Brethren and sisters, over the last two months we have seen that all fears are rooted in one thing -- inner division. It follows, then, that the remedy for fear lies in a unified self -- a self made whole by Christ. Perfect love literally does cast out fear just as, vice versa, imperfect love literally admits fear into the heart. Before Adam sinned he was a whole person, enjoying the flow of God's eternal love. When, by disobedience, he put up a barrier to that love, the first thing that swept into his heart was fear. Note his words: "I was afraid." When love flows in, fear is kept out; when fear flows in, love is kept out.
Since last August we have been asking the Lord a question: Please would You reveal the location of Zion to us? I assume you have all prayed for that. What, I wonder, has been the result? Has our petition been granted? Do we now know the location of Kadesh, or has our petitioning been in vain? If the result has been negative, why has it been so? And if the result has been negative, what has been the purpose of us receiving a negative answer? These are rhetorical questions for it is for the Patriarchate to expect an answer of you.
Paul said to the Corinthians: "...whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Cor.10:23-33). Whatever the answer to our petition has been, I pray that the result will be to the glory of God.
Now why do I say that? I say it because God has been at work amongst us these past few months and has been trying to teach us an important object lesson of our faith. Indeed, He has been most anxious to reshape our perceptions of truth and our understanding of how He works amongst His people.
A missionary to Borneo tells how some headhunters who came to Christ said the following: "Christianity is the only faith where you can't wangle God to get benefits out of Him." They were used to a pagan faith where you could cajole, bribe, manipulate, and wangle your god to get him to do you favours.
Not so with Christ. If we come to Him honestly, obeying His commandments, we obtain everything we need. When we come with crooked motives then we end up receiving nothing. There are some Christians who, although they do not recognise what they are doing, approach Christ from the angle of pleasing Him so that He, in turn, will give them what they want. They are interested in surrendering to Him not so much because surrender is the one and only response to a Saviour such as He, but in order to get something -- a supply of some need or some answer to prayer -- such as our request for Zion.
I am sure we have all examined our motives for gathering to Kadesh carefully these past few months. Have we wanted Zion because we see the need we have for it, or because it is God's absolute will that we be gathered? Have we, for example, concluded that being separated is bad for us, and that gathering is good for us? have we, perhaps, concluded, that gathering makes better economic sense...if we can but afford to purchase houses and land? Or have we understood -- and desired -- that gathering to Zion will place us in a better position to repent and be purged more vigorously of our sins? Why do we want Zion?
Zion will make the utmost demands of you. It will require absolute obedience to temporal and spiritual. Do you desire to be absolutely obedient? Or do you prefer the independence that our present isolation gives us? Zion will demand a total change in life style -- is that change so appealing that you desire to embrace it whole-heartedly...now? Today? Where are your desires? What do you actually want?
The Borneo headhunters understood that following Christ requires 100% surrender. They understood that to surrender to the Lord means to follow Him, obey Him, and that the pleasing takes care of itself. It is a consequence, not a cause, of our surrender.
It is easy to say: "Lord, I surrender!" but the reality of our failure to surrender is not made apparent until we are faced with what actually surrendering really means. Surrendering means giving up our whole wills, all our plans, all our ambitions...everything! That is surrendering to the will of God, even if our desires happen to coincide with His! Yes, we have to give them up too! Does that mean we must give up the desire to gather to Zion? In a way, yes, it does, if our motives are wrong.
The Lord will not gather a people to Zion who do not desire to live under patriarchal government and law. He will not gather for the sake of gathering or for the advantages that will confer upon ministry to one another, missionary work, and so on. He will gather because a people desire to live all His commandments, even if those commandments sometimes appear unappealing because they interfere with long cherished dreams and hopes.
They key to this desire for gathering in the true spirit that God wishes is, of course, love. Without that love there will be a hundred different fears people will have about Zion. Are you afraid of the consequences of gathering under a theocratic, patriarchal government? To gather we must first be cured of the fear to gather; and to be cured of the fear to gather we must: (a) experience the all-consuming love of Christ heal our inner divisions, and (b) experience that same healing love heal our failure to obtain a burning unity. "But are we not united?" you may ask? My answer is, yes, we are united -- united like never before, at least on one plane. But are we united by a passionate love? Is the love between us so strong that we cannot wait to be together as one large family? Do we desperately miss each other's company? Do our hearts ache for each other when we go home on the first Sunday of each month?
This love has the highest priority for the Lord. It's what He's waiting for. It would be a mistake for us to sit back and think: Oh, we'll never have that love until we're gathered. That's only a half-truth. True, gathering will present a unique opportunity for us to grow further in that love, but unless it is present in the first place, no amount of gathering will do any good at all.
Brethren and sisters, over the last two months we have seen that all fears are rooted in one thing -- inner division. It follows, then, that the remedy for fear lies in a unified self -- a self made whole by Christ. Perfect love literally does cast out fear just as, vice versa, imperfect love literally admits fear into the heart. Before Adam sinned he was a whole person, enjoying the flow of God's eternal love. When, by disobedience, he put up a barrier to that love, the first thing that swept into his heart was fear. Note his words: "I was afraid." When love flows in, fear is kept out; when fear flows in, love is kept out.
Since last August we have been asking the Lord a question: Please would You reveal the location of Zion to us? I assume you have all prayed for that. What, I wonder, has been the result? Has our petition been granted? Do we now know the location of Kadesh, or has our petitioning been in vain? If the result has been negative, why has it been so? And if the result has been negative, what has been the purpose of us receiving a negative answer? These are rhetorical questions for it is for the Patriarchate to expect an answer of you.
Paul said to the Corinthians: "...whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Cor.10:23-33). Whatever the answer to our petition has been, I pray that the result will be to the glory of God.
Now why do I say that? I say it because God has been at work amongst us these past few months and has been trying to teach us an important object lesson of our faith. Indeed, He has been most anxious to reshape our perceptions of truth and our understanding of how He works amongst His people.
A missionary to Borneo tells how some headhunters who came to Christ said the following: "Christianity is the only faith where you can't wangle God to get benefits out of Him." They were used to a pagan faith where you could cajole, bribe, manipulate, and wangle your god to get him to do you favours.
Not so with Christ. If we come to Him honestly, obeying His commandments, we obtain everything we need. When we come with crooked motives then we end up receiving nothing. There are some Christians who, although they do not recognise what they are doing, approach Christ from the angle of pleasing Him so that He, in turn, will give them what they want. They are interested in surrendering to Him not so much because surrender is the one and only response to a Saviour such as He, but in order to get something -- a supply of some need or some answer to prayer -- such as our request for Zion.
I am sure we have all examined our motives for gathering to Kadesh carefully these past few months. Have we wanted Zion because we see the need we have for it, or because it is God's absolute will that we be gathered? Have we, for example, concluded that being separated is bad for us, and that gathering is good for us? have we, perhaps, concluded, that gathering makes better economic sense...if we can but afford to purchase houses and land? Or have we understood -- and desired -- that gathering to Zion will place us in a better position to repent and be purged more vigorously of our sins? Why do we want Zion?
Zion will make the utmost demands of you. It will require absolute obedience to temporal and spiritual. Do you desire to be absolutely obedient? Or do you prefer the independence that our present isolation gives us? Zion will demand a total change in life style -- is that change so appealing that you desire to embrace it whole-heartedly...now? Today? Where are your desires? What do you actually want?
The Borneo headhunters understood that following Christ requires 100% surrender. They understood that to surrender to the Lord means to follow Him, obey Him, and that the pleasing takes care of itself. It is a consequence, not a cause, of our surrender.
It is easy to say: "Lord, I surrender!" but the reality of our failure to surrender is not made apparent until we are faced with what actually surrendering really means. Surrendering means giving up our whole wills, all our plans, all our ambitions...everything! That is surrendering to the will of God, even if our desires happen to coincide with His! Yes, we have to give them up too! Does that mean we must give up the desire to gather to Zion? In a way, yes, it does, if our motives are wrong.
The Lord will not gather a people to Zion who do not desire to live under patriarchal government and law. He will not gather for the sake of gathering or for the advantages that will confer upon ministry to one another, missionary work, and so on. He will gather because a people desire to live all His commandments, even if those commandments sometimes appear unappealing because they interfere with long cherished dreams and hopes.
They key to this desire for gathering in the true spirit that God wishes is, of course, love. Without that love there will be a hundred different fears people will have about Zion. Are you afraid of the consequences of gathering under a theocratic, patriarchal government? To gather we must first be cured of the fear to gather; and to be cured of the fear to gather we must: (a) experience the all-consuming love of Christ heal our inner divisions, and (b) experience that same healing love heal our failure to obtain a burning unity. "But are we not united?" you may ask? My answer is, yes, we are united -- united like never before, at least on one plane. But are we united by a passionate love? Is the love between us so strong that we cannot wait to be together as one large family? Do we desperately miss each other's company? Do our hearts ache for each other when we go home on the first Sunday of each month?
This love has the highest priority for the Lord. It's what He's waiting for. It would be a mistake for us to sit back and think: Oh, we'll never have that love until we're gathered. That's only a half-truth. True, gathering will present a unique opportunity for us to grow further in that love, but unless it is present in the first place, no amount of gathering will do any good at all.

This page was created on 16 May 1998 Updated on 16 May 1998

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