree the heart of the Lord is pouring forth through our labouring? To what degree are our houses of prayer, our conferences and prayer vigils reflecting the House of Prayer which alone is the dwelling place of the Father?

Are the things that grieve the Holy Spirit producing grief in our inner beings and tears in our eyes? Are we gathering to impress the Lord concerning the validity of our agenda? Is prayer pressing petitions or the means of obtaining communion?

The House of the Father is companionship, communion, common spirit, common objectives. The House represents the lordship of the Holy Spirit. The House represents those eternal values which Heaven alone can produce, a production instigated by man’s perplexity and his tears. The House is a place for men, and women, who give themselves to fellowshipping for the sake of entering into the council of the Lord, for the sake of priestly ministry expressed in terms of a burden designed by the Lord.

Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
A man’s voice verbalising anguish unspeakable.
A man’s voice articulating grief darker than night.
A man’s voice punctuating the heart of the Eternal.
A prophet’s cry amidst modern men who do not care to lend their ears to decency, preferring their own discipline of delusion.
The common cry of a fellowship before the Lord to produce a recovery of a radical testimony of the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Lars Widerberg

Bibles to RSA Military in Sudan

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Please pray for the South African military, who leave for Sudan this month.

We distributed alongside Gideon’s International SA, about 1700 bibles to both Christians and Muslims soldiers on 27th March 2009 who have been deployed to Sudan.

The Senior staffs of the Military Camp have requested Complete Bibles

Please Pray as we believe these bibles will be of use to the soldiers but also an opportunity to reach out to the Muslims in Sudan.

Pastor Julius Mengot.

Eritrea: Time to pray

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Since 2002 the autocratic regime of President Isaias Afewerki has detained well over 2,000 Christians without trial, and has forced dozens of churches and Christian ministries to close. Many believers have been tortured to force them to renounce their faith.

Since 2002 the Eritrean Government has recognised only three churches: the Orthodox Church of Eritrea, the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran-affiliated Evangelical Church of Eritrea. All other churches have been closed.

Well over 2,000 thousand Christians have been detained without trial. Some estimate the total could be nearer 3,000 – out of a tiny population of only five million.

Many leading pastors and Christian activists have been arrested. In most cases they have disappeared without trace inside Eritrea’s prison system. Relatives often do not know if they are dead or alive.
Some Christian prisoners have been tortured by being locked in metal shipping containers where they suffer extreme heat during the day, and biting cold at night.

Other forms of torture are common, including what is known as ‘helicopter’ torture, where a prisoner is forced to balance on their stomach for prolonged periods, with their hands and feet tied behind them.

Christians undergoing military service are not allowed to meet together, to worship or to read a Bible. Many have been told to renounce their faith. Those who do not face lengthy terms in jail. The secret police routinely spy on Christians.

Network

Colombia: Guerrillas threaten pastor

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COLOMBIA: LEFTIST GUERRILLAS THREATEN, KILL CHRISTIANS
Pastors are issued warnings in north; evangelists murdered in southwest.

Having been sentenced to die by leftist rebels for holding Christian worship services in 2006, a pastor in Colombia’s northern department of Arauca took seriously the death threats that guerrillas issued on Friday (March 13), according to Christian support organization Open Doors.

The rebels from the National Liberation Army (ELN) phoned a pastor of Ebenezer Church in Saravena at 5:30 a.m., telling him to meet them at a site on the Arauca River at 7 a.m. When the pastor, who requested anonymity, arrived at the landing, the guerrillas took him by canoe to the other side of the river – into Venezuela – then drove him to a guerrilla camp some 40 minutes away.

For the next three hours, the rebels warned him that area pastors had three options: cooperate with the revolutionary cause of the guerrillas, leave or die. Although the ELN has been at odds with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), in Arauca they co-exist without conflict.

FARC guerrillas control the southwestern department of Huila, where last November four Christians were killed. Farley Cortés was killed on Nov. 5 in Plumeros village, Hermes Coronado Granado was killed on Nov. 8 in Santana Ramos, and 10 days later a married couple, Dora Lilia Saavedra and Ferney Ledezma were also killed there.

Guerrillas seized Saavedra, 40, and the 35-year-old Ledezma from the school where Saavedra taught on Nov. 18, bound them on the floor of an old house and shot them several times.

Their pastor, Hernan Camacho, has moved with his family out of the area after receiving death threats. “[The FARC guerrillas] say that we, the evangelical ones, are their worst enemy because we teach the people not to take up weapons,” Pastor Camacho said.

Network

Eritrea: Persecution persists

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Persecution persists in Eritrea, as three more believers are martyred. According to a recent International Christian Concern report, three believers on separate occasions were imprisoned and tortured. They were all given the option to deny Christ and receive medicine, or to suffer more torture and be killed. All three believers chose to die. One man had a wife and kids at home.

Network

Distractions i Prayer

Lord! I cannot pray,
My fancy is not free;
Unmannerly distractions come,
And force my thoughts from Thee.

The world that looks so dull all day
Glows bright on me at prayer,
And plans that ask no thought but then
Wake up and meet me there.

All nature one full fountain seems
Of dreamy sight and sound,
Which, when I kneel, breaks up its deeps,
And makes a deluge round.

Old voices murmur in my ear,
New hopes start to life,
And past and future gaily blend
In one bewitching strife.

My very flesh has restless fits;
My changeful limbs conspire
With all these phantoms of the mind
My inner self to tire.

I cannot pray; yet, Lord! Thou knowst
The pain it is to me
To have my vainly struggling thoughts
Thus torn away from Thee.

Sweet Jesus! teach me how to prize
These tedious hours when I,
Foolish and mute before Thy Face,
In helpless worship lie.

Prayer was not meant for luxury,
Or selfish pastime sweet;
It is the prostrate creature’s place
At his Creator’s Feet.

Had I, dear Lord! no pleasure found
But in the thought of Thee,
Prayer would have come unsought, and been
A truer liberty.

Yet Thou art oft most present, Lord!
In weak distracted prayer:
A sinner out of heart with self
Most often finds Thee there.

For prayer that humbles sets the soul
From all illusions free,
And teaches it how utterly,
Dear Lord! it hangs on Thee.

The heart, that on self-sacrifice
Is covetously bent,
Will bless Thy chastening hand that makes
Its prayer its punishment.

My Saviour! why should I complain
And why fear aught but sin?
Distractions are but outward things;
Thy peace dwells far within.

These surface-troubles come and go,
Like rufflings of the sea;
The deeper depth is out of reach
To all, my God, but Thee.

Frederick William Faber, 1814-1863

Men – God’s method

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Men are God’s method. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men.

 

The glory and efficiency of the gospel is staked on the men who proclaim it. When God declares that “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him,” he declares the necessity of men and his dependence on them as a channel through which to exert his power upon the world. This vital, urgent truth is one that this age of machinery is apt to forget.

 

What the Church needs to-day is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use – men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men – men of prayer.

 

E. M. Bounds

Power through Prayer

Prayer is not saying words

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The true content of prayer is not expressed in what is said, whence, among other things, the great mistake of analyzing prayer on the basis of the apparent content of the discourse, and the distinction between the prayer of petition, of praise, of intercession, etc. That sort of thing can be useful from the pedagogical point of view, but it falsifies the true nature of prayer.
Prayer is not a discourse. It is a form of life, the life with God. That is why it is not confined to the moment of verbal statement. The latter (verbalization) can only be the secondary expression of the relationship with God, an overflow from the encounter between the living God and the living person.

Prayer is not to be analyzed like a language. It has none of that form or content, for it receives its content, not from what I have to say, but from the One to whom it is spoken. For prayer to be what it is meant to be, it depends on Him and not on me, still less on my ability to speak the adequate language. Of course, I can pronounce a discourse supposedly addressed to God. I can arrange the sentences, but it is neither the harmony of the form, nor the elevation of the content, nor the fullness of the information which turns it into a prayer. Insofar as it remains a discourse, it is in fact subject to the language analysis with which we are familiar, but that is always as discourse, that is to say, as “nonprayer.”

It becomes prayer by the decision of God to whom it is addressed. A transformation takes place whereby it is a prayer of Christ or a prayer of the Holy Spirit. That is how we should understand the famous statement of Paul, in which he says that in the last analysis we do not know what the content of our prayer should be (Romans 8:26, 27), but that the Holy Spirit himself “intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” This phrase has too often been interpreted as though the Holy Spirit added a little something to our prayer. That is quite incorrect. It is the entire prayer which is the prayer of the Holy Spirit. Only when the Holy Spirit intercedes, and in a way which cannot be expressed, that is, which transcends all verbalizing, all language, then is the prayer prayer, and it is a relationship with God. Prayer is a gift from God, and its reality depends upon Him alone.

Jacques Ellul

From: Prayer and Modern Man. New York: Seabury Press. 1970.