Things, Things, Things

Things, Things, Things – Samuel Chadwick

Luke 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

I have ceased to wonder that Jesus Christ was crucified. For many years it was impossible to imagine how men could so misunderstand and hate Him . But a fuller understanding of His teaching and wider knowledge of the world have led me to the conclusion that there is only one end to a ministry like His – and that is a Cross.

There are woes enough in these two chapters to account for all that happened. He unmasked iniquity where it was least suspected, and attacked the vices of the wealthy and powerful in terms of liquid fire;
He shocked and angered the most religious people of his time; called them ’whited sepulchers’, and defied their traditions; He hurled woe upon woe in all directions. His own friends understood Him but little better than His enemies.

A man, perhaps a follower, has been wronged by his brother, and appeals to this preacher of righteousness to secure him his rights. Instead, He rebukes the petitioner, and asks, Who made Me a judge or a divider over you? Disappointment was inevitable. To preach sternly and then refuse the responsibility of practical application to particular cases always brings provocation.

The explanation of His attitude is plain enough now. He came to establish a world-wide spiritual kingdom. He laid down principles that are universal, not precepts which were local. He sought to correct the dispositions of men rather than to secure their rights. He would destroy wrong, not by direct attacks upon vice, but by saving the sinner. That is His method. A new world through a renewed humanity. So here, instead of interfering in the quarrel, He reads the motive behind the appeal, and warns against covetousness. He detects the undue eagerness to gain possessions, and corrects the false estimate of the things of this world. And in so doing incidentally states one of the profoundest truths concerning the true philosophy of life. ’A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth.’

To the world things are everything. It longs for them, works for them, fights for them, lies for them, lives for them. Its one ambition is to possess abundance of things. To secure them it will pay any price, endure any hardship, suffer any obloquy, sacrifice any thing. Its homage and its envy are reserved for those who have the most things. It never troubles about how they got them, nor what they do with them, it is enough that they have won for themselves piles of things!

The cry of the world is for things. Things, things; always more things. This is a purely pagan view of life. After these things do the heathen seek. Pagan philosophy is based upon the supposed supremacy of things. Heathen religions find their heaven in the abundance of things. And, alas, most of us are pure pagan. We live for the things. We toil and strive for the possession of things. Our only idea of heaven is a place where we shall have undreamed abundance of glorified things. We call ourselves Christian, but our lives are heathen.

Christ’s teaching concerning things declares that true life does not depend upon things at all. Indeed the only way into life is by the renunciation of things. We must forsake them, sacrifice them, die to them if we would live. Not only He, but all the world’s greatest have proved that life is not measured by the possession of the world’s things. The greatest of all had not where to lay His head. Things are an encumbrance to the man who would rise.

He who wins the world loses his soul. To live for things is to die to all that is spiritual and divine. Life is being, not having. It is what a man is, not what he has that really matters. What you have will perish, what you are abides forever. Seek not things. They perish, they corrupt, they pass away. Seek to BE manly, honest, brave and good. “Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Seek God first, always first. In Him only is the true life.

They Crucified Him - Art Katz quote

The following is a long quote from an excerpt of an Art Katz message which I heard on the Brave Hearted Gospel website. If you have not been there you should check it out and watch / listen to some of the compilations they have put together. A great blessing.

This is from the newest message with the same name as this blog entry. I do hope that this encourages and strengthens you as you see the true gospel of Jesus Christ being lifted up. This may be one of those messages that makes you leap with joy and say, "Alright, it's not just me that sees these things" or it may cause you to be stirred to repentance. Either way, I will rejoice in the fruit!

Art Katz : And They Crucified Him

I think we, every one of us, ought to be humiliated or humbled every time we pick up the book of Acts and read the glory that attended the life of that first church. By contrast the most successful kind of Christianity that we know, the most charismatic, the most to be lauded and applauded is utterly anemic and does not bear comparison.

How is it that these rude men, fishermen and louts who had no advantage of the kind that we have enjoyed, were able to turn cities upside down and shake the earth? Why is it we have not had a corresponding affect in our own generation? The answer, in my opinion is, that in missing the cross we have missed the power of the resurrection, we have sidestepped the cross as a subject let alone as experience because we have no tolerance or sympathy for suffering. The denial of self in any form is suffering. And we have not been encouraged to that.

We have overindulged and spoiled our youth, compromised truth in our marriages, suffered causalities and losses among our ministers, and given ground to the spirit of independence and rebellion in the churches. All because we cannot stand pain. We parents who indulge our kids rather than chasten them, are we being loving or self-indulgent? We pastors who condescend to placate men, rather than speak the truth to them in love, why are we so sparing? We saints who see the defects and things that need to be corrected in each other, why are we silent? Where are the Pauls in our generation who will confront the Peters, who have compromised the Gospel by being one thing with one group and another thing with another? Paul said he would not entertain that situation to go on beyond the moment for the purity of the Gospel’s sake.

I call that love. But you know that kind of love as an act is painful and it’s humiliating. It’s easy to be misunderstood. For which reason we prefer to keep quiet. For which reason the world is running amuck with us and for which reason we move into increasing carnality, not being corrected by one another.

The avoidance of pain is a costly avoidance. And the symbol of the cross at the heart of the faith is an invitation to share in His sufferings. In a word our Christianity is degenerating into a middle class culture. A sanctifying cover-up for the status quo. A vacuous praise club, an equating of gain as Godliness, a comfortable religiosity that leaves our real interests unchallenged and undisturbed in the avoidance of the cross of Christ Jesus. Somehow am I naïve to think we ought to look different, speak differently, act differently – that there ought to be such a savor and fragrance about us of Christ that it is a savor of death unto death to self and life unto life to others. The fact the world can so easily tolerate us, the fact of the almost complete absence of reproach, let alone of persecution, is itself a shameful testimony that we are so like the world that we cannot be distinguished from it.

We have lost even the difference, the sense of the difference, between that which is sacred and that which is profane. I believe that God could lay at the door of the church the full responsibility for the present condition of the world. And the things over which we cluck our tongues and point our fingers and look distain down our noses about are the things which can be attributed to us for we have not established in the earth a standard and an alternative to which a dying world might have turned. They simply did not know that there is such a thing as that which is holy and that which is sacred. For we ourselves are wallowing in the things that are earthly, common, unclean, and profane. The only alternative to that which is earthly, carnal, sensual and devilish is that which is heavenly. And there is no way to attain to that which is heavenly independent of the cross of Christ Jesus.

If the prophet Isaiah seeing the Lord high and lifted up cried out “Woe is me, I am undone! I am a man of unclean lips and I live in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” What then shall we say who are not prophets and oracles of God. We need to have our vision and our sight corrected. We need to address our lives to the plumb line of God. The standard of God to the cross of Christ Jesus. Not academically, religiously, or superficially – but in the actual experience of our lives as those who have come wiling to abandon everything.

Paul said “I am determined to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified.” We desperately and urgently need to know Him – exactly as He is.

Women on Skid Row

Please take a few minutes to watch the video about the women on skid row in Los Angeles, CA. This video was put together by some people from the Jonah Project. There should be some caution in watching this as some of the matters discussed are of adult nature.

I do hope that this finds you prayerful for their ministry and how the Lord would have you to help. We certainly don't want to be humanistic nor intervene in the work that God may be doing in lives through trials but we don't want to callously turn a blind eye to these things either. Pray that God would give you discernment on how He would have you help them and that He would guide their every step that they might be led of the Spirit to glorify Christ in all things. That certainly appears to be their hearts from all that I can tell.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

Please note, the video is on Youtube, so a disclaimer as to the rest of the stuff that happens to be there...

19 Signs You Are Becoming A Part Of The Great Apostasy

From Pure Life Ministries – I have not personally reviewed their website, I do understand a bit about what they are about but don’t know whether I can support them whole-heartedly yet. I only say that as there are many that turn holiness into a work of the flesh or some “steps” that one can walk in order to be holy when in reality it is the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in conjunction with the will of man that allows this to come to pass. Grace becomes effectual!

Regardless, I was very blessed by this exhortation. Please read and heed.

Anytime a person falls, gravity creates a force that drives the person to the ground. This momentum is not easily reversed.

So it is with the "Great Falling Away" predicted for the Last Days. Scripture gives every indication that many professing Christians will move in increasing velocity away from the things of God and toward the things of the world. In the days ahead, it will be increasingly difficult to swim against this powerful current.

The following list is provided to allow people to examine which direction their ongoing lifestyles are taking them:

1. Prayer is either nonexistent or mechanical.

2. You know the Word but you don't really live it.

3. Earnest thoughts about eternal matters no long grip your heart.

4. You can indulge in inward and outward sin without feeling devastated.

5. A longing for holiness is no longer a predominant passion of your life.

6. The pursuit of money and possessions are an important part of your life.

7. You can sing worship songs without really meaning what they express.

8. You can hear people treating eternal issues flippantly without becoming upset.

9. Your main concerns are of your temporal, earthly life.

10. Conflicts in your relationships with others are not a major concern to you.

11. You no longer hunger for a deeper life in God.

12. You don't live with a full and grateful heart.

13. You have little concern over and make little effort to meet the needs of others.

14. You always see your level of spirituality in positive terms.

15. You are more concerned about your pet doctrines than people's souls.

16. Sports, entertainment and pleasure are important aspects of your life.

17. You are more concerned with your image than with the reality of your life with God.

18. You are full of bitterness, or criticism, or pride, or covetousness, or lust.

19. You have a head full of knowledge and a heart made of stone.