WBS.033
FUNDAMENTALS OF
DISCIPLESHIP
A KINGDOM HEART - III
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the performance of the will of IAUE.
Romans 8:6 For to be carnally
minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against IAUE:
for it is not subject to the law of IAUE, neither indeed can be.
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot
please IAUE.
In our last post, we ended with an
explanation of the enmity the carnal mind has against IAUE. It is an aggressive form of resentment that
foments anger. If we were to try to
express it in words it might sound like this:
“Okay, so you sent your Son to die for us. Thanks.
Much appreciated; but what makes you think that you get to own me for
the rest of my life. I am not your
slave. I didn’t ask for this. It was Adam’s fault, anyway; not mine. I have a life.
I only get 70 or so years on the earth and I don’t want to waste
them. I have places to go, things to do,
stuff to buy. I want position, power,
possessions. I have my own will about
things. I don’t want to waste my short
time on earth having to do your will. I will never get this time back. I will live for you after I have lived for
me.”
Most professing Christians would
read that and say, “That’s not me,” and yet, they fail to recognize that these
words were written by an apostle to a body of believers in the first century of
the church, when the life of the church was in its most passionate stage, when
being a disciple of Messiah cost the most in terms of social and political
hardships; and the teachings of the church were delivered first-hand by the
very men who walked with Messiah for three years. If this was a viable warning to the first
century church, how much more so should it be regarded by a church that has
been through centuries of darkness and faithlessness, and which has been
splintered into hundreds of different denominational sects that have reduced
the Spirit-filled life to church attendance on Sunday and prescribing to a
religious culture? No, this enmity
exists in all of us. It is the natural
expression of the flesh. If not superseded
by the Spirit, this is exactly how we will feel about the law of IAUE (though
we might try to lie to ourselves that it isn’t true). This enmity defines the ever-present nature
of the carnal mind, the mind that is set on the flesh.
Picture it like this. An airplane remains on the ground until gravity
(the carnal mind – the constant relentless pull toward the world) is superseded
by a force that overcomes gravity. When
the airplane begins to experience “lift” (the spiritual mind – the constant,
obedient and humble response to the voice of IAUE) it rises off the ground and
flies free of the world. It is an irresistible
fact, however, that no matter how high the airplane flies, the second that it
ceases to experience lift, gravity takes over and pulls it back to the world.
When we understand it from this
perspective, we begin to realize that what the Father requires of us is for our
own good. It is not simply His way of
enslaving a people by holding eternity in Heaven or Hell as bait. What did Messiah say about himself?
John
10:10 The thief cometh not, but for
to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and
that they might have it more abundantly.
Yahushua wants us to experience life
the way life was intended to be experienced…before sin and death entered into
the world; to live life without the illusions of false hope and false dreams
and false promises the world offers to entrap us in a system that rewards us
with only one end: death.
This is not an exaggerated claim of the apostle. Messiah already explained that his kingdom was not of this world. All that is in this present world “lieth in the evil one.” This word “lieth” in the Greek (keimai) is used in two ways in the Scripture. One refers to a position of repose, to lie down; and the other is to lay, as in laying a foundation. It is in this latter form that we find this word in 1 John 5:19. The evil one has laid the foundation of this present world. All of our systems of social interaction, the arts, sciences, government, commerce, agriculture, industry…all of them have their foundation in the enemy of our souls. This is why we are instructed to be in the world but not of the world.
This same apostle called the evil one a thief who comes only to steal, kill and destroy. That is the objective of his world. Every element of this world is designed to steal, kill or destroy us. The problem is, we do not understand this. IAUE does; which is why He requires us to bow our knee to His will, constantly. It is the only means by which we may be rescued from the fruit born of the carnal mind.
1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vain glory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Again, this same apostle explains to us that if we love the world, we cannot love the Father. This is yet another thing that we generally do not believe. We have this foolish notion that we can enjoy certain aspects of the world and still love IAUE. This is wrong thinking. We cannot pursue those desires that originate in the flesh, or desire the things we set our eyes upon that are appealing to us, or long for the things that make us proud of ourselves, or that receive the admiration and pride of others and love IAUE. These desires and wants are diametrically opposed to the love of Elohim. The pursuit of our own will makes us our own deity. “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” (Mark 8:36)
1 John 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of IAUE abideth for ever.
John finishes his thought with this verse. He turns our attention back to doing the will of IAUE. It is in a life committed to the humble and delighted performance of His will that we are freed from the death and destruction that are intrinsic to the love of the world. The moment we cease to walk in this (lift) we will find the carnal mind (gravity) taking over and plummeting our lives back into the sin and death that are the inescapable consequences of the love of this world.
James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship
of the world is enmity
with IAUE? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of IAUE.
The pastor of the first church in Jerusalem, the brother of Yahushua, calls us adulterers and adulteresses when we love the world. We are unfaithful to our true love. Here, again, we see the word “enmity.” In Romans 8, a carnal mind is enmity against IAUE. Here it is the friendship of the world that is enmity with IAUE.
A carnal mind IS a friend of the world. Not only does it have enmity against IAUE, it is the ENEMY of IAUE. This raises the bar considerably. Until we see the truth in this verse, the carnal mind can be seen as a spoiled brat, resenting having to do what it is told; but now we see that the carnal mind’s resistance to the Father’s will is an expression coming from his enemy. Being the enemy of IAUE removes all doubt regarding our relationship with Him.
Going back to our illustration, it is the Father’s will that the airplane remain in flight. The airplane in flight accomplishes all His will. The airplane on the ground, or plummeting toward the ground is dedicated to opposing and interfering with the objective of the Father; and that makes it an enemy of the Father. Our only escape from this enmity and from being the enemy of IAUE is to fly; and the only way to fly is to walk in the Spirit…to hear and obey the voice of the Spirit…to do the will of IAUE; and that requires a Kingdom heart.
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
The enemy, the thief, the evil one, is constantly looking for a chink in our armor. He never ceases to search out an expression of a carnal mind, for it is there that he finds us in agreement with him and his purpose whether we know it or not. (That is the danger of wrong thinking. It thinks wrongly, and arrives at incorrect conclusions.). The life of a disciple of Yahushua Messiah is not one characterized by compromise. To the extent that we believe we can have small compromises, hold to certain loves of the flesh, we demonstrate wrong thinking…carnal thinking; and we fail to recognize that we are resisting the Master’s right to rule over us. We fail to recognize the goodness of IAUE and the whole purpose of His grace.
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