Christmas Sorrow

My heart goes out to the young man who was crushed to death by a stampede of shoppers yesterday at Wal-Mart on Long Island, New York. Let us pray that his family and friends find the strength to forgive those that participated in the senseless stampede. Let us also pray that the darkness associated with this tragic event leads people to seek Love.

Christmas is supposed to be a time of love, joy and peace - a time of Spiritual fruit. Instead, it has turned into a time of insanity, death and great sorrow.

May the Lord have mercy on us all.

Agape,

Steve

Religion and the Cross

I've been doing a lot of meditating in regard to the Cross over the past several weeks. The Spirit has shown me that the only entrance into Christ and His Church is through the Cross. The Holy Spirit - the eternal, life-generating force that allows us to follow the Lord and walk in love (Ephesians 5:1-2) - comes only on the ground of death, burial and resurrection. We receive the Holy Spirit only through the Cross. The Cross is central to all things spiritual. It is central to all things of Christ.

Today, I began reading a book by T. Austin-Sparks titled "The Cross, The Church, and the Conflict." While reading, I came across a few things that resonated strongly with my heart. I would like to share them with you.

In this book, Sparks discusses the function of the Cross and all the things It does. The first thing he mentions is that the Cross puts an end to idolatry. Sparks says:

"Firstly, the Cross puts an end to all idolatry. Take that away and think about it. It is a long story, and it is a very far-reaching stor. I am going to say something which would take a very long time to verify, so far as the data and events are concerned, but which can be verified from the beginning to the end of the Scriptures. It is this: if we knew the truth, idolatry lies behind everything for which the Cross of Christ came into being, and when the Cross is really made active, what it is doing is to deal with idolatry in some form or another."

What a powerful statement this is! The Cross of Christ came into being to deal decisively with idolatry. Sparks then tell us what idolatry is:

"Idolatry is all that is not God as the basis or object of man's life."

As we can see, idolatry is a very big thing, indeed! Sparks goes on to say:

"We think of idolatry, of course, in terms of heathen idols. We might perhaps bring it into a closer realm, where people clearly put things in the place of God but oh! it goes much deeper than that, and, in the Scriptures, idolatry is never regarded as merely negative or passive. There idolatry is always seen to be an active thing, inasmuch as it is the work of an intelligence which is opposed to God; and that Satanic intelligence is always making it its first object and aim, persistently, continuously, and by every means, to get something into the place of the Lord personally. You see, it is possible to have the things of the Lord in the place of the Lord Himself; and that is idolatry in principle. Yes, it may be the things of Jehovah not other gods. In place of the Lord, Who is the object of man's life, His things may be given precedence, and in principle that is idolatry, and the Cross is ever being used by the Holy Spirit to strike at everything, no matter what it is, that comes to occupy the place of the Lord Himself, the place that the Lord Himself should occupy."

After this, Sparks says something that the Spirit has been telling me for years since my revelation:

"Idolatry is always religious, and it may be the Christian religion as well as any other religion that is marked by idolatry. "

Oh, what a tremendous statement of truth! Religion and religious things always get in the way of Christ. The Scriptures are full of stories that verify this truth. When we read the New Testament, we see the Holy Spirit radiating greatly through Jesus and yet the Pharisees - the religious leaders of Israel - are having none of it. All they can do is pick up stones and try to kill the Lord. How tragic and sad.

Sparks does a nice job of explaining of how idolatry, in the form of religion and religious things, stand in the way of the Cross:

"You see, idolatry exists in principle whenever or wherever anything, even good in itself, becomes an object in itself rather than God, the Lord Himself. There are many things which are not only harmless but good in themselves, which have, nevertheless, been allowed to take the place of the Lord Himself, and good things can therefore embody the principle of idolatry in the one in whom the devotion is found. Touch some Christians, or Christian institutions, and let the touch be even in relation to something more of the Lord Himself, and you will find an uprising of jealous regard for the institution which utterly blinds to that possibility of an extra measure of the Lord Himself. You can be so devoted to a denomination, a missionary society, a piece of Christian work, that there is no room for any extra measure of the Lord. The thing itself has become the end, the object for which you live, and when the Lord wants to get you moved on into something more of Himself, the obstacle is that good Christian work, association, institution, tradition, connection. Yes, and that is idolatry in principle, and we see from history how the Lord again and again has had to smite with smashing blows things which in themselves were good, in order to save His people unto Himself personally. Even things which He gave at one time, have had to be taken away or shattered because the gift has become the end, the object. That is what is happening: and a very necessary thing it is too. The Lord is not protecting good things today. If those have become something to which men have become devoted, with which they have become bound up, He is allowing them to be broken and destroyed."

The Lord has no tolerance for idolatry. The Cross is designed to put an end to it. There is a piece of Scripture from the New Testament that powerfully illustrates how the Lord deals with idolatry:

Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down." (Matthew 24:1-2)

We know that the temple fell and that not one stone was left. What the religious leaders viewed as sacred and holy was completely destroyed. This Scripture is testimony to the power of the Cross. In due time, the Cross will deal decisively with religion and religion things. They have no place in Christ.

May you willingly allow the Cross to deal decisively with any religion or religious things that are standing in the way of your relationship with Love.

Agape,

Steve

Dying to Live

I'm reading a fantastic book by T. Austin-Sparks titled "The Battle for Life." This passage resonated strongly with my heart:

"That is the first state: a life in death, under the power of Satan, in disorder; tremendously active, energetic, and yet God is not in it. It may even be active in a religious way, and yet God is not in it. I sometimes wonder if religion is not God's greatest enemy in this world. It sounds a terrible thing to say, but I am quite sincere in raising that question. Religion seems to place more people in a position in which God - if we may so speak - is put to a greater measure of difficulty to reach them by the Holy Spirit than any other thing, because it puts them into a false position. Over against that God sets this new Order which is utterly under the Holy Spirit. What does it mean to be utterly under the government of the Holy Spirit? It means that everything shall be submitted to the Holy Spirit. You and I will recognize that if we move any way without our lives completely committed to the Holy Spirit, we are most likely to function outside of God's realm; and the end is death. There may be the best of intentions. Our motives may be all right. We may even do a thing for the Lord; but there are multitudes of things done for the Lord which are not done in the Holy Spirit. There is a whole mountain of activity proceeding from the purest motives for the Lord's interests, but they are not the Holy Spirit's activities. I believe the Lord is generous and gracious, and that, because it is a matter of ignorance, He is patient with us and seeks to lead us into better ways. The mistaken course may be due to want of light, and while fuller light is not available, or until it breaks in the Lord continues alongside and gives as much blessing as He can. But that does not mean that in the long run all that past activity is going to meet with acceptance and prove to have been for the accomplishment of Divine ends. At some point it will break down, and those concerned will come to a recognition of the fact that, after all, a great percentage of all that work for the Lord has not counted; and the earlier we come to that recognition the better."

Sparks notes that religion is a great enemy of Christ. Yes, that is very true! If you don't believe this, I encourage you to read Matthew Chapter 23 and see how the Lord views religion and religious leaders. I can assure you, it is not flattering!

Sparks also states that religion puts people into a false position with respect to God. That is also right on the money.

There are a great many people in the world today - including terrorists - who believe they are doing things for God or things in the name of God. There is a grave issue associated with those who are acting on behalf of God without guidance from the Holy Spirit. The disciples were told very strictly and clearly by the Lord not to do anything until they had received the Holy Spirit. They obeyed. They went out into the world only after they had received the Spirit.

Religious hearts lack the vital and essential thing that produces abundant life. They lack the Holy Spirit. We dare not do anything for God or in His name without the Holy Spirit. Sadly, the Lord's counsel to stay put until the Spirit is received, all too frequently goes unheeded. People often feel compelled by their religion to do something for the Lord. Even murder!

I once asked a brother who professed to know a lot about Christ, how people receive the Holy Spirit. He told me that all we have to do is ask God for the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, that is incorrect. The correct answer is that we receive the Holy Spirit through the Cross and only through the Cross.

This is the testimony of Jesus. The Lord showed us the way to life through the Cross. It is through death via the Cross that we find eternal life. The Cross is central to receiving the Spirit and inheriting eternal life. The Cross is the place where we die and are buried, and Christ - God's true expression of love - is resurrected in us.

The Holy Spirit only comes on the ground of death, burial and resurrection. We can ask for the Holy Spirit until we are blue in the face. However, until our selves are put to death and are buried - that is, until we fall on the stone and are utterly broken - the Spirit has no ground on which to operate. It is through the Cross and only through the Cross that we can truthfully say what Paul told the Galatians:

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.
(Galatians 2:20)

The gospel that Paul and the other apostles preached was not embraced by the religious leaders of the time. In fact, many of them were threatened greatly by it. Nevertheless, the apostles persisted in communicating the simple and powerful message they had received from the Holy Spirit:

We preach Christ crucified - death defeated!

Oh, what an tremendous victory it was when God resurrected Jesus after the crucifixion. There were so many non believers - so many religious hearts who thought the Lord was dead and gone. But it wasn't to be. God's true expression of love cannot die. It is eternal. Any heart that possesses Christ cannot die. It simply cannot be extinguished!

There is no death in Christ. There is only life.

Dying to live and defeating death is a tremendous thing to those who have seen Christ! John the Baptist saw this clearly. He said:

He must increase, but I must decrease.
(John 3:30)

How does this exchange happen? Through the Cross! The Cross is the place where He increases and we decrease. Nothing outside of Christ can pass through the Cross. Darkness cannot enter through the Cross. It is the place where darkness and death are defeated and light and life are victorious! That is the mightly power of Love. There is no greater force in the universe.

There is an abundance of uncrucified flesh in Christianity today - gobs and gobs of it. That's the fundamental problem with religion. It often excludes the work of the Cross. But the Lord is extremely clear about the centrality of the Cross:

And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
(Matthew 10:38)

Where there is uncrucified flesh, there is death. No life. This explains all of the darkness and the lack of love we see in the Christian religion today. It is misguided to confuse Christianity with Christ, as so many people seem prone to do these days. The difference between them is like night and day.

It is not uncommon to find religion standing in the way of the Cross. There are some 40,000 Christian denominations. Over the last 2,000 years, the enemy has successfully divided and subdivided the Christian religion to the point where it is virtually powerless and lacking the very thing Jesus came to give us - abundant life. There is great power in this life - it resurrects the dead!

The antidote to the darkness we observe in Christianity today is death of self via the Cross. But, alas, many people are not willing to endure the Cross. It is apparently too painful or they do not understand the process. Many religious hearts go to church regularly, participate in Bible studies and do various works for the Lord, but these activities do not substitute for the Cross. There is no substitute for the Cross, as the Apostles knew very well. If there were, I imagine Jesus would have showed us the way.

Saul of Tarsus abandoned his religion (Judaism) after seeing Christ through revelation. As a matter of fact, toward the end of his life, he told the Philippians that he considered his previous high standing, as a Pharisee in the religious community, as "rubbish" (garbage). It was worthless compared to the knowledge he gained through Christ. Paul only longed to know Christ and the power of His resurrection more fully.

The only way to receive the Holy Spirit is through the Cross. The Holy Spirit is always working in relation to the Cross, in order that the power of His resurrection may be increasingly manifested in our hearts. Through the Cross we come to know that Christ is life. Eternal life. Great Life!

May you be utterly broken, receive the Holy Spirit, and know the mighty power of His resurrection.

Agape,

Steve

A Great Snare

During morning meditation, I came across something from a T. Austin-Sparks book that resonated strongly with my heart. Here's what Sparks said:

"These things of eternal value for our well-being, these things of God for our blessing, for our good, are not to be found in the world. Men have searched for them, and sought them in the world, but they have never been found there. They are in heaven, and can only come to us through an opened way to heaven.

But all this - and it is far more than ever we could detail, even were we to stay to speak of it for a very extended period - all that heaven means of resource and of blessing and value for time and for eternity is closed, is behind a closed door, as regards unregenerate men and women, even though they may be religious. One of the great snares which will keep multitudes out of heaven is religion. To be religious does not necessarily mean to have a heavenly life in union with the risen Lord."

I've been saying the same thing to people since my revelation, but have found that it goes right over their heads. The point Sparks made is not well understood and it is the source of much confusion in the world today. People confuse religion with Love all of the time. It's a common error.

The truth is God has no religion. He is love. Jesus didn't speak about religion. You won't find one mention of the word from the Lord's lips in any of the Gospels. Jesus spoke about Love. He spoke about Light. And most importantly, the Lord spoke about Life. Eternal life. Great Life!!!

We don't walk in religion to imitate God. Rather, we walk in love. (Ephesians 5:1-2)

Saul of Tarsus counted his former religion as "rubbish" after his revelation. Read the apostle's letter to the Philippians. It's right there in black and white, Chapter 3, verses 4-11. St. Paul knew very well the point Sparks' made in his book.

Religion is a great snare that will keep multitudes out of heaven. Yes, indeed.

To gain Love, we must lose all religion, just as Saul did.

May you leave your religion behind and walk in love.

Agape,

Steve