In the "JOB" thread Arcturus mentioned "All scripture is for our admonition" which got me to thinking once again what an incredibly germane truth "the beast within" encompasses. Without being constantly aware of this where exactly are we? I see it as a very basic yet most profound piece of the puzzle which is the journey to Sonship (and Daughtership) of God.
It is all too easy to get caught up in the rush for more and more information, knowledge, and secrets contained in the scriptures but if we are not truly growing in His Spirit with the resulting patience, temperance, longsuffering and other signs of the maturation process what good is "knowing" a bunch of stuff? If we only have the knowledge that "puffeth up" (1Cor 8:1) our carnal heart/ego are we not actually worse off than before?
Is our top priority slaying the beast within or is it to feel self satisfied in the fact that we are always learning or supposing ourselves to be gaining knowledge when in fact we may be missing the most important things by focusing on a sort of religious "trivial persuit?" 2Ti 3:7 Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
When the beast is diminishing the Spirit of Christ is increasing this in itself will open up some serious spiritual insights. ALL SCRIPTURE IS FOR OUR ADMONITION
Why should the Scriptures preserve for us the falling away of Peter, Paul, all of the disciples, all of Asia, and all of the church (Rev. 2:4), if none of these things pertain to us or none of these things will ever happen to us?
I have said many times in this series that there are "the called" and there are the "called AND chosen." We see it in every example: Jesus called Peter
"And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter… and He said unto them, Follow Me…" (Matt. 4:18-19),
and so Peter followed Jesus
"And they straightway left their nets, and FOLLOWED Him." (Ver. 20)
And so Peter followed Jesus for three and one-half years. But Peter was not converted:
"And the Lord said, Simon [Peter], Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not: and WHEN YOU ARE CONVERTED, strengthen your brethren" (Luke 22:31-32).
And later Peter denied Jesus three times in the same night!
The question presents itself: "If we truly had "love" why should we have to "fall" from it or "leave it" in the first place? Ah, herein lies one of the grandest Truths found in all Scripture!
From our first parents onward, God has always allowed men to believe that they are able of and by themselves (by their supposed phantom "free" will) to love God and be obedient to His laws. Despite God’s plethora of testimonies to the contrary, theologians and philosophers alike have taught mankind that they are indeed ABLE TO CHOOSE and, ABLE TO DO and to carry out that choice, because they have the "free will" within them to do so. What they have within them is a "beast" that is no more able to choose and obey God than any literal beast of the field.
TURNING OUR IDOLS OF THE HEART INTO POWDER
In Ezekiel 14:7 we read:
"For every one of the house of Israel [WE {Gentiles} are now the circumcision of God, Phil. 3:3. WE {Gentile believers} are the true Jew, Romans 2:28-29. WE {Gentiles & a remnant of racial Israel} are the spiritual Israel of God, Gal. 6:16] or of the stranger that sojourns in Israel, which separates himself from Me, and sets up HIS IDOLS IN HIS HEART…"
We all have "idols of the heart." Whenever we disobey God, we are giving allegiance to and manifesting idols in our heart.
When ancient Israel turned from God, they too manifested the idols in their hearts by building a literal golden calf idol with which to worship. And what did God do through Moses?
"And he [Moses] took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire [don’t forget I Cor. 3:15], and GROUND IT TO POWDER, and scattered it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it" (Exodus 32:20).
How many understand our Lord’s statements in Luke 20:17-18?
"And He beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The Stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the Head of the corner? Whomsoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever It shall fall, It will GRIND HIM TO POWDER."
When we fall on the Stone (Jesus), we are broken. Or as John tells us in Revelation,
"And I saw one of his heads as it were WOUNDED TO DEATH…" (Rev. 13:3).
Yes, when we fall on Christ we are broken, we are wounded (by the "sword" of God—Rev. 13:14 vs. Heb. 4:12). This is our human attempt at salvation. But then we fall, and our "deadly wound [which we received by the Word of God] was healed" (Rev. 13:3), we went back into the world, back into Babylon, thus leaving our first love. When the wound of the Sword of God’s Word that had slain us, is healed, we fall from the love of God, and we again turn our love to the world from which we came.
But here’s the good news concerning this stone. If we are among the chosen that overcome, then the Stone falls ON US, and our spiritual house built upon the sand comes crashing down. And when Jesus falls on us, He GRINDS US [along with all of our idols of the heart] TO POWDER!
Remember we are but "clay" in the hands of the Master Potter, and clay consists of particles of sedimentary silicates of aluminum less than two-thousandth of a millimeter in diameter—in other words, very fine powder. In Ancient Israel, the sin offering, the peace offering, the meat offering, and thank offering all had to be made with fine flour. All of the universe is composed of very fine things.
All of the instructions on what was to be offered to God in the service of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, who was to offer it, and how it was to be offered is not just quaint little stories of history:
"Now ALL THESE THINGS HAPPENED unto them for ensamples: and they are written FOR OUR ADMONITION, upon whom the ends of the world [ages] are come." (I Cor. 10:11).
Christ is representative of all and every one of these sacrifices. And
"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He [Jesus Christ] IS, SO ARE WE in this world" (I John 4:17).
So, when we read of the fine flour, oil, salt, and frankincense in the Old Testament offerings, we must understand that WE TOO are to be like fine flour—spiritually humbled and ground fine like powder, oil—having the Spirit of God in us, salt—we are to BE the "salt of the earth," and frankincense—our very lives becoming a sweet smelling incense to our God.
Some of the things we must go through seem bad on the surface. But as in all of God’s dealings, what appears at first to be something horribly bad, is in reality, only a necessary stage in the process of overcoming sin and self so as to be qualified to reign with Christ in bringing the rest of humanity into a knowledge of the Truth, redemption, salvation, and finally, glory.
GOD’S WORD SAYS THAT MAN IS A BEAST
"Nevertheless man being in honor abides not [does not endure]: he is LIKE THE BEASTS that perish" and "…he is LIKE THE BEASTS that perish: (Ps. 49:12, 20).
"One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are always liars, EVIL BEASTS, slow bellies [lazy gluttons]. This witness is true" (Titus 1:12-13).
"But these, as NATURAL BRUTE BEASTS, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption" (II Pet. 2:12).
"So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as A BEAST before thee" (Psalm 73:22).
"But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, AS BRUTE BEASTS, in those things they corrupt themselves" (Jude 10).
"I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves ARE BEASTS" (Ecclesiastes 3:18).
Read it all @
http://bible-truths.com/lake14.htmlHis Peace and Wisdom to you,
Joe