OPENING OF HEART – Chapter 1 -part 4
NEW HEART AND MIND continued
Mailing #59 Part 4 NEW HEART AND MIND (Word to the Church)
TRUE PROSPERITY IS AN INDIVIDUAL AFFAIR BETWEEN GOD AND EACH BELIEVER CONDITIONED BY THE BELIEVER’S HEART, HIS SPIRITUAL STATE AND HIS TRUE NEEDS AS JUDGED BY GOD… NOT BY THE BELIEVER.
The Lord often allows us to get into situations where we are tested, sometimes severely tested, and where we either remain standing or we fall. Our fall, our defeat is not a tragedy if we learn from it and allow the Lord to build our faith, spiritual strength and wisdom in that area. Then we stand up and continue. The tragedy is when we refuse to stand up and allow the Lord to strengthen us, teach us, build our patience, perseverance, wisdom, faith. It is also tragic when we harden our heart and do not care any more for what the Lord is doing with us, in us or through us, when we do not realize that we have to stand up not just for our sake, but also for the sake of all those to whom we are called to minister and become a blessing. We do not live just for ourselves, for our personal blessings! (Rom. 14:7)
Let me bring to your attention one more Word of God, which also shows that our mind is renewed as the last part of our soul following our heart and will. We are beseeched by Apostle Paul: “…be ye transformed by the renewing of your MIND that ye may (be able to) prove (by your life) what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” (Rom. 12:2) Only with our whole soul renewed we can prove the perfect Will of God in our life and never before.
At this point, I would wholeheartedly refer every reader to the excellent book of Watchman Nee “The Release of the Spirit[2]”, which is devoted to this most important topic in our Christian lives – the breaking of our “outer man”. Brother Watchman calls our spirit the “inner man”, our soul the “outer man” and our body the “outermost man”. Unless our outer man, our soul, which is corrupt, evil and sinful is broken, our New Man, (spiritual inner Man) cannot take over “the helm” and we cannot start living and acting through him. Let me quote just a few important lines from his excellent book, which, no doubt, came to brother Watchman by the revelation from God. He writes on page 14:
“The Lord employs two different ways to break our outer man: one is gradual, the other is sudden…The timing is in His hand. We cannot shorten the time, though we certainly can prolong it. In some lives the Lord is able to accomplish this work after a few years of dealing; in others it is evident that after ten or twenty years the work is still unfinished. This is most serious! Nothing is more grievous than wasting God’s time. How often the church is hindered! We can preach using our mind, we stir others by using our emotions; yet if we do not know how to use our spirit, the Spirit of God cannot touch people through us. The loss is great…”
He continues on pages 57-59:
“For the outer man to be broken, our full consecration is imperative…It takes consecration plus the discipline of the Holy Spirit to make us vessels fit for the Master’s use… Notice how far the discipline of the Holy Spirit transcends our consecration. How often we are caught unprepared and we conclude that such a drastic thing is not our need. Many times His discipline descends upon us suddenly without our having prior notice!…
External things can strike the outer man most painfully. So it is that God uses external things in dealing with our outer man … Do you not realize that all the events of your life for the past five or ten years were ordered by God for your education? If you murmured and complained, you grievously failed to recognize His hand. If you thought you were just unfortunate, you were in ignorance of the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Remember that whatever happens to us is measured by the Hand of God for our supreme good..”
Finally, on page 60, he may give multitudes of believers a shock of their life in saying the following:
“We receive grace through meetings, through messages, through prayers, and so forth. But surely the greatest means of grace, which we cannot afford to neglect is the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Nothing can be compared with this means of grace – not prayer, Bible reading, meetings, messages, meditation, or praise. Among all the God-given means of grace, it would seem this is the most important!… None of the other means of grace can replace it.”
The important fact to declare at this point is that God almost always does this work of breaking our outer man, our soul, through others, chiefly those that we may despise or be angry with or hate or look down upon or judge unrighteously or even love! So, our emotions as well as our thinking and reasoning powers are “attacked” and we show the “true colours” of our outer man, which also means, his true needs.
Before we conclude the subject of this verse, it is not to be forgotten that any renewal of our heart, will and mind is not liked by the powers of evil and darkness. They will never leave our character voluntarily or watch our salvation process passively! It is normal to experience either their resistance or an outright assault on every part of our soul. Our enemy may attack our heart and its emotions, our mind and its thoughts and also our will and its ability to make right decisions. There may be days when we feel depressed or disgusted, distracted or quite impotent to move or make any decisions. Have you noticed such occurrences in your life? And even if you have, you may not have discovered or understood their true spiritual roots and reasons.
It is desirable to mention that our enemy attacks also our bodies. He often hides behind our legitimate weaknesses or illnesses and magnifies them so that his actions are difficult to detect. He may also induce into our body such hellish sicknesses as, for example, cancer. Physical cancer indicates a pre-existence of a “spiritual cancer”, which then affects our soul and then body. Cancer is always associated with an “uncontrolled growth” in spirit or in body! At this place we will not enlarge upon this subject more than just stating the above as it would derail us from the main topic. We will, however, return to it later on since there are important spiritual experiences and facts connected with the healing of our bodies.
3. Ephesians 4:24
This verse summarizes what the Spirit worked out in the previous two verses. It also tells us that the work of the Holy Spirit is now to be PRACTICED in our daily life that it may become our habit, our “new life”. That is how our New Man is “PUT ON”.
In fact, the Lord leads us to experience His work in our heart, will and mind and subjects us to testing so that we could see ourselves that we are not the same persons in those new areas. We are different wherever He has performed and has finished His work, first in our heart and will and then also in our mind. Start discerning your own selves and you will see the truth of this Word.
THE HEART, WHICH HAS BEEN SUFFICIENTLY CLEANSED, RENEWED, RECREATED WILL NOT BE PRICKED, OFFENDED, SHAKEN OR UPSET BY ANYTHING, ANY NEWS AND ANYBODY. YOU CAN THUS VERIFY THE STATE OF YOUR OWN HEART.
We will be even surprised that the things we could not do before are now easy to do. We will be able to do them spontaneously without forcing ourselves, without painful faces, without “steaming our head or biting our nails”. We will experience this new abundant Life (Jn. 10:10) and also find out that its glory, joy and perfection is worth far more than the “suffering we had to suffer for a while”.(1Pet. 5:10) God is thus making us perfect according to His Will.
Some believers-Overcomers confided in me that others tell them frequently: “You can’t be perfect here, God will make you perfect in Heaven. So, just be satisfied with things as they are, they could be much worse, you know. And do not elevate yourself over your brethren, it is better to be humble.” And so on… and so on. Well then, what shall we say about such words?
Little do such brethren know that by their foolish words they make their Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ a liar! Yes, a liar! Also, they bring condemnation to their souls unless they repent to Him and speak that way no more. (Mt. 12:37) It seems to be an unwritten law or pattern that whoever is overcoming himself and pressing to do the whole Truth and Will of God reaching for his perfection is always considered proud, self-elevating, an elitist or non-conformist by his carnal brethren. These carnal believers have no intention to follow the Word of God, yet they accuse, point fingers and speak foolish and arrogant words at those that love the Lord and are following His Word.
Consider the Word where the Lord Himself commanded us directly and clearly saying:
“BE YE THEREFORE PERFECT…” (Mt. 5:48).
The word “THEREFORE” means “HERE AND NOW” and not in Heaven. Why? IF YOUR HEART IS SET TO DO HIS WORD IN THE PREVIOUS NINE VERSES (Mt. 5:39-47) THEN THE LORD CONSIDERS YOU (your heart) PERFECT! Why?
First, your heart cannot do any better than that. And second, in Heaven, nobody will smite your cheek, nobody will sue you in court or take away your coat. You will have no enemies to try to love over there, nobody will curse you or persecute you in Heaven. So how do you want to be made perfect in Heaven? Can you tell me? And if you do not do these verses (Mt. 5:39-47), you are not even considered to be the children of Our Father, which is in Heaven! (Mt. 5:45// Rom. 9:7,8) You can’t even enter Heaven unless you are perfect! Should I say to you: HELLO?
Heaven is not the place for perfecting ourselves, the place is here and the time is now while we live here. Are not the words of such “brethren” quoted above truly foolish? Those words are also evil because they come from hell.
Also, Apostle Paul being led by the Spirit of God says: “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. LET US, therefore, AS MANY AS BE PERFECT, be thus minded…” (Phil. 3:14,15// also 2Chr. 16:9).
Wow! Where did Paul get “perfect believers”? He was still on the earth himself and “pressing” to lay hold on the high calling of God in Christ Jesus! True? Well? Is it not clear even from this Word of God that the HEART, which is PRESSING, FOCUSING, SET TO DO HIS WORD is considered PERFECT in His sight? No heart can do any more or any better than that. Even Israel was required to be perfect with the Lord their God! (Deut. 18:13) Were they really? Their long and miserable history is the fruit of their disobedience.
REALITY AND EXPERIENCES
I do ask the Lord to grant us a brief but clear, precise and necessary truth, which would have His power to penetrate and pierce the hearts and do the work therein, which He would be pleased with. The last thing I desire is that the above facts would be just another theory or doctrine or information for curious Christian minds.
I want to bring several important and very practical examples showing the spiritual facts and reality described in the above sections. They show the state of the Church including some individual believers and leaders as the Lord sees and judges them and their state. He desires to grant that same view and understanding to the hearts where He dwells and works out His pleasure.
A. MINISTRY IN SLOVAKIA AND CZECH REPUBLIC
During my missions in Slovakia and the Czech Republic in Central Europe, I had opportunities to minister to many believers and also to preach in several congregations. The one spiritual fact, which I experienced in almost all my missions was that I could clearly see a definite spiritual difference between the church leadership and all the other believers whom I met.
All of the elders, pastors, preachers or other leaders I met displayed either a reluctance or even tremendous fear to allow me to contact, preach or otherwise minister to their “sheep”. In some churches I was allowed to preach, in others I was not. I understand their fears and I do not blame any of them for their attitudes and fears. Also, the younger leadership displayed a greater hostility and arrogance toward me than those more aged and experienced. This just proves that aging does diminish our cockiness and mellows us even without being disciplined by the Holy Spirit.
What the leaders fear the most is that their form of religion, doctrines, ways, habits, desires and future plans could be affected and derailed to new ways. They do not believe that the Lord would like to “stir their church”, expose any shortcomings, perhaps, even death in their midst or to correct anything! Their church and they themselves are all perfect in their own eyes, and there seems to be “absolutely nothing for the Lord to correct”. An old form of religion, as an old habit, is a very comfortable one and no one desires to depart from it voluntarily especially when the Lord’s ways are known to be quite uncomfortable to our fleshly ways, life and ministry. So, do we truly need the Lord’s corrections?
What was even funny, was my experience in a small congregation (Brotherly church) in Batizovce, a small town just near the High Tatra Mountains in Slovakia. I was not allowed to say anything to their congregation, but I was invited to a “talk” with their elders after the service. The talk proved to be a true inquisition where I was interrogated with all kinds of questions concerning my book[14] (which they possessed) and also my personal beliefs and opinions.
When they asked me whether I “speak in tongues” (1Cor. 12:10), I said “yes”. I was then told that the Holy Spirit gave tongues only at the beginning of the Church and that He is not doing these things any more! So my gift was, in effect, labelled false. When I asked them where in the Scripture had they found this fact, they replied that it is not in the Scripture, but that their Annual Conference established it so! It looked like God “forgot” to inform us in His Word about this important deadline for giving us the gifts of His Spirit. Decent and aged elders were able to present this farce to me and remain serious and not blink their eyes.
Then I asked them whether they give gifts to their newborn children. They said “yes”. Then I asked them again: “Why do you think that the Holy Spirit should stop giving gifts to His newborn children when you keep giving gifts to your newborn children?” They were stunned and did not answer one word!
Then I asked them whether they read my book “Thy Kingdom come[14]”. They said “yes” but the chief elder declared that a part of my book was written in one kind of spirit and part in a different spirit. I asked him whether such a thing is possible. He replied “yes”. Then I gave him the Scripture that it is impossible that out of one fountain comes forth both salt water and fresh water. (Jam. 3:11,12) Again, they were speechless and nobody said a word.
Then they kept asking me a lot of other questions. I tried to stop their questioning, but it was not easy to quiet them down. I said: “Why should I answer your questions when you do not answer mine?” So then they quieted down and waited for my question.
Finally, I asked them whether a believer may lose his Salvation. They responded that there was no way. I told them that they do err not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. (Mk. 12:24) I gave them only one of the important verses where the Lord will blot the name of a born-again believer, who does not overcome, out of the Book of Life, which is the loss of Salvation. (Rev. 3:5) Again, there was no response! Truth makes people speechless!
The meeting was closed without any profit to anyone. All the elders were adults, but they behaved like children who were never even dreaming of seeking the truth, seeking the Kingdom, seeking the Lord with an open heart. All their religion was in their heads. It was all brains, all reasoning, all stubborn debating and obstinate attitudes defending their traditions and persuasions. They all lived a dark and dead form of Christian Judaism without any willingness to receive or even search for any new light from the Lord. The depth of their spiritual death was astounding.
I was then preaching in the Baptist Church in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia. The Word given was about the Lord’s coming as the Bridegroom and the pertinent passages were from Mt. 25:1-13; 7:21-23, Rev. 3:16-22 and also other Scriptures on this subject. After the sermon, there was a true excitement and many of us embraced and kissed and promised to be in touch (including their chief preacher). I asked them to write especially if some parts of my book[14] needed further explanations.
Then we parted and for many months, there was no response. So I wrote a letter to the elders. There was no response. After another number of months, I wrote again. No response! Clearly, their excitement and “love” vanished shortly after my departure. Their hearts remained the same as they were before my preaching. According to their hearts, it was not convenient or desirable to answer me, never mind what the Word of God commands. (Heb. 13:16) The powers of darkness and evil in them started to fear. The Lord knows their hearts and that there is no love in them because “there is no fear in love… he that fears is not made perfect in love.” (1Jn. 4:18)
* * *
I am constrained by the Spirit of the Living Lord to state the following truth.
LOVE IS NOT FEELLINGS, LOVE IS COMMITMENT! FEELINGS ARE ITS COMPANIONS AND THEY MAY BE VERY SWEET OR VERY BITTER, JOYFUL OR MOURNFUL, SELF-INDULGING OR SELF-SACRIFICING. AND IT IS THOSE BITTER AND MOURNFUL AND SACRIFICIAL COMPANIONS, WHERE WE ARE ABLE TO SEE WHETHER OUR LOVE IS TRUE OR A COLOUR DREAM, WHICH CAN VANISH ANY TIME… WHENEVER WE ARE NOT SATISFIED IN OUR SELF. (1Cor. 13:4-8)
* * *
Another example worth mentioning touches my book “Truth about Salvation[7]”, which the Lord granted me and allowed me to write it in the year 2003. By chance, I came across an article “Eternal Safety” by Dave Hunt, published on the website of the Slovak Fellowship NKZ in the town of Prešov, Slovakia. It was published in the Slovak language (as “Večná Bezpečnosť“) and I read it with interest.
I found out, that the article contained dangerous and untrue statements that could easily mislead believers into a deception that “no matter what they do or do not do”, none of them could lose their Salvation! The works of flesh, which may be equated with the works of law (Rom. 3:28), were clearly confused by the author with the works of faith. (Jam. 2:24) Some important verses of the Scripture were completely ignored as if they did not exist. Furthermore, the principles of Salvation were clearly confused and misunderstood. This is dangerous to the very life of any believer who may read such articles!
* * *
The Spirit of the LORD again constrains me to declare at this point the following important truth.
Very few believers seem to understand or be able to reconcile Eph. 2:8,9 orRom. 4:5 with Jam. 2:24; or Rom. 4:2,3 with Jam. 2:21-23! In 1972, in one of his sermons, one of my former Pentecostal pastors declared that “Paul would have some lessons to teach James!”! Wow!
So, the Book of James is not really inspired because it contradicts our human understanding of God and His Ways and Judgments! The Holy Spirit apparently inspired James to write contradictions. Even today, many prominent preachers, pastors and other ministers publicly declare that OUR SALVATION HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH OUR WORKS! How short-sighted and truly deceivable statements are these that OPPOSE THE VERY WORD OF GOD AND ALL HIS BASIC PRINCIPLES OF SALVATION!
I MUST IN THE NAME OF CHRIST THE LORD show a few simple but absolutely basic proofs that WITHOUT OUR WORKS WE CANNOT BE SAVED! This is not a “word game”. Let us consider diligently the Word in Eph. 2:8,9 and Jam. 2:20-26 and the following facts:
1) Rom. 10:9,10 – is the confession of our mouth OUR WORK, without which we could not be saved, or not?
2) Rom. 10:13 – is our calling upon the Name of the Lord OUR WORK, without which we could not be saved, or not?
3) Acts 2:38 – is our repentance and water baptism OUR WORK, without which we could not be saved, or not? Yes, or no? The Lord is asking you these above questions, not me, and He expects your honest answers, not me.
4) Phil. 2:12 – is “WORKING out our own salvation” OUR WORK or not? Do we know what that “work” really involves and how to work it out? Have any of you preachers ever preached THIS Word of God and explained it to your congregations? Really? In truth? And how will you reconcile Eph. 2:8,9 with Heb. 11:4-40? What works are those?
5) Mt. 16:24,25 – is “taking up our cross, denying ourselves and following Him” OUR WORK, or not? If we do not work out THIS WORK, SHALL WE SAVE OUR LIFE OR LOSE IT? HELLO? What do you preachers believe and why don’t you preach and explain THIS Word of God also? How can we neglect to preach, teach and explain such important facts from the Word of God to believers and feel fine? The Lord waits for your honest answer from your own heart.
NEVER HANG YOUR LIFE ON ONE VERSE OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE, WHICH IS PLEASANT AND SWEET TO YOUR SOUL, AND NEGLECT ALL THE REST OF THE BIBLE!
Can you tell faith from the works of faith and from the works of flesh? Why are then many preachers in churches or on TV or radio networks preaching that “our Salvation has nothing to do with our works” and that “it is an unconditional gift from God”? This is an OUTRIGHT LIE!… whereby the decisions of our heart and will, and the works of our faith are totally taken out of the context of all God’s Principles of our Salvation!
NOTHING FROM GOD IS UNCONDITIONAL TOWARD MEN EXCEPT HIS WORD AND MEN’S OBEDIENCE TO HIS WORD (or willingness in men’s hearts to obey IT)! That also applies to HIS LOVE AND MERCY, WHICH ARE ALSO CONDITIONAL and are not applied “across the board”. God loves unconditionally only those that He foreknew, called and predestinated (Rom. 8:28-30) because they also love Him unconditionally, struggle toward Him and do His commandments! (Jn. 14:21) But GOD HATES those “chosen ones” who disregard His commandments and His Salvation! Shall we say then that God is unrighteous? (Rom. 9:13-18, etc.)
Is the above from the Spirit of the Lord or is it just my personal opinion? How do you discern it in your spirit, heart and conscience? Will you, please, preach this truth the next time?
(To be continued next week in part 5)
brother Hanola
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