Most of us are familiar with Jude’s emphatic call in vs. 3: “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” It is a call all Christians need to take seriously, but especially those in positions of teaching or preaching.

Now a year or two ago, I posted something about a man whose teaching I was made aware of by friends – and I found to be exceedingly dangerous – Jaimie Winship. If you don’t know him – grand. If you are familiar with him and his teaching – then maybe what I’ve included below will spare you a trip down a heretical side-road.

What appears below is the text of a letter I sent to some friends who inquiring about Winship. I had never heard of him before that. And I would not be revisiting the issue now, except that a new Believer recently exposed to his teaching came to my awareness. And based upon Jude 3, I felt compelled to resurrect my concerns, and re-post them with the hopes they will be helpful once again.

Here is the text of my original letter.

Dear XXXX & XXXX – Thanks so much for your patience as I have been taking the time to wade through the Jamie Winship material and do further research. There is a lot to untangle (in my opinion) because there is something to be understood both in what he actually teaches, and also in what he does not say. I wanted to listen to more of his teaching, and to read his book to try my best to be fair and unbiased. Unfortunately, my concerns have only increased.

I’ve written, re-written, edited, had Sky edit and re-worked what I think I need to say a number of times. And I decided after reading his book more carefully, to take an entirely different approach than I did at first. I could just nit-pick my way through the numerous statements in the original audio you gave to us – which are simply poor recounting of Biblical facts. He is pretty loose in that regard. But I don’t think that gets to the core of my concerns. And I wanted to try and arrive at what I believe are the most serious and fundamental flaws – those which pose the greatest spiritual harm in my opinion. And that takes the deeper dive I’ve been doing.

I want to say at the outset that he says a LOT of very, very good and helpful things. In terms of identity, we really do need a Biblical identity. No one could argue with that. Sadly, this truly is a very neglected aspect of much Christianity today. We have in fact let other people’s opinions and some experiences inform how we understand ourselves all too well – and have not corrected that even when we have come to be born again. Yea and amen! I can say I know it from my own experience. BUT! How we arrive at that identity and how we can know what it truly is and authenticate it is where Jamie (and dare I say orthodox Christianity) drastically divide. It is his blend of Christian words and concepts, re-worked by Eastern mysticism and New Age thought which makes it so seductive and dangerous.

Giving the benefit of the doubt, I will advance that I think Jamie is sincere, and really believes what he teaches. That said, I believe he is sincerely deceived – and on some of the most critical realities of Biblical teaching. So I’ve avoided virtually all references to him personally, in favor of only examining what he has written and teaches. It is not an attack on the man, but on his doctrines.

I’ll touch on some of these only very briefly, but major on Identity.

I. The Gospel

II. Confession

III. Focus

IV. Identity

V. Miscellaneous

I. The Gospel: On page 30, Jamie recounts a conversation he had with a cab driver. In summing up he says: “This is how Jesus talks to people. In the entire conversation, I never said one thing about being a Christian. The conversation was about personal identity, not empty ideology. When the guy dropped me off, he asked for my card. We’re going to meet so he can hear God tell him his identity. I didn’t suggest that, he did. That’s called sharing your faith.”

Read that carefully. Sharing your faith in Jamie’s view has nothing to do with the Gospel, or the person and work of Christ as God incarnate dying on the cross as our substitute – bearing weight of the just penalty for our sin – but only “personal identity.” And the rest of his teaching only confirms this.

Let me expand here because this is the most serious issue to address, and is at the bottom of everything – The Gospel.

The Scriptural understanding of the Gospel message is that we are born into this world at war with God, as lost sinners: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Rom. 5:6-10) We are sinners, ungodly, not righteous, God’s enemies. All of this Jamie denies. And what are we saved from? The wrath of God. Jamie denies this too. And as Jesus Himself testifies in John 3:36 “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

For those like yourselves, who have been born again and know that you’ve been saved, simply hearing his teaching on identity might not be as serious a problem, and perhaps even helpful. But in the final analysis, for the un-Believer who comes to his teaching by itself and hearing only this, he will lead their souls to Hell. This is why I refer to his material later as damnable. I do not use that term as a swear word – but for what it truly means – he would leave people in their damned state, abiding under the wrath of God, while thinking they are hearing from and interacting with Jesus. Judas interacted with Jesus – and so did many others, who were never cleansed from their sin. Jamie’s teaching, redefining sin, confession, repentance and the like, absolutely denies and defies the Gospel. And all the while, using Biblical stories, and Christian and Bible terms. It is a wicked and evil deception. And it is why I react so strongly to it. I will give the benefit of the doubt that he is sincere and truly wants to help people, but I care too much for the souls of men to toss it off as a minor difference. It is solidly a Gospel issue. With eternal consequences. And I believe his errant view of sin has potentially bad consequences even for Believers as it leads to ignoring Christ’s call to take up our Cross daily and die to sin and self.  

If we will not judge ourselves as sinners in need of Christ’s substitutionary work on the Cross  – to use the words of Paul in Philippians 3:7-9 “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” – if that is not our foundation, we are still lost in our sins. And Jamie never ever goes there in any thing he writes. Never. This was the scandal of Baptism for the Pharisees and Sadducees. To come for baptism was to admit that they were outside the covenant of God and unclean and needed to be cleansed of their sin. This, they would not do. And this, Jamie teaches no one needs to do. All we need to do is find Jesus already in our hearts, and hear him give us an identity.

This is not a mere difference of opinion, this is at the heart of genuine, Biblical Christianity and salvation.

This shows itself in another very graphic way. On Page 33: He recounts a meeting headed by a “Muslim” who is an expert in Sharia Law. While this man brings up Jesus – Jamie’s comment at the end is most telling. He applauds the man because: “He wasn’t trying to convert them to another religion. He was simply leading them into identity transformation.”

This concept continues through the book.

So it is on Page 131 and other places: He refers to “Muslim believers.”

Be careful here. He is not saying merely Iraqi believers, Iranian believers, Saudi or Omani or Syrian believers etc. – but Muslim believers.

Those in Islam that I’ve interacted with (like the young Iranian convert at our Church) are very clear – you cannot be both a Muslim and a Christian. They renounce Islam when they come to Christ. For Islam has a different God, a different Christ, a different salvation, a different ultimate authority (the Quran and NOT the Bible) etc.

Now it is true that Muslims believe in Jesus. But the Jesus of the Quran is not God, but merely a prophet, and one who was superseded by Mohammed. They call Him “Issa.” He can be referred to as “Messiah”, but it does not mean what the Bible means.

So listen to 2 Corinthians 11:1–4 (ESV): “I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.”

Suffice it to say here, that while Jamie uses Christian words and phrases, he means something very different from how the Bible uses them and intends them. And in this case, allows others to believe, in fact encourages others to believe in a “different Jesus.” As Paul writes in Galatians 1: “there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”

II. Confession: Jamie writes: “Confession is telling God the truth about what you really believe about him, yourself, and others. It’s the greatest act, a sacrament. God loves honest confession. Confession is the beginning of genuine transformation.” (Page 47) This is another example of how he undermines the Gospel, and the Biblical way Believers are to see ourselves as sinners saved by grace.

He denies confession has anything to do with confessing sin. Take just five minutes to check a concordance on the word confession, and you will see that the Bible deals with confession in regard to sin in the vast majority of its cases. Jamie is correct in this – confession is not “just” saying we are sorry – though that is an element; But as Paul writes when having confronted the Corinthians with their sin: 2 Corinthians 7:10–11 (ESV): “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what 1earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment!”

Nothing in Jamie’s definitions comes even close to how the Bible speaks of confession and repentance. In fact tied to this is that repentance is (in his definition) only a change of mind about who we are in God’s eyes. It has nothing to do with turning from sin. And unless I miss my understanding, he really believes a Christian should never feel guilt or shame for anything.

But this is not how the Bible speaks.

III. Focus: Jamie’s entire “method” is self-focused, not Christ focused. Consider that in light of passages like John 5:39 (ESV): “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and 3it is they that bear witness about me.”

While the Scripture does address our identity, as below – that is not the focus – Christ is. So it is when Jesus was resurrected He dealt with the two on the road to Emmaus this way: Luke 24:25–32 (ESV): “And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road,

while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

Do you see the repetition there? The Scriptures speak of Christ – above all. Everything is centered in Him. When He is not the focus, when our eyes are turned upon ourselves, we lose everything. And this is the problem – everything Jamie talks about – is your identity. Not Christ – you. What was the result of Jesus’ interaction here? Did the two get a better picture of themselves? Or is it as the text reads: “Their eyes were opened, and they recognized – HIM.”

IV. Identity: On page 55 he writes: “Isn’t it beautiful that God is affirming to you that he has always approved of you? It’s not about works or comparison or competition. God made you enough, and that is how he has always seen you.”

And here, once again, we arrive at what I believe is the most basic and fundamental view from which everything else Jamie says and teaches emerges: He does not believe we are born in sin and separated from God in rebellion. He believes ALL people are born good, and that God has always been in them and approved of them regardless of anything else. It is this presupposition that informs everything he holds. It is anti-Gospel.

Now because this is so important, bear with me for just a bit in looking at a passage of Scripture we dare not neglect. Ephesians 2:1–22 (ESV) Now nowhere in anything Jamie says will you ever read the description in this passage regarding what we once were, and that unbelievers are even now – outside of Christ. This is the “identity” the Bible gives the unbeliever:

1 – Dead in trespasses and sins.

2 – Following the course of this world.

3 – Following the prince of the power of the air – the spirit that is not at work in the sons of

disobedience.

4 – Living in the passions of our flesh.

5 – Carrying out the desires of the body and the mind.

6 – By nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

7 – Separated from Christ.

8 – Alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. (I.e. not among God’s people)

9 – Strangers to the covenants of promises.

10 – Having no hope.

11 – Without God in the world.

12 – Far off from God.

13 – Strangers and aliens.

Now those are drastic and descriptive terms. They describe the un-Believer’s identity, and accord with Paul in Romans when he says that because of Adam’s sin “one trespass led to condemnation for all men.” It is this condemnation Jesus saves us from. It is the very antithesis of Jamie’s assertion of how God always saw us and approved of us.

And this is where his thinking strikes so wickedly at the heart of the Gospel. To Jamie, we don’t need to be saved from this condition, but we simply to wake up to how God has always seen us.

This dear friends is a truly damnable lie. And it is at the very bottom of his entire paradigm.

But let me not stop at what our former identity was – look to what this passage declares the Believer’s true identity is now – in Christ.

1 – Made alive in Christ.

2 – Saved from the just wrath of God.

3 – Raised up with Christ.

4 – Seated with Him in the heavenly places.

5 – Destined to be the objects of His making us experience the immeasurable riches of His kindness toward us in Christ – for all the coming ages.

6 – Gifted all of this by God, not because of our works or worthiness, but because of the great love with which He loved us.

7 – We are His workmanship – His divinely crafted treasure.

8 – Created for good works, that we might walk in them.

9 – Brought near to God by the blood of Christ.

10 – Reconciled to God through the cross.

11 – At peace with God.

12 – Fellow citizens with the saints of the household of God. His FAMILY!

13 – Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.

14 – And being built together with all the saints into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Now THAT, is an identity. That is who God says you are as a Believer. And it is not dependent upon whether or not you feel it, or have it whispered in some experience. It is the abiding truth to be believed. It is ours by faith. And there are dozens of passages more to fill this identity out in the most amazing and transcendent of terms.

Think of 1 John 3:2 “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”

Or 1 Peter 2:9-10 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

Or Zech. 2:8 where those who love God are called “the apple his eye.” The most sensitive, carefully guarded and protected part of Him.

There WILL come a day when God speaks to us personally about a unique identity – it is recorded for us in Revelation 2:17 (ESV): “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.”

This naming is AFTER the resurrection (not now) and is such an act of intimacy that no one else will know it but Jesus and us. And it belongs only to those who live unto Christ and overcome the World, the flesh and the Devil. A far cry from what Jamie is trying to offer us here.

So far from actually needing the atoning work of Christ on the cross to make us one with God again, Jamie embraces the Buddhist conception that we just need to get our thinking straight.

So he writes on Page 57: “This is different from how most of us were taught by “religion.” Most of us were told that our problem is that we do wrong things. But that’s not really the issue. The issue is wrong belief or believing what is not true. This wrong or false belief leads us to separate or deviate from God, ourselves, and others.”

Contrary to the Bible, in Jaimie’s view, sin doesn’t separate us from God – only wrong thinking.

This then is why his “method” as he calls it, works even for non-Christians. “When we are young, God is building into us identity. You don’t have to be a Christian; it’s what God does for all people because God knit together each of us in our mother’s womb. God built identity into each of us.”

For Jamie, salvation is not required to live this fantastic life. Just coming to realize how God has always seen you. Never mind Ephesians or the rest of the Bible.

V. Miscellaneous:

On Page 64 he articulates this idea: “In science, this heart-head connection is called neurocardiology. It’s fascinating that the heart is really the information gatherer and the brain is simply the organizer and processor. The heart gathers information all the time.”

But do you know where he gets this idea? I checked his footnote. It comes from Jordan Chilton Pearce’s “The Biology of Transcendence: A Blueprint of the Human Spirit.” And what of Pearce?

Wikipedia notes: “In the 1970-1980s Pearce practiced meditation under the guidance of Swami Muktananda.

Here is his connection to eastern mystical spirituality. It is anything but Christian.

On page 67 he says plainly he does not even know if he loves God. Think on that. A “Christian” teacher and conference speaker who cannot even honestly say whether or not he loves God! 

And if you question or challenge him on any of his ideas – he says on Page 141: “Why would I receive hostile critique from an angry person when I have the edifying, constructive critique of the Holy Spirit available to me?”

Lastly, on page 149 he utterly rejects (even scorns) the idea that “We have to get into the Middle East and convert those Muslims to Christianity.” This he says is like the Crusades and contrary to God’s kingdom.

I could go on with his mishandling the Scriptures he does use all over the place. But I think I’ve dumped enough on you for now.

One last observation. He mentions his friend Paul Young (of The Shack fame) quite approvingly (both in the book and in some videos) which makes me suspect he has at the base a very similar theological outlook. This is not guilt by association, but guilt by affirmation. As I’ve gone back to listen to Young’s teaching on identity – it is identical to Jamie’s.

And so that I do not misrepresent Young, let me note the chapter headings from his book “Lies We Believe About God.”

What are some of those lies according to Young?

1 – [It is a lie that] God is in control.

2 – [It is a lie] that you need to get saved.

3 – [It is a lie that] the Cross was God’s idea.

4 – [It is a lie that] not everyone is a child of God.

5 – [It is a lie] that sin separates us from God.

Young goes on to say that everyone is already saved – we just have to wake up to it and live in it. Echoes of which I detect throughout Jamie’s book and lectures. Things confirmed when I looked into someone else Jamie and his wife really like – Brad Jursak – another one who blends Christianity with New Age mysticism and Eastern spirituality. And all of this is confirmed in spades in a video from Jamie’s wife where she says in no uncertain terms that we are NOT sinners – because we all came into this world good. In fact, she says she “hates that word” sinners. She has no category for how the Scriptures speak to being sinners at all.

I hope some of this is helpful. Believe me, I take no pleasure in it. But once again, I take the admonition in Jude very seriously, that we desperately need to “contend for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints.” It is a battle for truth and the way God has communicated in His Word.

Lastly, I would recommend a book to you about identity that I believe is far and away more useful in grasping that aspect of the Christian life. My Affliction for His Glory: Living out Your Identity in Christ by Daniel Ritchie. Ritchie, having been born without arms, and struggling with identity in ways I’ll never have to wrestle with – really works through it in a thoroughly Biblical and sweet way. I think you’ll find it not only encouraging, but insightful and Christ exalting. And, I think it would be a great encouragement to John. Here is a link to a very brief video on Daniel and his story: https://youtu.be/h7arJeCth0E

I love you both. And I pray that in my frankness and openness I’ve not said anything to make you doubt that. I have only your best interest at heart, as best as I can enter into it, even if done poorly.

The 3rd principle I’d like to share with you is this:

3 – All sin is ultimately a defect in love

This defect is either toward God, or my neighbor. And one always includes the other. For I cannot sin against God without it being bad for my neighbor, and I cannot sin against my neighbor without it also being a sin against God. (Gal. 5:14-26). But it all begins with a defect in my perception of God’s love!

The human being as the image bearer of God, is not a source of love, but only a responder.

God is love, but we are not.

Our love must and can only spring from His.

We cannot generate it on our own.

When we try, the perverse product is defective in every way.

We must and only can truly love as we know His love for us.

Had Adam and Eve suspected no defect in God’s love for them, they would have remained invincible against temptation and sin.

It was in their suspicion that His love was defective in keeping something good back from them, some necessary or accordant blessing of love, that they then failed to love Him and thus one another in return.

We cannot fix our love in a vacuum or independently, for we cannot produce love – we can only reflect it.

In that we perceive anything at all defective in His love, that defect will be magnified in us as reflectors, and distort if not entirely eclipse the whole of His love. Seeing only the defect, and fearing the loss – we will angrily lash out in sin to obtain what we believe we are being deprived of.

We must study to know the love of God for us in Christ above all things.

Only by deep, rich, full, Spirit revealed beams of God’s love penetrating our hearts and minds, illumining our souls, can we ever come to love Him back, and love those too who are made in His image.

Left to ourselves, love becomes a tormenting fire, but never a liberating light.

Holy Spirit, make me to know Divine love.

I can pray nothing higher for myself, my wife, my daughter, my son-in-law, my grandchildren, my church or my enemies than this.

Do not leave me to myself, for my love is but a sullied and defective reflection, currently distorted by my sin.

Please send your Spirit to strengthen me/us in the inner man to – so that Christ has His manifest dwelling there.

So that we are enabled to know your love in purity and fullness.

That we might be filled with the fullness of God – for it is only fond in knowing your love.

Fill me.

The faith that the just must live in – is the faith to believe God as He has revealed Himself in Christ Jesus, making an all sufficient sacrifice for sin, calling all to come and be reconciled, and overcoming in vast numbers the unwillingness that resides in us all.

Oh grand, divine, in fathomable mystery of God’s great love!

Who can know it?

Who can understand it?

Who dares to so revel and rely upon it as to live in its perpetual and limitless joy?

May I!

It is only in knowing His love, that we can come to be “filled with all the fullness of God.”

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Eph. 3:14-19

As I mentioned last time, in my years of walking with Christ (oh so falteringly), and study of the Word of God, I’ve jotted down over time – some fundamentals or principles that continue to guide my own thinking and living.

Once more, these are not in any particular order. Just as each dawned upon me in retrospect. I pray they will be useful in your own thinking. They have come to impact mine.

Principle #2 – 2. Forgiveness of sins is personal – even with God. Justification is judicial.

Ever since the Reformation, the recovery of the glorious truth of “justification by faith” has taken a most prominent place in Biblical Christian thinking and theology. As well it should. Nothing so combats the true Gospel as making our right standing before God depend somehow upon ourselves, and not the imputed righteousness of Christ.

At the same time, it is possible for us to think so theologically, and in terms of the forensic (legal) justification of the Believer, that the relationship aspect of our salvation can get short shrift.

Because I’ve addressed the concept of asking forgiveness of God regularly as Jesus taught us in Matt. 6 elsewhere, I’ll not go long in it here. But the fact is, some today reason that because we are forensically justified and forgiven, that for the Christian to ask forgiveness is contradictory or unnecessary. I think Jesus’ instructions in the Lord’s Prayer militates against that conclusion. Is there a contradiction here? I don’t think so.

Take marriage for example.

Upon entering into the marriage covenant – we might liken it somewhat to our forensic justification and reconciliation. We have been made one with our spouse even as we have been made one with God in Christ, partaking of His Spirit. So far so good.

Now just as in marriage, sins against one another do not automatically dissolve the covenant itself. Nevertheless, by virtue of those sins intimacy and sweet harmony can be quite injured. My wife and I are not divorced every time we sin against one another. Nor do we need to be re-wed after each reconciliation after those offences.

So it is the Believer’s sins do not dissolve the covenant by which we are brought into oneness with God in the New Covenant. That legal standing is a once-for-all status – which, higher than mere human covenants (like marriage), can never be dissolved.

But, we’re not just legally joined to Him in covenant. We are now in relationship with Him. A real, living and dynamic relationship. And in that relationship, our sins against Him are not just legal infractions, they are personal affronts. Affronts which need to be addressed. Affronts which left unaddressed – though He responds to us in complete faithfulness, nevertheless can injure our intimacy and sweetness with Him.

It is because of this dynamic that Christians are warned against “quenching” the Spirit (1 Thess. 5:19). A word which carries with it images of throwing dirt on a fire. Dampening both the light and heat a fire gives off. It shades from the fullness of the light of His love and from the warmth of the soul’s perception of His favor. It is why the Puritans used to use phrases like “keep short accounts with God.”

Unaddressed offences breeds coolness of spiritual passion. And the longer they go unaddressed, the more distant we become. The more we stand on legal status rather than dynamic reality in relationship.

This is why we need to understand that forgiveness, even with God, is a personal matter, and not just a legal or forensic one. And when we fail to live in the reality of that personal aspect, our entire relationship with Him can take on a transactional tone. I sin, God forgives. Great arrangement! But if that’s it, a relationship which treats Him only like a judge, and not as a true Father.

Yes, we need to be reconciled to Him through faith in the atoning work of Jesus on the Cross. And we also need to walk with Him in personal relationship as children with our Father. A relationship which calls for the recognition of the personal nature of sins, and the need to address those sins face-to-face so to speak – in the day to day life of faith with our God and Father.

Many moons ago, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh highly popularized his “35 Undeniable Truths.” Sadly, at the top of his list were perhaps his 2 biggest and most serious blunders of all: “#1: The greatest threat to humanity lies in the nuclear arsenal of the USSR. #2: The greatest threat to humanity lies in the USSR.”

He had no idea that the greatest threat to humanity is – SIN. More specifically, the sin of rebellion against the absolute right of God to rule our lives; and, our blindness to and rejection of the need to be born again through the saving grace of Jesus Christ – believing the Gospel. Not understanding that all of humanity stands under the just judgment of God for our sin(s), and that unless we are reconciled to Him through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on The Cross as our substitute, we will remain justly, eternally damned.

These represent two wildly different worldviews. And only one of them bears the full weight of eternal ramifications.

The above aside, in my years of walking with Christ (oh so falteringly), and study of the Word of God, I’ve jotted down over time – some fundamentals or principles that continue to guide my own thinking and living.

In the installments which will follow, I hope to unpack some of these with the hopes that you might find them useful as well.

That said, let me add two comments up front.

1 – These are not given in any specific order. I jotted them down over years as they emerged in disparate times and places.

2 – Not all of them are of equal importance. They are not all “fundamentals of The Faith.” Some are, some are not. Some are more guiding principles for thought and analysis. Others, speak to the very basics of being a true Christian. Hopefully, even if I don’t point it out, you’ll be able to mark the difference yourself.

We plunge in.

Principle #1 – 1. We are never under any obligation to assist others in the perpetrating of evil.

Say what? Hear me out.

Have you ever wrestled with a Biblical event like the account of Rahab the harlot (Joshua 2-6) and how after lying and committing basic treason, she can be lauded in Hebrews 11 and James 2 as an example of faith?

Or how about the Hebrew mid-wives, Shiphrah and Puah in Exodus 1 who lied to and disobeyed the King of Egypt blatantly – and are then are rewarded for their action by God?

By extension, how about those like the family of Corrie Ten Boom, who hid fleeing Jews from Nazi persecution?

We could well cite others.

Setting aside for the time being deeper and more complex issues regarding what any authority (governmental, familial, etc.) has a right to forbid or command – as Christians, we are never under any obligation to assist in the carrying out of evil.

The Mid-wives were right to subvert Egypt’s edict to commit wholesale infanticide against Jewish male babies. Rahab herself tells the Jewish spies she and the people were aware of their divine deliverance from Egypt 40 years earlier, and that God was planning to give them the land where she lived. And she is rightly recognized for subverting Jericho’s attempt to oppose God’s revealed will.

We could consider here the command to Israel by God in Deut. 20:15 to not give up a runaway slave back to his master if they’ve run to you for help. The clear implication being that even slaves under that system were not to be abused, and that if one ran away, it could only be because conditions were unbearable. A far cry from what we know as the kind of slavery known in the early years of the U.S and in other places globally. No one has such absolute rights over any other that their sin becomes protected behavior.

No, this is not carte blanche to resist everything we don’t agree with. As we see in the lives of Joseph serving in Egypt and Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael in the upper echelons of those pagan and wicked governments – we’ve no right to outright rebellion against God’s appointed order. We could add how Mordecai served in Babylon. We cannot use the principle to rebel against paying taxes for instance, because the government uses some of those monies for wicked and nefarious purposes. Passages like Matt. 17, 22 and Romans 13 make that clear. But again, these issues are more complex.

Closer to the context of many today, consider that no spouse is under any obligation to assist an abusing husband or wife by protecting them from criminal prosecution in silence. Nor is any child being abused by any adult, parent or sibling required to assist an abuser in their continued sin by remaining silent. Nor is any congregant called to shield a pastor or other ecclesiastical authority from exposure and prosecution if abuse is present.

Examples could be multiplied almost infinitely.

Yes, situations need to be weighed carefully and individually. But the basic principle remains, and it is reiterated for us in the New Testament: “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.” (1 Tim. 5:22) When we do not expose oppose evil, we assist it. Eph. 5:11 “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”

There is much more to sort out in this regard. But let us begin with a foundational sense that as Believers, we are never under any obligation to assist others in the perpetration of evil. Never.

This one is long. It needs to be.

The Bible has a lot to say about how we think, as well as what we think. Passages like – Eph. 4:23 “that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,” and Rom. 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” are typical examples.

We can be preoccupied with mere information, and not enough with HOW TO THINK – How to think according to God’s understanding of the universe.

That kind of thinking, the Bible calls – WISDOM!

Enter Proverbs. W.G.T. Shedd wrote: “The Book of Proverbs is the best of all manuals for the formation of a well-balanced mind. The object of Solomon in composing it seems to have been to furnish to the church a summary of rules and maxims by which the Christian character, having been originated by regeneration, should then be educated and made symmetrical.”

It’s one reason why I’ve become a self-confessed Proverbs addict.

If you never had a godly Dad, or even if you did, Proverbs is like God as your Father, mentoring you personally in how to think and reason the way God does.

There’s a problem however. Something Theologians refer to as “the noetic effects of The Fall.”

The word “noetic” comes from a Greek word which means “mind.”

The Fall shows its effects even in our minds.

Al Mohler for instance lists 14 of these effects – here’s 4.

1. Ignorance: The fall has clouded our ability to see these things as they really are, as God sees them.

2. Distractedness: every single human being has theological “attention deficit disorder.”

3. Forgetfulness: Especially of spiritual truth. We do not keep even central Biblical truths static at all times in our thinking.

14. Partial knowledge: we know only in part, and sometimes we do not even know how partial our knowledge is.

And it is why we need to immerse ourselves constantly in the Scriptures. Some things we just do not retain well.

Proverbs 3 is Solomon’s 3rd and longest talk with his son.

We really should treat the chapter as a whole, but for today, I want to focus on just verses 5 & 6.

Before that though, by way of of context, we should note that this chapter, as well as several others, are specifically aimed at Solomon preparing his son to take the throne of Israel one day.

He wants his son to be a successful, good and wise leader. He also knows for certain – his son is going to face all kinds of trials, tribulations and confusing and complex circumstances which he’ll not be equipped for.

Which is what makes this portion so applicable to us – Welcome to your life and mine.

Life throws us curves.

Stability in life is hard sometimes. Even for Christians.

We get hurt.

We suffer loss.

Disappointment comes.

Loved ones die.

Some close to us remain far from Christ.

A particular sin constantly strives to gain control.

The world around us is chaotic.

And even those we love and respect in the Church, fail.

Wisdom escapes us.

Sadness surrounds us.

Joy eludes us.

Seasons of dryness and distance from God frighten and unnerve us.

What are we to do?

Some say – just hold tight.

Grin and bear it.

“Praise the Lord in all things.”

All things we’ve said to others at times. I know I have.

Things which while true, rarely equal real counsel.

Not when you’re the one suffering.

So how DO we remain stable and balanced in such times? What are the anchors for the soul in such storms?

Where do we go for safety and rest?

Fortunately God’s Word is replete with counsel, like what’s in this text before us today.

It’s profound, counsel.

A place of ultimate safety for the heart and mind.

Weary Christian, God is speaking to you here.

He wants you to know there is help.

Not milk-sappy sentiments.

Real, solid, life sustaining, God-prepared, provision.

Help. When there is none to be found in all the advice and inventions of man.

These 2 verses break down into 4 thoughts:

A WORD OF EXHORTATION – Trust in the Lord with all your heart

A WORD OF WARNING – And do not lean on your own understanding

A WORD OF COUNSEL – In all your ways acknowledge Him

A WORD OF PROMISE – And He will make straight your paths

A. A WORD OF EXHORTATION / Trust in the Lord with all your heart – Trusting in the trustworthy One.

And let me warn you at the outset that I am going to develop this point far more than others. So when I’m done with it, don’t panic, the other 3 points will NOT be as long.

2 Things.

1.NOTICE 1st, We are being asked to trust some ONE, not to simply have blind faith or trust in trust.

This is the very starting point of saving faith, and we must remain in it all the days of our lives.

This is NOT mere naked or religious optimism.

It is not the vague hope that everything will just turn out OK.

It is not Bobby McFerrin’s just “don’t worry, be happy.”

It is a personal trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ at Calvary.

Trust in WHO He is.

Trust in His atoning sacrifice.

Trust in His Word and Promises.

Trust in God’s own character.

As John wrote in 1 John 1:5 “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

CAREFUL! You can believe every word of the Bible is true…And still perish in a Christ-less eternity.

For it is not merely that we give mental assent to the truthfulness of these things – this, the Devil and all the demons in Hell can and do – James 2:19 “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!”

It is even more than believing that Christ died for our sins…

It is actually and personally turning away from every other hope in religion, goodness, works, doctrine or anything else – and resting your entire hope on His sacrifice in your stead.

When I ment Jerry Bridges years ago, I asked him what he had been the biggest change he’d seen in evangelism on college campuses?: “We needed to stop asking people if they are Christians or even Believers, we now ask: Is Jesus Christ your sin-bearer?”

It’s still the question before every one of us this morning: Is Jesus your sin-bearer?

For if you cannot answer that in all honesty and reality – you are not yet a Christian no matter what you may profess.

And the rest of this passage is of no use to you.

Personal Trust in the Person and Cross-work of Jesus Christ.

Nothing else is saving faith.

We must trust in the LORD with all our hearts.

Again, we are being asked to trust some ONE, not simply to have blind faith or trust in trust.

2. 2nd Implicit in this exhortation is: THAT WE NEED TO KNOW THE ONE WE ARE BEING ASKED TO TRUST.

You cannot truly trust anyone you do not know.

And our trust must be in the Christ of the Bible, and not an imaginary one or a fake one.

If you were to need an operation, you’d want a real surgeon to do it, and not someone who plays a surgeon on TV.

It’s vital that we put our trust in the REAL Christ, the Jesus of the Bible, and not the Jesus fabricated by false religions, cults OR, our own imaginations.

The Jesus of Mormonism for instance is the spirit brother of Satan – and was a man who became a god even as God the Father was once a man and became a god.

That is an abominable and soul damning invention.

The Jesus of Jehovah’s Witnesses is an angel – the Archangel Michael and not God. A kind of secondary divine being.

The Jesus of Christian Science is just a man who demonstrated what they call the “Christ ideal.”

In Scientology Jesus is just a human teacher who realized his potential.

In Islam he was merely one of the prophets, superseded by Mohammed, and in Baha’ism He’s just one more manifestation of God but not God.

The old Puritan John Owen wrote: “the ancient Christians told [others] the truth,—namely, that “as they had feigned unto themselves an imaginary Christ, so they should have an imaginary salvation only.” (Owen, John. The works of John Owen. (Ed.) William H. Goold. . Vol. 1. Edinburgh: T&T Clark.)

The one we are to trust in with all our hearts – must be the Lord Jesus Christ of the Bible if we are to have a true salvation, and, true help in our time of need.

Running to the wrong Jesus is as helpful as getting the time from a wrist watch tattoo.

It may have the appearance of the real – but in the end, it is an utter fake.

The Jesus we need is the Jesus of the Bible – so magnificently above all the fakes as the heavens are above the earth.

And He is magnificent!

In J.C. Ryle’s incomparable book: “Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots” – Ryle makes the observation that: “It would be well if professing Christians in modern days studied the four Gospels more than they do. No doubt all Scripture is profitable. It is not wise to exalt one part of the Bible at the expense of another. But I think it would be good for some who are very familiar with the Epistles, if they knew a little more about Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John…

I say it because I want professing Christians to know more about Christ. It is well to be acquainted with all the doctrines and principles of Christianity. It is better to be acquainted with Christ Himself. It is well to be familiar with faith, and grace, and justification, and sanctification. They are all matters “pertaining to the King.” But it is far better to be familiar with Jesus Himself, to see the King’s own face, and to behold His beauty. This is one secret of eminent holiness. He that would be conformed to Christ’s image, and become a Christ-like man, must be constantly studying Christ Himself.

Now the Gospels were written to make us acquainted with Christ. The Holy Ghost has told us the story of His life and death,—His sayings and His doings, four times over. Four different inspired hands have drawn the picture of the Saviour. His ways, His manners, His feelings, His wisdom, His grace, His patience, His love, His power, are graciously unfolded to us by four different witnesses. Ought not the sheep to be familiar with the Shepherd? Ought not the patient to be familiar with the Physician? Ought not the bride to be familiar with the Bridegroom? Ought not the sinner to be familiar with the Saviour? Beyond doubt it ought to be so. The Gospels were written to make men familiar with Christ, and therefore I wish men to study the Gospels.” Ryle, J. C. Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots. William Hunt and Company, 1889, pp. 278–79.

Spurgeon preached: “Depend upon it, there are countless holy influences which flow from the habitual maintenance of great thoughts of God, as there are incalculable mischiefs which flow from our small thoughts of him. The root of all false theology is belittling God; and the essence of true divinity is greatening God, magnifying him, and enlarging our conceptions of his majesty and his glory to the utmost degree.”

Listen to how old John Flavel writes of the Biblical Christ: We ought dwell often on the glories of His divine nature.

“It is a special consideration to enhance the love of God in giving Christ, that in giving him he gave the richest jewel in his cabinet; a mercy of the greatest worthy, and most inestimable value, Heaven itself is not so valuable and precious as Christ is: He is the better half of heaven; and so the saints account him, Ps. 73:25. “Whom have I in heaven but thee?” Ten thousand thousand worlds, saith one,* as many worlds as angels can number, and then as a new world of angels can multiply, would not all be the bulk of a balance, to weigh Christ’s excellency, love, and sweetness. O what a fair One! what an only One!

what an excellent, lovely, ravishing One, is Christ! Put the beauty of ten thousand paradises, like the garden of Eden, into one; put all trees, all flowers, all smells, all colours, all tastes, all joys, all sweetness, all loveliness in one; O what a fair and excellent thing would that be? And yet it should be less to that fair and dearest well-beloved Christ, than one drop of rain to the whole seas, rivers, lakes, and fountains of ten thousand earths. Christ is heaven’s wonder, and earth’s wonder.

Now, for God to bestow the mercy of mercies, the most precious thing in heaven or earth, upon poor sinners; and, as great, as lovely, as excellent as his Son was, yet not to account him too good to bestow upon us, what manner of love is this! (Flavel, John. 1820. The Whole Works of the Reverend John Flavel. . Vol. 1. London; Edinburgh; Dublin: W. Baynes and Son; Waugh and Innes; M. Keene.)

In trouble, trial and tribulation, we need the glorious,stupendous, magnificent Christ of the Bible.

Do you remember that great confession of Nebuchadnezzar after God restored him from his humiliation?

Daniel 4:34–35 “At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?””

This is The Lord we are being exhorted to trust in – and He is worthy of such trust.

You will not read Christ exalting words like these in any religion or cult, and you would certainly never invent them yourself.

THIS, is the Jesus of the Bible.

Trust HIM with your salvation.

Trust HIM in all His promises and that the rewards of Christ are greater than any pleasure of sin.

Trust HIM in His holiness, faithfulness, power, goodness, grace, mercy and love.

Trust the LORD, with all your heart. Trust Him as God eternal – one with the Father.

If you are not a Christian today – this is the one you must trust in order to be saved from the wrath of God for your sin: Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.””

And Believer – there is no one else you can absolutely trust with every care, burden, need, concern and trial: Psalm 112:6–8 “For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.”

Beloved, this is so vastly important, let me to labor it a bit more. Again, I will make make remaining points very short – but I need to be sure we do not let this need to know Christ in His fullness pass by without pressing it.

Everything hangs on it.

I am reminded of that vision John received on Patmos in Revelation 1:10–19

He saw Jesus in a long robe down to His feet and with with a golden sash or belt around His chest.

1. Long robes with sashes like that were indicative of 3 things in John’s day:

– Royalty: Royalty wore long robes with sashes that showed their high standing. 2 more times in this book Jesus will be referred to as: “Kings and Lord of Lords.”

– Authority: In the Roman army, the longer the robe, the higher the rank. His is full length.

– Priesthood: The robe and sash combination is particularly reminiscent of the High Priest’s clothing in ancient Israel.

Here, Jesus is being pictured as our great High Priest. His Kingship, His authority over The cosmos and High Priesthood to His Church are powerfully imaged – Christ, the royal, supremely authoritative High Priest over all.

2nd. “The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow.”

Indicating Christ’s ETERNALITY: That as the Ancient of Days in Da. 7 – This Jesus ALWAYS WAS. The Son of God is eternal, and existed before His incarnation.

He is not less than God. He is not some newcomer. He too, is the ancient of days. “Before Abraham was I AM” He’ll declare in John 8.

3rd. He saw that Jesus’ eyes were like a flame of fire.

Signifying His OMNISCIENCE: How He needs no outside source to see and perceive and know – He knows all from His own light. It is flaming, piercing and powerful. All searching.

As in Hebrews 4:13: “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

4th He saw Jesus’ feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace

A bracing symbol of HOLINESS & MORAL PURITY. Historical sources tell us this burnished bronze – was of such exceptional quality, it was considered more valuable than gold.

5. Revelation 1:15b “his voice was like the roar of many waters.”

IMPOSING, INESCAPABLE WONDER: Massive – and all pervading. Inescapable. Think – the cave behind Niagara Falls.

6. Revelation 1:16a He saw that in his right hand he held seven stars

PERSONAL GUARDIANSHIP OF HIS CHURCH AND EVERYONE IN IT:

7th. That from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword

CHRIST AS JUDGE OF ALL: Judgment is rendered at His word. And it cuts both ways. Unsparing and sure.

This is seen again in Revelation 19:15 where we read “From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.”

One can’t help but think of Jesus’ words in John 12:48 “The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.”

8th. Jesus’ face was like the sun shining in full strength.

CHRIST AS THE OUTSHINING OF GOD’S GLORY: So glorious – so overwhelming, He cannot be directly looked upon.

It should bring Believers back to Isaiah 6:1–3 Isaiah “saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!””

Now it is in the context of this overpowering vision of the resurrected Christ that Jesus then tells John: So write this all down.

“Therefore” – i.e. Based upon what you have just seen of me – WRITE!

Don’t keep this to yourself. Let others know what it is like to encounter Me in all of My unveiled glory.

It is staggering.

Because I am both the King and the High Priest of my people…

Because I am the Ancient of Days…

Because I am the One who sees all by my own light so nothing can be hidden…

Because I am the thrice holy one in all moral purity…

Because it is MY voice which informs, fills and upholds all of creation…

Because the whole of the Church is supernaturally superintended in MY hand…

Because I am the One who will personally utter judgment on everyone in creation in due time…

Because I am so glorious I cannot be fully beheld or comprehended – WRITE WHAT I SAY. And omit NOTHING!

John – Send them a vision of me that is so shattering, that it shakes them out of lethargy, compromise and the fear of life’s circumstances, such that the awe-filled fear generated by the vision can only be alleviated by Me personally extending my grace to them – purchased at the cost of my own blood.

And tell them what awaits them in encountering Me! What only the Believer can safely witness and rejoice in.

This is the Lord we are to trust with all our hearts!

This is the Lord we so desperately need in times of trouble.

Let me mention some practical things here.

When we go through seasons of trial, we need to be reminded of the goodness and greatness of God as two giant pillars of support.

Rehearse the history of His provisions in your own life in past days, and that in the lives of other saints.

Read biographies of the Saints, both in Scripture and outside of it.

Listen to how David does it Psalm 42:5–6 “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.”

Why does he remember Jordan? It was the place where God brought His people over into the Promised Land at last.

And why does he think back to the heights of Hermon? Because it is where God defeated Sihon King of the Amorites and Og King of Bashan at the beginning of Israel’s conquest.

But what about Mizar? Interestingly, there is no other mention of Mizar in all of Scripture.

Evidently, this was some place where God met David in a needed time. It was a private time of God meeting him. And he recalls it to support himself in the present trial.

Oh what short memories we have of God’s past blessings to us and our brothers and sisters throughout the ages.

But secondly, recount His promises so you can know for certain what kinds of things you can trust Him for.

Psalm 121:3 “He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.”

Hebrews 13:5b “for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.””

Matthew 28:20b “behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

Psalm 18:30 “This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.”

Psalm 34:22 “The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.”

Psalm 25:3 “Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.”

Psalm 115:11 “You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield.”

We can trust both in WHO He is, and WHAT He has promised.

And beyond that, we leave everything in His hands.

There is no assurance of tomorrow, or a better diagnosis, or the salvation of a loved one beyond what His Word says.

But as Paul by the Spirit writes in 2 Timothy 1:12 “which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.”

B. A WORD OF WARNING / And lean not on your own understanding – Truth vs. Perception

As I mentioned earlier about the noetic effects of the Fall.

1 – Our understanding is always limited, His is not – Isa. 46:10 – He declares the end from the beginning.

2 – Our understanding is often defective, His is perfect – 1 Cor. 13:12– “now we see through a glass darkly”

EXAMPLE: Attraction at Darien Lake

3 – Our understanding is ours, not His – i.e. Centered in ourselves, not Him – Isaiah 55:8–9

Isaiah 55:8–9 (ESV)

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We are not even to lean on our own understanding when it comes to things hard to be understood in His Word.

Trinity

The hypostatic union of Christ – how He was both very God and very man.

Salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

The resurrection.

The New Heavens and New Earth.

Do not over scrutinize your circumstances as tho you are living in a tit-for-tat universe where everything can be tied together in an immediate cause-effect relationship.

Do not lean on your own understanding – but believe His Word – even where it is hard.

And we need to make something vital clear here – contrary to so many, faith, is NOT exercised apart from logic and reason.

I know that is a popular trope but it is untrue.

I’ve said many times over the years that the single most neglected spiritual gift is the gift of grey matter.

God is a rational God. He is not arbitrary nor random. He is the very foundation of reason – and so we are born to it.

The warning here is not to rely on our own understanding, apart from the divine revelation of His Word.

I know perfectly well that some will not be able to understand our reasoning, because having not been born again, they simply do not know truth the way the Believer does.

In Christ, and informed by His Word – we understand the whole of life in a way those with the key missing piece to reality – the purposes and plans of God in the person and work of Christ – simply cannot have.

Actions can seem illogical to others who are missing certain information.

Comedian Brian Regan has a routine about things that make you look stupid to others. His prime example is walking into a spider’s web.

People who can’t see it but watching you from a distance see you flailing around like a mad-man and wondering if you are insane. You see and feel it, but they have no idea.

So Scripture says: 1 Corinthians 2:14–15 “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.”

I am reminded of the great anonymous poem:

When God wants to drill a man, And thrill a man, And skill a man, When God wants to mould a man To play the noblest part; When He yearns with all His heart To create so great and bold a man That all the world shall be amazed, Watch His methods, watch His ways!

How He ruthlessly perfects Whom He royally elects! How He hammers him and hurts him, And with mighty blows converts him Into trial shapes of clay which Only God understands; While his tortured heart is crying And he lifts beseeching hands!

How He bends but never breaks When his good He undertakes; How He uses whom He chooses, And with every purpose fuses him; By every act induces him To try His splendour out— God knows what He’s about.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart

And lean not on your own understanding

C. A Word of Counsel / In all your ways acknowledge Him – Totally living before Him

1 – Seeing everything IN Him – Luke 12:6–7 “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

He is aware of the smallest aspect of everything which concerns you. And He is with you in it: Hebrews 13:5c “For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.””

2 – Confessing everything TO Him – Fear, Doubt, Failure, Sin, Wrong Attitudes, Grief, Shame, Concern, Weakness, Wrong desire, EVERYTHING!

Psalm 62:8 “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah”

3 – Laying every plan BEFORE Him – Psalm 37:5 “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.”

4 – Casting our whole confidence UPON Him – 1 Peter 5:7 “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

D. A Word of Promise/ And He Will make straight your paths –

1 – HE – Not “IT”, Not “things” / God Himself promises to direct your steps, even when you can’t see six inches in front of you.

This is something He does personally.

He does not even leave it to His highest trusted angels.

The text says HE will make your paths straight.

2 – He WILL – Not “He can”; Not “He might” / God Himself promises to do this.

3 – He will MAKE – Not just watch; Not hope you’ll walk the right way / He actually performs.

4 – He will make straight YOUR paths – This is not a generic. “one size fits all.”

He knows you. Your strengths. Your weaknesses. Your particular needs.

He knows your unique circumstances and needs.

5 – He will make your PATHS – Not just this one thing; Not just this one time / He promises and performs in bringing your whole course of life under His watchful, wise and loving care.

And He promises and performs this so that having walked, you can look back later and know that the way He took you was right.

So Isaac Watts penned:

Firm as the earth thy gospel stands,

My Lord, my hope, my trust;

If I am found in Jesus’ hands,

My soul can ne’er be lost.

His honor is engaged to save

The meanest of his sheep;

All that his heav’nly Father gave

His hands securely keep.

Nor death nor hell shall e’er remove

His favorites from his breast;

In the dear bosom of his love

They must for ever rest.

_{Watts, Isaac. 1998. The Psalms and Hymns of Isaac Watts. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.}

Proverbs 3:5–6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make straight your paths.”

19-20 / Get rich schemes are anything but. They are contrary to God’s normative means of giving us prosperity WITH character. To want to be rich by means of a shortcut, is to reveal our greed. To want to waste our time in things which hold no true value – is to prevent our own selves from the very things we need and desire. These two always go hand in hand.

But this is not restricted to material things. It is just as true in spiritual matters. The one who will not apply him or herself to know the Word and seek God’s face will have a lean soul – period. We cannot ignore spiritual disciplines, and then hope to walk in the benefits of such as though they are somehow just dropped upon us from the sky. If we work hard at it, we’ll enjoy the fruit. If not, we will be impoverished.

Now the caution here against worthless pursuits can apply equally to those simply in pursuit of earthly riches, security, fame etc., and those who even as Christians pursue doctrine and spiritual experiences like hobbies.

I once knew a man, a good and earnest man, who loved the Lord and longed to teach His Word, but who also gave himself to countless hours trying to connect the Great Pyramid of Egypt to Biblical truth. Endlessly looking for hidden signs and symbols. Fascinated with arcane and supposed prophetic tie-ins. And in the meantime, paying less attention to understanding The Word better, and seeking to grow in the image of Christ. It all had the veneer of “spiritual” pursuit, but it ended in nothing of true value for the soul. In the end it was fruitless curiosity.

How many Believers today are immersed in seeking out secret conspiracies, shadow governments and hidden, nearly all-powerful cabals? Looking for secret prophetic knowledge. Investing all sorts of time, energy and angst prying out information they can ultimately do nothing about, and have no eternal, spiritual reward whatever.

How we need to re-calibrate our hearts and minds to be fixed on the truth of God’s Word, and anchored in His plans and purposes. Investing ourselves in the pursuit and building of His Kingdom. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” Once we’ve mastered that, then maybe we can move on to curiosities of all sorts. But until then, let us be about knowing and pursuing the Father’s business.

Work with what God HAS given to you, rather than pining after and chasing what He hasn’t. There is fruitfulness in His appointments.

And there is unfathomable fruit and blessing in pursuits that have eternal benefits.

Seek Christ! Col. 2:1-3 “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

        The plans of ethe diligent lead surely to abundance, 
  but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. Proverbs 21:5 

Let me share a painful truth with you: There is no shortcut to spiritual maturity.

None.

I know I want it to be otherwise. But this is the plain truth.

As is so often the case in Proverbs, some axioms are repeated over and over, and in different ways. So with this one. And in this case, there is an added dimension.

In the natural, I was what was termed in my day “a late bloomer.” And this brought problems with it.

Although I was somewhat bright (simply “precocious” might be a better word – I’m sure I thought I was brighter than I was) I was also emotionally very immature, even for my age.

Because I was a bit snappy, I started school what was probably a year too early. My parents should have kept me back a year. Though I think I was enrolled early to save my Mother’s sanity at home. One more year of me in the house would have driven her up the wall!

But I was bored. I didn’t see the relevance of anything I was being taught. And my report cards regularly bore the comment: “Reid is not working up to his potential.”

Yeah. My grey matter was sufficient. But my emotional maturity was too far behind to make a good mix.

School wasn’t fun.

I always wanted to be – or at least treated – older than I actually was. Which led me to inserting myself into conversations and situations above my paygrade. It made me a Grade A pain in the neck to my friends and family. Not to mention my teachers.

Maybe you too can remember back to when you wanted to be older than you were? Wanting to be big enough to ride certain rides at the amusement park. Anxious to get that driver’s license. Being old enough to stay home alone without a baby-sitter. Wanting to make your own decisions, etc.

Well that same phenomena replicates itself in the life of the Believer too.

We come into the spiritual life when we are born again, and we look around at those who were saints before us, and we want their experiences, their insights, their impact on others, and their seeming grasp of God, the Word and spiritual matters.

The problem is, there is only one way to get “older.” Time.

But, as I said above, there are no spiritual shortcuts to growth. Only time and the natural process will avail – and only these are desirable. So it is with our souls.

In fact, spiritual growth spurts are not even something to be desired – to grow in sudden, huge leaps.

Time with God, time letting the soul in Christ mature and let every aspect fully develop in balance and harmony. Time to learn God’s Word so as to handle it responsibly. Time to analyze your own heart in the light of the Scripture by the illumination of The Spirit. Time to reflect on past decisions. To consider what makes for spiritual maturity. Time to learn how to begin to master oneself in the power of the Spirit. Time to walk with God consistently so as to know His ways and providence. To cultivate spiritual habits and disciplines that lend themselves to solid growth.

Time.

If you are running from ministry to ministry and seminar to seminar hoping to have some instant miraculous experience which catapults you into spiritual maturity – stop! There is no such thing. You must walk the entire path with Him, you cannot simply be conformed to His image in a moment.

By the age of 12, Jesus Himself, the very Son of God, was more than able to hold His own with the teachers and the rabbi’s in the Temple. But He still remain under His parent’s authority, and didn’t enter into any kind of “ministry” until around 30.

So as Luke 2:52 reminds us: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”

Yet how many new-Born Believers want instant ministry? And how many of us who have walked with the Lord, as still discouraged at our slow rate of growth?

One does not gain spiritual maturity by bestowal – it is by growth. One learns the Word by study, not osmosis. Faith grows in testing, not ease. Age, even in Christ comes by way of time, not sudden leaps forward. Diligence is what leads to abundance. Faithfulness is what perseveres long enough to reap the harvest. Yearning for Heaven makes a man order his steps to get there. Those who imagine they have it all now, or can get it all in a flash are fooling themselves. Such hastiness will only come to poverty.

Yes, it is true the writer to the Hebrews can chide some of his readers for not contributing to their own growth, and needing to get on the stick. At the same time, we are reminded of how patient Jesus was with His own disciples and their slow growth.

How much more with you and me?

Walk WITH Christ, do not try to cross the finish line while you are still in the starting gate.

In due time, you too will fully bear that image. You will “grow up into Him.” (Eph. 4:15)