ResponsiveReiding

If North Korea were to send a nuclear warhead screaming toward a US target, we would think it a pretty strange response to invade Canada. Yet, when it comes to the lost condition of our society, many a good and sincere Believer finds themselves thinking the answer is in political candidates, judicial appointees and social action. Don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating ignoring the voting booth, lobbying for those who will make better decisions for our nation or acting in concert with others in attempts to alleviate human suffering and injustice of all kinds. Those are all good and well and we should be about them. I am just arguing that all of those efforts, as good and necessary as they may be, are only treating the symptoms and not the disease.

Now there is an interesting place in Scripture where the disease gets exposed, and the cure revealed as well. And it is not where you might think. We read the base account in Luke 8:26-28 “Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.”

What the text states plainly here, is that the man who Jesus confronts here “had demons.” He was under demonic influence. Demonized. Possessed. And while I am not going to argue that all in our society today are automatically demon possessed, I don’t want to ignore demonic influence altogether – and on a large societal scale. How do I arrive there? Because Ephesians 2 tells us that this is the condition of all outside of Christ – and the state we were ALL in before Christ delivered us: “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

This, is the common lot of humanity. But then, as we see in the Lukan passage, there are times when this demonic influence escalates to much higher and more evident degrees. And I would suggest that this is becoming increasingly the case in our society. Which calls for a response that far outstrips our concept of any culture war.

Let’s look as some particulars in the Lukan account.

Note then, the demoniac had:

1.”No clothes”: The stronger the grip of the Enemy on men’s souls, the more lewd we become. Nakedness in the public arena is a sign of having been given over to the powers of darkness, where even common grace is cast off. The loss of all modesty is evidence of demonic influence in our society.

2. “Not lived in a house”: The stronger the influence of the Enemy on a soul, the more anti-social, withdrawn and alone people become. We see this all around us. One article I read recently noted – many young people today are so filled with anxiety at the thought of having to deal personally with someone, they will not even call to order a pizza, but will order online instead. Human interaction, even over the phone is too difficult. This is so prevalent in Japan right now, that an entire industry has been birthed where young men – so afraid to even talk with a woman, go to establishments and pay just to have a female hold their hand or talk to them. Because they are too terrified to do it in the real world. And might I add, they even prefer animated pornography because the thought of even viewing sex involving real people is too unbearable. Further evidence of demonic influence.

3. “Among the tombs”: The third symptom of having been given over to the Enemy (beyond normal lostness) is a preoccupation with death. We see it in abortion and euthanasia for sure. Recently, when my 90 year old Mother-in-law went for a checkup with her Cardiologist, he coolly and casually suggested she simply stop going to the dialysis treatments she receives 3 times a week for kidney failure. In other words, just make the decision to die. But there is more. We see it too in preoccupation with Zombies and Vampires – the “un-dead.” In a pop-church culture where the demonic is thought of in terms of troublesome imps flattening tires on the highway, or keeping you from “living your best life now” – depriving you of material success and possessions or inhibiting you from obtaining your dreams – the real demonic influence goes ignored.

4. “With a loud voice”: The 4th symptom is a certain terror of having to be confronted with God in Jesus Christ and its implications. It can be an actual terror, or a pathological one which simply recoils at anything hinting at human responsibility to The Creator. So it is everything which contradicts us in any way or does not affirm us in our choices – is a “phobia.” People claim to be terrorized by simple statements of fact, and psychologically harmed by anyone who expresses any point of view contrary to their own. And when it comes to the exclusive claims of the Gospel or what the Bible calls sin, these are met with shrieks of terror. It is considered hateful to call anything sin or to call for repentance from those things the Word of God condemns. This is a demonically influenced mindset – rampant today.

5. “Break the bonds”: 5th is an inability to be harnessed or restrained by normal conventions. A wild mind that cannot be calmed resulting in behavior that cannot be controlled. And so every desire must be justified as legitimate. Every impulse baptized as the freedom to be ourselves. Every wickedness applauded. And every attempt to denounce wickedness – is itself denounced as a violent attack on the individual. Self-control, a fruit of the Spirit becomes an unthinkable evil, and only unrestrained expression the true good. This is what demonic influence looks like.

Beloved, the cure to these things cannot be found in social programs, or better political leadership – we need nothing less than the power of Christ to break the bonds of the demonic influence so many in our society have given themselves over to. We need a generation, who by the Word of Christ, wake up tomorrow, clothed, and in their right minds. And nothing but the Gospel has the power to rescue souls from this kind of bondage. Nothing but the power of Christ can bind the demonic powers behind this dreadful state.

It is why we need to know truly how to enter into Biblical Spiritual warfare: With the belt of truth – knowing reality as revealed in God’s Word, not shaped by fallen culture; guarding our hearts by the constant pursuit of righteousness and putting to death the deeds of the flesh; standing upon the Gospel of peace with God through faith in the finished work of Christ alone – ourselves – and prepared to carry that Gospel everywhere we go; shielded by trusting in the revealed character of God in Christ and the surety of His promises in the Word; putting on the helmet of thinking like redeemed people, informed by The Word; cutting though all the darkness with Biblical truth; and seeking the face of God for wisdom, courage and the continual infilling of His Spirit so as to walk with Him in all fidelity in this present age.

He is the One who binds the “strong man” – and plunders his house for the glory of His God.

1 Cor. 14.31a “For you can all prophesy one by one.”

Would you like to be a prophet? No, really. I mean it. This isn’t a trick. I am convinced that a modern “school of the prophets” is in order in our day. And I wonder if you would like to be in it? I’ll tell you ahead, I am not planning to charge for the course. So this isn’t some money making deal. You won’t have to leave home to learn it. And when you are done, you will every bit as much a Biblically bonafide prophet as John the Baptizer himself. So, OK, are you ready? Let’s go.

1. Drop any notion of telling the future. Well, not entirely, but mostly. At least in terms of “will I marry before I’m 25?” or, “what will my next job be?” or “will the false antichrist wear Smurf P.J.’s”. Those are the kinds of prophecies weird pseudo-prophets make on pay-by-the-minute phone lines. That’s kid’s stuff. John the Baptist for instance never once predicted the future beyond saying that this Jesus would at some point, take away the sins of the world.

But Jesus said John was even MORE than a prophet.

That’s what we’re after. Being a REAL prophet.

So other than predicting that Christ is going to return of a certainty – you DO NOT, I repeat you DO NOT have to make a single prediction about anyone’s personal future. Nor any country’s future, the economy, the European union, nada.

2. Forget about doing miracles. Now don’t get me wrong. If God WANTS to do one through you, it’ll come off just fine. You won’t have to worry, or prep or nothin’. God Himself is in charge of the miraculous, since He is in charge of nature. If you are going to do something SUPERnatural, you need to have a good handle on managing the natural, and that is His department, not ours. You and I do not manage nature. God alone does. Once again, since this is the John the Baptizer School of the Prophets, we can safely follow our mentor. After all, he did have divine endorsement. We read it up above. John never did one miracle, and we have it on Jesus’ authority that one does not have to do miracles to be a prophet. So we can breathe a sigh of relief and skip that class.

OK, now get ready – because this is the big one. Everything depends upon this. This is the key point. The main point. The ONLY point. Ready?

3. Point to Christ.

Too fast for you? let me repeat it – POINT – TO – CHRIST.

Point to His person and work. Declare Him to be who and what he is, and what He did at Calvary. point to Jesus. Point out what he did for you in redeeming your soul, and making you His child. Point out how He forgives sin, justifies sinners, sends the Spirit to empower and bless us, has given us His message to declare, has promised to return for us, and meets our every need. Point to Christ. Make much of Him.  Chat Him up as our British brothers or sisters might say. Rejoice in Him. Give Him glory. Be thankful.  Sing His praises. Walk in His joy. Tell of His mercy and grace and loving kindness. Point to Christ. Prophesy.

Rev. 19.10e – “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

And we can ALL prophesy one by one – to the everlasting benefit of all who hear.

Point to Christ.

There now – you’re a prophet. In fact a greater prophet than John the Baptizer even. For you have 2000 years of testimony to give out THIS side of the Cross.

Have you ever been reading the Gospels and been a bit taken by how some of what Jesus says or does seems confusing? You’re not alone. There are a number of places where it is clear the Disciples wrestled with not understanding some things Jesus said and did. And the account in Luke 2 below is a classic example of how that problem showed itself very early on. So read about when Jesus was 12 and the family made their trip to Jerusalem for Passover. Jesus turned out to be missing from the returning caravan, and it took 3 days to find him. Then we read: “they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions…And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them.”

2 things come to mind about this scenario.

First – This event is a portent of what will become a constant feature throughout Jesus’ life – that He is out of sync with the world and everyone’s expectations in it. And here is the truth, here is the problem; we want God to align with our world. We want Him to make sense to us, and never imagine it is us who need to make sense to Him. We do not realize that we are the sole place in the universe which is out of alignment with Him! He is calling us to get back in line with Him. And everywhere in the Scripture where Jesus seems out of sync, it is because we are out of sync, not Him. He is the standard, not us.

When we do not understand God’s words or actions, it is due to our departure from what should be, not because He is being enigmatic or mysterious. He is to be the cosmic norm. And everywhere that seems odd to us, is another place when need to be brought back to what is right.

If He seems unjust in some place, it is because our sense of justice has become skewed by the Fall. If we do not understand His words, it is because we are no longer thinking in His categories. We have lost the Heavenly frame of reference. We have become anthropocentric, instead of Christ centered. So everything is askew. And we are always trying to drag Him into our framework, rather than seeking to enter into His.

Secondly, note what is revealed about Him Himself: How humble our God is.

Given the circumstances, the realities of His incarnation, the Lord of glory, the One who created the womb that had given Him birth; The One who at this very moment was sustaining the lives of His own earthly parents; The infinitely holy and perfect God – found it reasonable to remain submissive to His merely human inferiors. And for us, wives find it unimaginable to be submitted to their husbands. Children find it unbearable to be submitted to their parents. Men find it unreasonable to be submitted to ecclesiastical or even civil authorities. We chafe at submission of any kind.

Father, give us the Spirit of Christ. Who though God in human flesh, didn’t grasp after His divinity, but humbled Himself. May we find such ease on all your arrangements in life. May we sweetly submit to You, who love us beyond our wildest imaginations.  

I am quite certain I have commented on this passage similarly before. But in reading it afresh today, once again the power and wonder of what was transpiring here hit me. I think we pass over some of the realities far too quickly.

This is in fact the single greatest example of unanswered prayer. And aren’t we glad.

We all face decisions. Some easy, some hard.

But put yourself in God the Father’s shoes at this moment.

His Son, His only begotten Son – THE Son, is praying.

He appeals to the Father’s absolute sovereignty and power – “All things are possible for you” He says.

And He is right.

The Father does not HAVE to save anyone.

He can at this moment, deliver His own Son – and let the rebellious – race, you and me, go to Hell.

He is under no obligation.

There is nothing constraining Him but one thing – His own heart.

Out of nothing but pure love, He willingly sends His Son to that Cross in our place.

He didn’t have to.

He wanted to.

He could remain just and eternally condemn us all.

He could remain full of mercy and grace – without it rising to the level of this sacrificial act.

But He refused.

Hearing His perfect Son’s pleas.

Knowing His impending agony.

Seeing Jesus’ “distress” and “trouble” (vs. 33).

Knowing He was “sorrowful, even unto death” (vs. 34).

Yet still, The Father will not relent.

He sees the Son’s willing heart.

It must melt His own.

It can do nothing else.

Yet the plan remains.

The deliverance will not come.

The Son will die – though the Father can freely and in all holiness and righteousness choose to spare the Son and cast us aside.

But the love that “will not let me go” prevails.

What love is this?

What a Father is this?

What a Son is this?

What a salvation is this?

Words, cannot express.

And now. When He seemingly does not answer my prayers, or answer them as quickly as I want or exactly the way I want – is it not wise to reflect here and see how the Father’s love far outstrips my pitiful understanding? To trust Him? For if He would refuse Jesus on my account, what won’t His perfect love and wisdom do even now? “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32)

The right role of emotion in true religion is never to arrive at truth by what we feel, but to deeply feel the truth. If the truth does not move us, something is terribly wrong.

Oh to love, with all my heart

This one who died for me

To prize Him, far above all else

Surpassing all I see

That I may truly know Him

As Heaven’s crowning gem

The radiant sum of Heaven’s wealth

Love’s flower, root and stem

That all my soul might grasp Him

Each passion full informed

Perception raised to highest pow’r

And new conceptions formed

That He alone might charm me

And all temptations fade

Restored to the original

For what I first was made

That I may understand Him

In whom all truth resides

God’s wisdom shining outward

No depth of God He hides

To let my mind explore Him

Who knows no human bounds

The infinite, eternal one

Whose universe He sounds

With all my strength to serve Him

To wear the yoke of love

That binds in Heaven’s sweetest way

My will to His above

That no command’s a burden

As He bore all my sin

My heart, my soul, my mind, my strength

Devoted all to Him

I love Matthew 13. It is a remarkable passage. Gathered together here are 7 parables. Parables of the Kingdom. They form a primer for the Disciples of a sort. How they are to understand the Kingdom in the intervening years between Jesus’ ascension and return. A study of each parable by itself is very profitable. Each one, while simple, is profound and rich. But what often gets overlooked is the larger picture. In other words, what happens when we take all 7 together, and assemble the complete picture? 

When we take all seven parables here and put them together, What emerges, is a primer for the Apostles, on getting a “Church Age Overview.” A wonderful grip on what’s happening, what to expect, and what to do. A severely neglected manual for keeping a vision for the Church and its mission in every age. It offers encouragement, insight, and is a preventative against unreal expectations – all in one. Pastors – take heart!

Let’s see the scheme in order.

1 / 3-9 & 18-23 / The Mystery of PROPAGATION: How the Church grows. “The Sower sows The Word”. This is God’s means and method. All other schemes, programs, arrangements and allurements are human inventions without the promise of blessing. It is not about one nation or people rising and conquering with political or military power – it is about the Word of God bringing forth its fruit.

2 / 24-30 & 36-43 / The Mystery of PROXIMITY: The Wheat and the Tares. Explaining that there will be mixture and iniquity on the earth until Christ returns. Despite all of our efforts, there will be a mixed multitude among us. The Pagans will be with us to the end – both inside and outside the Church. Simon Magus’s will enter. We will not be able to purge them all out – nor should that be our focus. There will be necessary Church discipline, yes. But witch hunting? No. Do not be surprised that there will be imposters among us. 

3 / 31-32 / The Mystery of TRANSITION: The Mustard Seed. Explaining the small beginning of the Kingdom versus its very great end. What will be, bears little resemblance to what is now.  

4 / 33-35 / The Mystery of TRANSFORMATION: Leaven. The image is a deliberately internal one. Change in the Believer has an instantaneous start that produces its great effects secretly, inwardly and thoroughly, but over time. We GROW into the image of Christ’s character, we aren’t zapped there all at once.

5 / 44 – / The Mystery of SUPREMACY: The Hidden Treasure. Explaining how it is that genuine believers are motivated to sacrifice all for that which others cannot see. Here, the man (inexplicably to the naked eye) values what is not seen by others above all else.  

6 / 45-46 / The Mystery of SUPERIORITY: The Pearl. Explaining how it is Believers place Christ above all other religion. Christ is our greatest gain.

7 / 47-50 / The Mystery of The CONSUMMATION: The Dragnet. Explaining the free offer of the Gospel to all men. Many are called, but few are chosen. The net of the Gospel is cast into the sea of humanity, and all sorts are gathered in indiscriminately. However, we need not fear. The day of sorting will come. There will be a separating of the goats and the sheep.

Taken in order then we learn these 7 lessons.

A – Confidence and Comfort in the simple plan and program of God in evangelism. God’s Word IS sufficient.

B – There is no need to fret or fear if the World seems to grow and progress in evil along with the Church. The harvest WILL come.

C – Though the Kingdom may seem small and insignificant now – wait. The half has not been told.

D – Though you seem to make little progress in sanctification, you WILL be transformed into His image as the Kingdom grows within you and affects every part.

E – Though others have not seen what you have – you are not a fool to forsake that which you cannot keep to obtain that which you cannot lose. 

F – Let no one dissuade you from the singular excellencies of Christ. Truth isn’t all about us- but He is THE Truth, THE Life, and THE Way.

G – Give the Gospel to all men and draw them in. But give them no comfort in the MERE fact they dwell among the saints, simply because they found an attraction here. If they have not been changed, if they are spoiled or dead or unprofitable, they WILL be cast away.