"WHAT
ARE YOU MORE CONCERNED WITH --
SELF-INTEREST OR THE KINGDOM OF GOD"
MF Blume
October 11, 1998 am
2Tim
3:5 Having
a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Ezek
33:30-32 Also,
thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against
thee
by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another,
every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is
the
word that cometh forth from the LORD. And they come unto thee as the
people
cometh, and they sit before thee [as] my people, and they hear thy
words,
but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love,
[but]
their heart goeth after their covetousness. And, lo, thou [art] unto
them
as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play
well
on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.
Titu 1:16 They
profess that they know God; but in works they deny [him], being
abominable,
and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
Jude 1:10-11 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.
Woe
unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily
after
the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
Christ
is said to be the last Adam and from Christ's
side, similarly to Adam, the wife of Christ came forth -- the Church.
-
Adam
laid down his life and from his side, God took
a rib and made the woman for Adam.
-
If
the two instances are so similar, and the wife
of Christ is called the Church, then we can say that God originally
wanted
a "Church" through Adam.
-
Though
the work through Adam failed, God was still
going to do things in this certain way, and He did through Christ.
-
Had
Adam not fallen, the "church" would have carried
on through him and his wife and their children.
God wanted Adam to fill the earth and
multiply.
-
He
desired Adam to eat of the fruit of life and thereby
contain God's Spirit, that Life.
-
And
then God would manifest Himself through man into
the world.
-
We
studied earlier that God rules Heaven, and cast
Satan out when Satan tried to exalt himself in it.
-
God
desires His Kingdom in this world as it is in
Heaven.
-
But
Satan is here.
-
And
God desires to bring the Kingdom here differently
than it is in Heaven.
-
He
chose to indwell humanity and thereby influence
the world with His Kingdom, whereas He rules in Heaven much differently
with simply commands given forth to angels.
-
And
Satan would be driven from the earth as driven
from Heaven, had man filled himself with Life and manifested God's Life
in this world.
With
5 billion people in the world today, the world
is certainly filled by "Adam".
-
Yet
the world is not filled by Adam with life in
himself.
-
Satan
managed to get another stuffing inside Adam
rather than Life.
-
And
that stuffing was the knowledge of good and evil.
Cain
was the firstborn of Adam and Eve.
-
He
represents a "church" gone bad.
-
He
represents a fallen church.
Cain
was one who was known to only work with things
which he naturally knew.
-
This
means he had not contact with God.
-
He
went by his natural senses.
-
What
he could see, hear, taste, touch and smell.
-
Living
no more above the beasts of the earth who
alone can live by these things, Cain was not in touch with the
spiritual
realm.
-
Addictions
all focus around the five senses:
What people hear, see, taste, touch and smell.
-
Addictions
are attempts at finding peace in something,
but in something no further above what the beasts can relate to.
-
There
is a higher realm of the SPIRIT.
Abel
on the other hand was a man of faith, living
by more than the natural senses.
Hebr
11:1 Now
faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not
seen.
Hebr 11:4 By
faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
by
which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his
gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
Abel reached out by faith.
-
He
touched a realm that cannot be sensed naturally
with the five senses.
-
Things
not seen.
-
He
took a step of faith.
-
That
means that he acted based upon nothing he could
see, hear, taste, touch and smell.
-
He
lived by the true "sixth sense" called faith.
We
all require something for proof before we act
upon it.
-
We
need a good reason or grounds for what we are
about to do.
Noah built an ark to save his family,
and yet
we read he was given nothing that he could sense naturally to base his
actions upon.
-
He
simply heard from God.
-
He
acted upon faith, and not upon what his eyes,
ears, nerve-endings, nose and tongue could tell him.
-
He
reached out with a faculty that animals and beasts
do not possess.
-
Faith.
Do we
believe in God or don't we?
-
We
invest week after week, month after, month and
year after year in this thing called Christianity.
-
We
take this pretty seriously.
-
Stop
and think about how our whole Christianity is
based upon God's word.
-
Why
do we not simply take God at His word and step
out and see things happen?
-
We
might as well.
-
"Trained
but terrified to try."
-
Do
you dare take major steps of faith?
-
Why
do so many beleivers stand in fear when they
consider taking a step of faith?
-
We
might as well jump into this thing head over heels!
-
Go
all the way or get out.
Adam
would have been the Vine.
-
From
his side came Eve.
-
From
the side of the tree, a branch came forth.
-
From
the life of Adam.
-
Seed
of life in himself to produce through his branches.
-
To
manifest LIFE.
Jesus
is now tree of life.
Cain's sacrifice was not a thing that
God instructed
him to offer.
-
So
why did he offer it?
-
He
invented it.
-
He
felt it was good.
-
He
relied upon his opinions.
No
wonder Cain was self-centred.
-
His
mother was tempted to act upon what she thought
was best.
-
Despite
God's will, she felt the tree was good for
food, pleasant to the eyes and desired to make one wise.
-
And
the whole spirit of eating the fruit of the knowledge
of good and evil was a self-centred spirit.
But
God had a will for her and Adam.
-
They
were to be the precious vehicles to flow forth
with God's life into the world.
-
The
enemy managed to get her to forget about what
God wanted and stirred her up her think about what SHE wanted.
And
her son was identical.
-
It
was no wonder he was self-centred with parents
who threw away God's kingdom for self-interest.
-
Everything
about him was self-centred.
-
He
offered a bloodless sacrifice.
-
No
LIFE IN IT.
-
Blood
is the LIFE.
-
Offering
blood recognizes God's opinion of our sin
and how death is what we deserve, but God allowed fro another's death
to
substitute our own.
But
Abel was different.
-
God
was pleased with Abel's sacrifice.
-
Cain
was angry.
-
Cain
did not seek what God desired.
-
He
carnally figured out what he felt God should receive.
-
His
source of right from wrong was himself.
-
So
full of the devil's ways.
Cain
was more concerned over self-interest than the
Kingdom and the overall purpose of God.
-
He
was very religious.
-
Paul
warned Timothy that a lot of religious activity
and forms of godliness would abound the last days, but it would deny
the
true power of godliness.
-
A
lot of religious activity is in the world today,
also.
-
But
like Cain, it is the invention of man and not
the activity given from the Word of God.
-
And
like Cain, too many "religious" people are more
concerned over self-interest than the Kingdom of God.
-
Ezekiel
was told these people enjoy hearing the word
of God with rapt attention.
-
They
listen to its beauty like a song or a beautiful
tune played on an instrument.
-
But
they will not do the things commanded in the
Word of God.
-
There
is a form of godliness, with rapt attention
to the word, and church attendance, but the power of godliness is
missing.
-
Yea,
it is denied!
Adam
was made in the FORM of God.
-
Being
made in the FORM, he was able to possess godliness.
-
Godliness
is something that is not contrived by human
power.
-
"Catliness"
is as different from "dogliness" as "godliness"
is different from humanliness.
-
In
order to manifest godliness, one needs GOD INSIDE.
-
And
that was what Adam missed.
-
He
did not infill himself with LIFE.
-
The
LIFE was the power of godliness.
So
much religious activity.
-
Cain
offered a sacrifice.
-
Very
religious.
-
He
built an altar for that sacrifice.
-
Very
religious.
-
But
like today's empty religion, Cain denied the
power of godliness.
-
He
was more interested in SELF than God's will.
-
Peopel
today will debate and fight for their beliefs,
even if they are wrong, since they feel one is saying they are stupid
to
believe such a thing if one disagrees.
-
And
they are more interested in self-interest than
truth.
When
Abel's sacrifice was accepted, rather than realize
he was simply wrong in offering vegetation, and he could simply
re-offer
a sacrifice with blood in it, Cain was personally insulted.
-
Since
he was more interested in self-reputation than
offering a correct sacrifice, Cain became enraged and sought to kill
Abel
rather than correct himself towards God's will.
-
Had
he realized the overall purpose of the Kingdom,
Cain would have gladly corrected his offering, and put self-interest
aside.
-
But
he was more interested in self-interest than
the kingdom.
We must prioritize God's Kingdom in
our lives.
-
Forget
about personal hurts and spending time avenging
those hurts upon others, as Cain did.
-
We
can be involved in much religious activity, with
no thought of putting self aside at times when self is hurt.
-
Having
LIFE inside is for the purpose of putting
self aside and seeing God manifest.
-
We
may have LIFE inside (God's Spirit), but we may
push that Life aside and the Will of God is placed second to our own
desires
to manifest the things that interest self only.
-
One
who seeks LIFE to manifest through oneself is
one who understands that God's will is greater.
-
And
immediately, unity with the brethren at the cost
of putting self-interest aside, should hurts come, is important and top
priority.
-
Love
for one another to such an extent that we sacrifice
self-interest when we are personally hurt to keep the unity between
ourselves
is what is required in the Church today.
-
Otherwise
we are like Cain, a Church gone bad.
Jesus
taught putting priority upon the things of
God above all else.
-
He
said we all nee dfood and clothing.
-
But
if we prioritize the GREATER NEED of God's Kingdom,
we shall have these other things provided.
Matt
6:33 But
seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these
things shall be added unto you.
And the filling that Satan put inside
Adam and
Eve was the knowledge of good and evil.
-
There
are people who speak more about what is right
and what is wrong than they do speak about Jesus.
-
It
is very religious
to speak about what is
right and what is wrong.
-
There
is a place for these understandings, too.
-
But
to speak MORE of what is right and wrong is to
be more concerned over the knowledge of good and evil rather than LIFE.
-
God
did not want Adam to be filled with the Knowledge
of good and evil.
-
He
wanted him filled with LIFE.
-
And
those who only speak of what is right and wrong
are characteristically the people who are very self-centred.
-
They
use God and the good and the evil to show how
better they are than others.
-
This
seems to be the traits of those stressing knowledge
of good and evil.
-
Cain
could have said it was a good thing to sacrifice
his vegetation.
-
Yes,
it sounds so religious and good, but what did
God's Word say about it?
-
His
Word said it was not acceptable, regardless of
how GOOD it looked.
-
It
is not a matter of GOOD but LIFE.
-
Did
it have LIFE?
Paul
spoke to the Romans concerning the Kingdom of
God and how we must act accordingly to the position we hold in that
Kingdom.
-
He
said that it is not right to divide from each
other over lesser issues that concern self-interest.
-
He
said that we must accept each other regardless
of minor differences.
-
Some
believe meat should not be eaten under certain
circumstances, others see no worry.
-
But
the two factions may split and divide over the
issue.
-
And
for little things like meat, the work of God
is destroyed.
-
God
has a work to do in this world.
-
We
are part of that work.
-
That
work demands a body to be united to flow with
the Spirit.
-
But
this work can be destroyed over division in the
Body.
Due
to self-interest, being offended by another's
liberty or another's restrictions, we can ruin the forward progress of
the Kingdom of God.
-
We
ought to be able to take offenses and keep on
serving in the kingdom, not letting anything get in our way, since the
bigger issue is the work of God.
-
Too
many people get offended and will cease their
labour for the Kingdom, since they are more concerned over
self-interest
than the kingdom of God.
Roma 15:1-3 We
then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not
to please ourselves. Let every one of us please [his] neighbour for
[his]
good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is
written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.
Let us take Jesus' example and be
willing to suffer
loss of whatever liberty we enjoy if it means keeping our
easily-offended
brethren working for God.
-
Jesus
suffered His wellbeing when He died on the
cross solely for our benefits.
-
This
is an example to us how that we ought to be
able to give up meats, if necessary, for the sake of those easily
offended.
-
This
principle goes for anything.
-
Whatever
you do that is truly offending a weaker
believer (weak ones get easily offended), stop doing it for their
sakes,
even if there is nothing wrong with it.
-
Jesus
saw that in a Garden Adam concerned himself
over self-interest more than God's will.
-
Adam
was thrown from the Garden for that reason.
-
So
Jesus returned into a Garden and said, "Not my
will but thine be done."
The
Kingdom of God is not built upon SMALL things
like meat and drink, but BIG THINGS like...
-
RIGHTEOUSNESS
- Live righteously and get along with
brethren.
-
PEACE
- make peace between each other and do not
quibble over the SMALL things.
-
JOY
IN THE HOLY GHOST -- enjoy living for God and
make it as enjoyable for others, also, as you can. Do not
make gathering
together a labour due to fear of what else all may quibble over.
Roma 14:17-19 For
the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace,
and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ
[is]
acceptable to God, and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after
the
things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.
Those who contend for their minor
differences
to the point of division from others are simply too interested in
self-interest
than they are the Kingdom of God.
Rather than correct himself and
realize that God's
will is more important than a bit of pride being crushed due to a
rejected
sacrifice, Cain chose to stand on his self-interests and jealously slew
his brother Abel.
-
God's
word teaches we must not do this.
-
There
are those who divide over extreme liberalism.
-
They
feel others are too narrow-minded.
-
And
thent here are those who divide over legalism.
-
They
feel others are too worldly.
-
And these issues, to these people,
are more important
than the overall progress of the Kingdom of God.
-
These
issues are more their
concern than is
the Kingdom.
TOO
MUCH SELF-CENTRED TIME
There
is NECESSARY concern over the overly liberal
believer and the overly restrictive believer.
-
But
that
concern is not the greatest
concern.
-
What
do we talk more about?
-
Do
we speak more about what is right and wrong? (both
liberals and legalists quibble over this)
-
Or
do we talk more about JESUS?
-
Liberals
target the legalists and SPEND
TOO MUCH TIME
on saying what is good and not bad and so on.
-
Legalists
target the liberals AND
SPEND TIME TOO MUCH TIME on
what is bad and not good.
-
BOTH ARE CAUGHT UP IN SPENDING TOO
MUCH TIME
DEFENDING THEIR
(referring to self) BASIC PHILOSOPHIES RATHER THAN
TALK ABOUT JESUS.
-
BOTH spend too much time attacking
the other
party.
-
The liberal concentrates (in most
cases) how
God set him free from legalism (only to attack the legalist).
-
The Hyper-conservative spends too
much time
saying how he thanks God he is not worldly, only to attack the liberal.
-
SELF
is the centre of such talk.
-
(This
would be a real revelation to most people).
Jesus
is the Way, Truth and Life.
-
Two
trees:
-
Knowledge of Good and Evil
-
Life.
-
Which
will we spend more time on?
-
Knowledge
of good and evil?
-
Or
Life?
-
What
are we more concerned with?
-
Self-interest
(roots of BOTH legalism and liberalism)?
-
Or
God's Kingdom?
The fruit of LIFE represents not only
the SPIRIT
of God, but stress upon LIFE represents STRESS upon God's KINGDOM, for
God's KINGDOM depended upon whether man would eat that LIFE or not.