January 2002

Work, Work, Work

Part One

            A verse in an old, popular song says, “Up in the morning, out on the job, work like the devil for your pay, but that lucky old sun just rolls around heaven all day”. Natural men must certainly “work like the devil” for everything they want or need in this mortal existence; while spiritual men take their lead from the sun that sits and shines in the heaven above- fully convinced their Creator’s “Works were FINISHED from the foundation of the world” (Heb 4:3) so nothing can possibly be added to or taken away from them!
            The apostles approached Jesus with religious ambition ablaze in their hearts and asked Him, “What can we do to work the WORKS OF GOD?!” It is not unreasonable that those men walking in the footsteps of Messiah and seeing the miracles He performed, would be zealous to emulate His glorious deeds. The natural man is always impressed with sensationalism that enables “SELF” to rise and shine! But Jesus discerned this human flaw in His disciples and quickly snuffed out their lust for self-glory saying, “This is the Work of God: BELIEVE IN HIM Whom He has sent!” (Jn 6:28-29) That’s it, beloved! This is the only Godly Work we are given to do: just to BELIEVE in Jesus Christ! No more, no less! Now this may sound simplistic at face value, but Scripture says believing is impossible for unregenerate men since “God has concluded (lit. “ended, shut up, imprisoned”) them ALL in UNBELIEF, so He could have Mercy on them ALL!” (Ro 11:32)
      Double-minded doctrines of devils have polluted today’s churches with spiritual confusion; as on one hand they rightly declare that Salvation is a free gift unable to be earned by any man; but then they turn around and negate it by saying, “Unless men receive this Gift by believing, they will roast in hell forever and ever!” Now how can any man whom God, Himself, has locked up in a prison of unbelief be expected to “believe in the Savior Whom He has sent”?! This is an example of the“contradiction of sinners” set against the Lord of Truth by carnal minds! (Heb 12:3) But Paul counsels all children of Truth, “As we are encompassed by a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, especially that sin (of unbelief) that so easily bedevils us; and let us run the race set before us with patience, as we look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith; who endured the Cross, while despising its shame, because of the Joy set before Him; Who now is set at the Right Hand of the Throne of God! Consider Him...so you don’t grow weary and faint in your minds! For you have not yet resisted unto blood (like Him) striving against sin!! And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as children (of God) saying, ‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord; nor faint as you (your sin nature) is rebuked by Him; for the Lord chastises those whom He LOVES! And He scourges every son HE receives! So if you are presently enduring chastisement, it means God is dealing with you as a Son...!” (Heb 12:1-6)
            Of the first Adamic nature it is said, “Natural man cannot receive Spiritual things because they are foolishness to him! He cannot know them for they are spiritually discerned!” (1 Cor 2:14) So how can anyone say that natural man is supposed to “believe in God”- under threat of hellfire?! On the other hand, if we recant and say we were actually referring to the Spiritual man, we can only be speaking of the Christ Nature which surely cannot deny His own Existence; and must believe in His Father’s Finished Work! Oh poor misguided, fleshly preachers, you cannot have it both ways! Either you are addressing the natural man, in which case, you dare not call Scripture a lie that states such a one cannot possibly receive the Gift of Salvation; or you are speaking to the spiritual man, which 1 Cor 15:47 identifies as the “Lord from Heaven” Who would never refuse any Good Gift that could be sent to Him from His Father! So either we preach the Gospel to the “believer” who is the Christed spiritual man that will surely believe it and receive it joyfully to his bosom; or we waste our breath and time preaching Truth to the “unbeliever” who is the carnal-minded natural man and is dead in sin; and therefore, is deaf as a post to the Truth!
            We cannot condemn the “unbeliever” for not believing, any more than we can condemn the blind man for not seeing, the deaf man for not hearing, or the lame man for not walking! For them it is impossible! But if your Truth has the Power of Christ to open those blind eyes and deaf ears, and make the lame man begin “walking and leaping and praising God” (Ac 3:8); that Truth will also have the needed power to free such a one from his prison of unbelief! Then as God rested on the seventh day after His Creation, this new believer will begin his new adventure in learning how to “Cease from his (human) works and labor to enter into that perfect Rest!” (Heb 4:11)

[To be continued]